CHASING DREAMS: INVESTIGATING TALENT IDENTIFICATION AND DEVELOPMENT IN BALLET
Kaitlin Mary Hague
Bachelor of Creative Industries (Dance)
Masters of Arts (Research) Candidate
N5421276
This document is submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of the
Masters of Arts (Research)
School of Creative Practice
Creative Industries Faculty
Queensland University of Technology
2017
Supervisors
Principal Supervisor:
Professor Gene Moyle DPsych, MPsych, PGDipProfPsych, BA(Psych/Human
Mvt), BA(Dance), DipDance(ABS)
Head of School
School of Creative Practice – Creative Industries Faculty
Queensland University of Technology
Associate Supervisor:
Lee McGowan PhD, MA
Higher Degree Research Training Coordinator
School of Creative Practice – Creative Industries Faculty
Queensland University of Technology
External Associate Supervisor:
Jason Gulbin PhD, BEd
Former Research Associate (Talent Development)
Section for High Performance Sport – Swiss Federal Institute of Sport
Previously Head
Athlete Pathway Development – Australian Institute of Sport
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet i
Keywords
Ballet, dance, talent, talent identification, talent development, expertise, pathways, athlete, coaching, teaching, skill development, FTEM
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet ii
Abstract
The path to becoming a professional dancer is a challenging one, where only the most talented succeed. This research contributes to the field of dance research through its examination of ballet in the Australian context through the unique application of the
Foundation, Talent, Elite, Mastery (FTEM) talent identification and development framework originally developed for application within a sporting context (Gulbin,
Croser, Morley, & Weissensteimer, 2013). Participants either currently or previously employed as professional ballet dancers, completed surveys and semi-structured interviews that provided data to map each participant’s pathway against the FTEM framework. Findings identified that there are a variety of pathways to achieve success as a dancer, participants valued performance experience and quality of training over quantity, and that neither the age of starting ballet training nor the number of hours of practice undertaken had a statistically significant impact on participants’ development of expertise. Training opportunities such as scholarships and summer schools were highly valued by participants, and dance teachers played a key role in identifying talent. While the use of the FTEM framework enabled detailed understanding about the identification and development of talented ballet dancers in Australia, limitations in the utility of the framework were identified. The research offers the first insight, analysis, and evaluation of a framework more commonly used in sport by applying it to the field of dance (i.e., ballet), and proposes a number of suggestions for future research in the field.
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet iii
Table of Contents
Supervisors ...... i Keywords ...... ii Abstract ...... iii Table of Contents ...... iv List of Figures ...... vi List of Tables ...... vii Statement of Original Authorship ...... viii Acknowledgements ...... ix Chapter 1: Introduction ...... 1
Chapter 2: Literature Review ...... 5 2.1 A Brief History of the Origins of Ballet ...... 5 2.2 A Brief History of Ballet in Australia ...... 6 2.3 The Hierarchy of Expertise in Ballet Companies ...... 8 2.4 Ballet Training and Pedagogies ...... 9 2.4.1 Ballet class ...... 9 2.4.2 Training to increase expertise ...... 10 2.4.3 Complementary styles of dance ...... 11 2.4.4 Men’s training in ballet ...... 12 2.4.5 Teachers and syllabi ...... 13 2.5 Ballet in the Current Australian Context ...... 14 2.6 A Summary of Recent TID Research in Dance ...... 18 2.7 The FTEM Framework ...... 25 2.8 Support and Criticism for the FTEM Framework ...... 29 2.9 Summary ...... 30
Chapter 3: Methodology ...... 31 3.1 Research Design ...... 31 3.2 Ethics ...... 31 3.3 Participants ...... 31 3.4 Recruitment ...... 33 3.5 Survey ...... 34 3.6 Interview ...... 35 3.7 Data Analysis ...... 35 3.8 Statistical Methods ...... 36
Chapter 4: Results ...... 37 4.1 Age of Starting Dance ...... 37 4.2 Age of Commencing Pointe Work ...... 38 4.3 Complementary Styles of Dance ...... 39 4.4 Private Coaching ...... 41 4.5 Quantity of Ballet Training ...... 41 4.6 Age When First Attaining Rank ...... 43 4.7 Reasons for Commencing Ballet Training ...... 44
