I have been wrestling with the meaning of one word related to my dance research for a while now. “Motivation”
There are many sources that describe motivation from a psychological perspective. But I don’t want to go there. Often when I speak about motivation, people tend to think about how one individual can motivate another. Certainly when I use the word as a # tag I seem to draw in plenty of commercial enterprises trying to flog motivational blogs, presentations, books and speeches. Again this is not what I am really wanting to look at.
A little closer to my interest is how dancers motivate themselves. Discussions I have had on social media would suggest that many dancers don’t think consciously about what motivates them. This is hardly surprising since most of us think about what we are doing a lot more than why we are doing it. So one little question could open up the whole point I am trying to make, when a dancer says they dance professionally because “it is their life”, “it makes them feel good”, or “it is in their being”; I ask myself why? They are motivated to feel this way and I would like to discover what various forms this takes.
I believe most people in general – dancers and non-dancers alike – tend to feel a drive to continually improve in what they’re doing or raise their esteem in the eyes of others and themselves. As Lisa mentions, it is intrinsic motivation that leads someone to go to great lengths to achieve even the smallest improvements, for the sense that one is moving forward. You see this in the corporate world, amongst musicians, dancers, writers, and others.
Often the most direct and “flip” answer from performing artists when asked why they do what they do is that they simply have to or can’t imagine life otherwise. However, once you dig deeper – and the person asked begins even a basic analysis of their motivation (it’s likely they haven’t done so before) – different themes will begin to emerge. They comprise fascinating personal trajectories and are worthy of admiration on all fronts. I hope to share more with you about that soon.
Thanks Susan. I think you have hit the nail on the head here. Just how do we tap those un-thought about themes and make them visible?
As a former proffessional dancer and having taught hundreds of ballet students for 18 years, I have always pondered the questions you posed. I had the opportunity to explore this topic when I returned to school and wrote my senior thesis paper for my degree in Psychology specializing in child and adolecent development. I explored “intrinsic” motivation. The continum of students in a classromm will almost always be on the typical bell curve in terms of motivational levels. I was interested in the variables of the top 5% of the hard workers.My conclutions were based on (Ryan & Deci, 2000) Self Determination Theory which includes competence, autonomy, and relatedness. The ballet environment poses extreme circumstances in which delayed gratification is learned at a very young age in which self esteem is earned by skill aquision, The teaching eviroment is often very little instructor feedback and one has to keep working on yourself with general corrections. And thirdly, the social connectedness is like no other, ballet friends are family. I could go on forever but will close with if you ask any sucessful dancer why they dance, the frequent response is “because I have to”
Thank you Lisa for your very helpful comment. I should have a look at Determination Theory. Your description of the ballet environment is most helpful.
Make that “Self Determination Theory”.
Once I heard the expression that you do not have to anyone to compare yourself except for you in the past. My motivation is to prove to myself that I can do more and more, and is able to open new lines and display more colors and paints in my performances.
Thank you for your thoughts Maya. In many cases I am sure it is a case of pushing oneself to achieve more. How do you personally work with achievement when you meet goals or worse, when you don’t?
By achieving a personal goal the body will generate endorphins and chemicals that make you feel good. These great stimulants are often craved by individuals making them work harder to keep receiving their rewards (in all field of physical and mental exersion. Thus when a dancer achieves what was initially outside their grasp they receive both a self and external reward which motivates them to strive for a “I suppose” a Nirvana like state of perfection
Hi Pete. These feel good stimulants obviously have something to do with it. However, as in sports, many dancers do not continue on to a professional life and I suspect that capability and skill are only part of the big picture. Much more must motivate these people to strive to an elite career.