ERIC Number: EJ1427724
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2024
Pages: 21
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1464-7893
EISSN: EISSN-1470-1111
Soviet Bodies in Canadian Dancesport: Identities and Culture in Four Competitive Ballroom Dance Studios
Research in Dance Education, v25 n2 p189-209 2024
This article examines the processes of cultural transfer and cross-pollination within four diasporic DanceSport studios located in major cities in Canada. It focuses on first- and second-generation Soviet-Canadian competitive ballroom dancers and their experiences with identity as a diasporic community. Through an ethnographic study, it explores the adaptations of these dancers to the Canadian DanceSport industry and the roots of their teaching methodologies in Soviet physical culture. Using narrative vignettes based on fieldwork and examined through a Dance Studies lens, this article shows how the participants navigated the expectations of their parents' and coaches' traditional Soviet upbringing and used multicultural identities in their approach to dance practice and daily interactions. This analysis is tied to the parallel yet divergent evolution of educational methodologies in the former USSR and Canada and illustrates how the DanceSport industry was nudged by these migrant dancers toward a focus on athletic excellence, while the dancers themselves adapted to social dance pedagogy and commercialization of ballroom dance in North America. Using interview excerpts and observations, this research gives voice to practitioners and aims to increase awareness of migration flows and cultural influences in DanceSport.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Immigrants, Dance, Competition, Self Concept, Cultural Influences, Adjustment (to Environment), Cultural Differences, Dance Education, Parents, Athletic Coaches, Expectation, Physical Education
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Canada; USSR
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A