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet iv
4.8 The Age of Thinking About and Working Toward Becoming a Dancer ...... 45 4.9 The Importance of Various Training Opportunities ...... 46 4.10 Quality of Training ...... 48 4.10.1 Teachers ...... 48 4.10.2 Study of a syllabus ...... 49 4.10.3 Examinations ...... 50 4.11 The Value of Performance Experience ...... 51 4.12 Exposure to External Influences and Training Environments ...... 54 4.13 Drive and Passion ...... 58 4.14 Challenges ...... 59 4.14.1 Athlete Factors ...... 59 4.14.2 Environmental Factors ...... 60 4.14.2 System Factors ...... 61 4.15 Applying the FTEM Framework ...... 61 4.15.1 Comparing FTEM pathways ...... 62
Chapter 5: Discussion ...... 64 5.1 Applying FTEM to Dance ...... 64 5.2The Effectiveness of the FTEM Framework ...... 65 5.2.1 F1 – Learning and acquisition of basic movement foundations ...... 66 5.2.2 F2 – Extension and refinement of movement foundations ...... 66 5.2.3 F3 – Sport specific commitment and/or competition ...... 68 5.2.3.1 Hours of practice ...... 68 5.2.3.2 The study of a syllabus ...... 70 5.2.3.3 Examinations ...... 70 5.2.3.4 Performance Experience ...... 71 5.2.3.5 Other factors for consideration in the F3 phase ...... 71 5.2.4 T1 – Demonstration of high performance potential; and T2 – Talent verification ...... 73 5.2.5 T3 – Practising and achieving ...... 75 5.2.6 T4 – Breakthrough and reward ...... 76 5.2.7 E1 – Senior elite representation; E2- Senior elite success; and M - Mastery ...... 78 5.3 Limitations ...... 82 5.4 Future Research ...... 87
Chapter 6: Conclusion ...... 89
References ...... 91
Appendices ...... 102 Appendix A: Participant Information Consent Form - Survey ...... 103 Appendix B: Participant Information Consent Form - Interview ...... 105 Appendix C: Agreement Transcriber ...... 107 Appendix D: Survey ...... 108 Appendix E: Semi-Structured Interview Questions ...... 114 Appendix F: FTEM Pathways as Biographies and Pictographs ...... 117 Appendix G: Glossary ...... 147
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet v
List of Figures
Figure 1: Children’s participation in dancing, 2000-2009 ...... 15 Figure 2: The FTEM framework ...... 27 Figure 3: Additional dance styles studied by participants ...... 40 Figure 4: Total accumulated hours of deliberate ballet practice estimated by age 18 ...... 42 Figure 5: Importance of training opportunities (mean response) ...... 47 Figure 6: Participant’s FTEM pathways charted against age ...... 63 Figure 7: Participant 1 FTEM pathway ...... 125 Figure 8: Participant 2 FTEM pathway ...... 129 Figure 9: Participant 3 FTEM pathway ...... 133 Figure 10: Participant 4 FTEM pathway ...... 139 Figure 11: Participant 5 FTEM pathway ...... 146
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet vi
List of Tables
Table 1: Number of dancers employed by ballet companies full-time in 2017 ..... 18 Table 2: FTEM phases of development ...... 28 Table 3: Mean ages of commencing pointe work ...... 39 Table 4: Age of attaining ranks within a ballet company ...... 44 Table 5: Reasons for commencing ballet training ...... 45 Table 6: Ages of thinking about and working towards becoming a professional ballet dancer ...... 46 Table 7: Examples from the survey about the importance of performance experience ...... 53
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet vii
Statement of Original Authorship
The work contained in this document has not been previously submitted to meet requirements for an award at this or any other higher education institution. To the best of my knowledge and belief, the document contains no material previously published or written by another person, except where due reference is made.
QUT Verified Signature
Name: ......
Date: ......
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet viii
Acknowledgements
Every day, across the country, little dancers are donning leotards, tying ribbons on their shoes and pinning their hair into a bun before heading into ballet class.
Becoming a ballet dancer is the dream of many a small child. It was a dream that I had for myself as a young girl, and now, as the Director of a dance school, I see hundreds of students every week, all mesmerised by the soft white tulle of tutus, the sound of piano music, the lustre of satin pointe shoes and the lure of the stage.
However, that elusive dream of growing up to be a ballerina becomes a reality for very few. Like many pursuits of excellence, only the most talented dancers will overcome numerous challenges and rise to the heights of becoming professional dancers. My belief is that as an industry, we have an obligation to support as many talented dancers to soar to these heights as possible. It was this belief that inspired this research project.
The submission of this thesis would not be possible without the assistance of an incredible supervisory team. To Gene, Lee, Jason and also Kym: thank you for your guidance and perseverance to see this project through to the end. Thank you also to
Josie Thomas for her editing expertise. I also would like to thank my close friends for their never-ending support, and my family for taking me to my first ballet lessons as a three year old. You inspired a life-long love of dance that I am truly thankful for. Last, but certainly not least, thank you to my husband Ivan for his unwavering belief, for making sure there was always coffee in the cupboard and for holding me together through three years of study. This one’s for you.
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet ix
Chapter 1: Introduction
In any competitive field, only a limited number of ‘hopefuls’ eventually find success. Dance, and in particular ballet, is one such field where a large participatory cohort is whittled down to a comparative few who achieve professional success. It is this somewhat mysterious process that inspired this research project, seeking to contribute to the knowledge surrounding the identification and development of talented ballet dancers, within the Australian context. This introductory chapter serves to the context of this research
Talent can be observed to develop as a result of a combination of factors – some that can be controlled, such as training environments; and some that cannot, like genetics and chance factors. The definition of talent adopted for this study reflects that of Gagné: “an expression of systematically developed skills resulting from the interaction of both nature and nurture” (as cited in Gulbin, Croser, Morley, &
Weissensteiner, 2013, p. 69). Two components make up the process of Talent
Identification and Development (TID). Talent identification “refers to the recognition of an individual’s abilities – or their potential ability – while talent development refers to the conditions that facilitate the fulfilment of potential” (Aujla, Nordin-Bates,
Redding, & Jobbins, 2014, p. 16). Uncovering the factors that contribute to the various ways that dancers are identified and developed throughout their training and careers serves to further expand our understanding of talent and how it is developed in ballet.
There are many factors that contribute to the consideration of ballet as an ideal physical pursuit for studying the conditions in which talent are identified and developed. Firstly, ballet’s rich history has enabled it to become a highly formalised method of training (Walker & Walker, 1997). As further described in the Chapter 2,
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 1
the progression of training from simple through to more complex movements has been fine-tuned over centuries, following a deliberate and logical order, with movements that are codified and universal regardless of teacher or pedagogy (Minden, 2005). This linear progression in training serves to intrinsically nurture and coach dancers to progress their skill level, and therefore makes ballet ideal for studies in talent development.
Secondly, in contrast to other styles of dance where work may be more project or contract based (for example, musical theatre dance or contemporary dance), three professional ballet companies in Australia offer the opportunity of full-time employment (The Australian Ballet, Queensland Ballet and West Australian Ballet).1
Once employed within a ballet company, a hierarchy of expertise then exists where dancers are ranked in order of skill level (Hutchinson, Sachs-Ericsson, & Ericsson,
2013, p. 27). This hierarchy consequently provides clear allocations or assessments of capability at the professional end of the development spectrum.
Finally, ballet in Australia is a competitive business. The rate of participation in formal dancing lessons outside of school hours for children in Australia is just under
15% (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2010). However, limited opportunities exist to be gainfully employed as a professional ballet dancer in Australia, with less than 200 positions available across the three professional ballet companies. This narrowing of opportunities from a large participatory cohort to a small professional one means that optimisation of talent development is of utmost importance to multiple stakeholders, including funding bodies, ballet companies, educators, parents and arguably most importantly, dancers themselves.
1 Melbourne Ballet Company is another Australian company with which ballet dancers may gain employment. However, at the time of commencing the study, the company operated as a project-based company and did not offer the same full-time employment opportunities as the other three companies. As such, dancers from Melbourne Ballet Company were not included in this research.
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 2
Despite the importance of optimising TID in a competitive field like ballet, only limited research in the field has been published. Several key groups of researchers have presented findings of recent studies, and while significant, the overall body of research remains limited. As a result, the nature of TID in dance and ballet remains largely undefined. These recent studies, the TID models that they use, and their results are discussed in detail in Chapter 2: Literature Review.
In light of these observed gaps in the current literature, and a lack of data from an Australian context in particular, an opportunity to provide a unique perspective was identified in the application of the Foundation, Talent, Elite, Mastery (FTEM) framework (Gulbin et al. 2013). Specifically developed for contextualising athlete pathways in Australia and based on practitioner learnings from the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS), the framework has been successfully applied to athlete pathways in various sports including hockey and gymnastics (Gulbin & Weissensteiner, 2013).
The application of the FTEM framework to dance presented an opportunity to incorporate learnings in TID from the sporting domain, which is arguably more advanced than that of dance.
The following research question was therefore proposed: How can applying the FTEM framework to ballet dancers in the Australian context help us to better understand their talent identification and development pathways?
In pursuing this question through a mixed-methods approach (see Chapter 3:
Methodology), the aim of this research is to offer clear insights into TID in ballet within the Australian context. Chapter 2: Literature Review, outlines the evolution of ballet as an art form, provides an overview of ballet in Australia, reviews the existing dance TID, and the components of the FTEM framework are critically analysed.
Chapter 3: Methodology, discusses the mixed-methods approach utilised, and Chapter
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 3
4: Results, outlines the subsequent results, including findings regarding starting age, hours of ballet training undertaken, the value of various training opportunities and the role of teachers and families. In Chapter 5: Discussion, a detailed analysis of the results takes place, and limitations and suggestions for future research are outlined, while conclusions are presented in Chapter 6: Conclusion.
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 4
Chapter 2: Literature Review
As previously proposed, ballet presents an ideal context in which to study TID.
However, ballet as an art form is complex and as such, research within the field requires detailed understanding of not only the history of ballet but also the extensive training requirements of such a demanding pursuit. This chapter contextualises ballet as an art form, and, more specifically, its development and current milieu in Australia.
It then reviews recent literature in TID in dance, offers examination of key studies, and the corresponding frameworks or models that underpin them, before it presents a critical analysis of the FTEM framework.
2.1 A Brief History of the Origins of Ballet
In order to comprehend the development of talent in ballet, it is important to acknowledge ballet’s rich history as an art form. Ballet originated in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in the aristocratic courts of France and Italy. The movements, performed at the time by all-male amateur groups, were reflective of the social dances of the period, which “emphasised decorum, grace and elegance rather than feats of strength or agility” (Au, 2002, p. 11). Throughout the seventeenth century, ballet evolved from the amateur to the professional, and as such demanded a higher degree of training (Au, 2002). King Louis XIV of France, an accomplished dancer and commissioner of ballet performances, established the Academie Royale de Danse,2 in
1661. The academy was tasked with establishing academic principles and teaching pedagogies of the art form (Au, 2002). The steps codified by the academy’s dancing
2 The Academie Royale de Danse translates in English to Royal Academy of Dance, however this should not be confused with the Royal Academy of Dance organisation and syllabus which was established in the United Kingdom in 1920 (Royal Academy of Dance Australia, 2017a).
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 5
masters are still danced today using the same French terminology (Graham-Williams,
2013).
From France, ballet expanded throughout Europe, evolving as it spread. The eighteenth and nineteenth centuries witnessed many developments within the art form that are now synonymous with ballet: the inclusion of female dancers and their frequent depiction as fairy-like ethereal beings; the evolution of close-fitting slippers and the pointe shoe (which enables dancers to perform on the very top of the toes); the tutu (a full tulle skirt that was later shortened as steps became more technical); and the further development of codified ballet technique stressing elements of symmetry and order (Au, 2002). Many ballets of historical significance were created during this period, several of which are still performed today such as Coppélia and La Sylphide
(choreographed by Arthur Saint-Leon); Swan Lake and The Nutcracker
(choreographed by Marius Petipa); and Don Quixoté (choreographed by Michel
Fokine)3. Of particular relevance to the development of ballet in Australia was the prowess of dancers from Russia, who incorporated visits to Australia in tours of the globe. Serge Diaghilev’s ballet company, Ballets Russes, toured the globe multiple times, leaving excitement in its wake; while Russian dancers such as Vaslav Nijinksy and Anna Pavlova, were arguably the best dancers worldwide at the time and paid numerous visits to Australia (Au, 2002).
2.2 A Brief History of Ballet in Australia
Ballet as a stand-alone art form did not find popularity in Australia until the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Although some ballet was performed in
3 It should be noted that this is by no means an exhaustive list of notable ballets created during this time, but represents a handful of ballets that are still performed (either in the original or modified form) today.
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 6
musical theatre and variety shows popular at the time (such as those of the JC
Williamson company), the first reported classical ballet created in Australia was
Sketches in Turquoisette in 1893 (Praagh, 1965). Ballet’s popularity began to grow in
1913, when Danish ballerina Adeline Geneé first visited and performed in Australia
(Praagh, 1965). The art form’s popularity was cemented when Russian ballerina Anna
Pavlova toured to Australia in 1926 and 1929 (Crotty, 2010; Praagh, 1965).
Pavlova’s visits are credited with inspiring demand for an Australian-based ballet company, with numerous ballet schools commencing operation in the wake of her visits. The establishment of the Australian arms of two teaching societies of
European origin soon followed: the Cecchetti Society in 1934 (Cecchetti Ballet
Australia Incorporated, 2017) and the Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) in 1935 (Royal
Academy of Dance Australia, 2017b). Following the Great Depression and the Second
World War, a general sense of optimism saw the resurgence of ballet in Australia.
Performing companies like the Ballet Guild of Victoria and the Australian Ballet
Society were established, though as yet no company was providing full-time employment for dancers (Crotty, 2010). The Borovansky Ballet, which was established by former Ballets Russes dancer Edouard Borovansky and became the precursor to The Australian Ballet, first formed in 1944 and toured Australia and New
Zealand extensively between periods of non-operation (Brissenden, 1956).
Meanwhile, the West Australian Ballet was established in Perth in 1952 and championed by another former Ballet Russes dancer, Kira Bousloff (Potter, 2006), and
The Lisner Ballet Company was established in Brisbane in 1960 by former
Borovanksy Ballet dancer Charles Lisner. It was later renamed the Queensland Ballet in 1962 (Queensland Ballet, 2017b).
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 7
The Borovansky Ballet was disbanded permanently after its final performance on 18 February 1961. Peggy van Praagh, who was the director of the company for a short time before its demise, returned from England to Australia in 1962 to conduct auditions to recruit dancers for The Australian Ballet. The Company first performed
Swan Lake at Her Majesty’s Theatre in Sydney, with a company of 46 dancers (The
Australian Ballet, 2012a). Praagh captures the importance of this milestone in an essay:
As the overture to Swan Lake faded, and the 46 dancers of The Australian
Ballet hovered in the wings and stared in their dressing room mirrors in that
first-night state between excitement and nerves. Yet each felt secure in the
knowledge that, for the first time in Australia, they were employed as full-time
dancers. No more stop-start contracts, as in the years of the Borovansky Ballet,
but a pay slip 52 weeks a year. (The Australian Ballet, 2011)
2.3 The Hierarchy of Expertise in Ballet Companies
Within ballet companies, a clear hierarchy of expertise exists that emulates the court structure in which ballet first developed (Minden, 2005). Generally, ballet dancers are ranked as a member of the corps de ballet (often shortened to ‘corps’), a soloist or a principal, where “a ‘principal’ dancer is more capable and valued than the members of the ‘corps’ in a given dance company” (Hutchinson, et al., 2013, p. 27).
Additional positions may exist within companies as further differentiation of talent.
For example, The Australian Ballet ranks their dancers (with increasing value) as corps de ballet, corypheé, soloist, senior artist, and principal artist (The Australian Ballet,
2017a). Generally, principal dancers and soloists are cast as the leading roles in the ballets presented by the company. Joey Chua (2014b) found that this hierarchy provided clarity in articulating goals and aspirations (such as being cast in a leading
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 8
role) for ballet dancers as compared with the goals of dancers in contemporary dance companies that lacked this hierarchy. In other previous TID studies in dance, a ballet dancer’s rank and the reputation of their company have been used as objective markers of success and expertise (Hutchinson, et al., 2013; Ureña, 2004).
2.4 Ballet Training and Pedagogies
As previously outlined, ballet possesses a rich history and has evolved to become “the most formalised type of dance instruction” globally (Walker & Walker,
1997, p. 20). The steps such as pirouettes (turns) and entrechats (jumps with legs beaten back and forth) that were performed in the court-ballets of the sixteenth century are still taught and danced today, in the same way that many of the romantic and classical ballets of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries are still performed (Au,
2002). In order to understand the conditions that impact upon the development of dancers, it is important to deconstruct how and why ballet dancers are trained. The following sections provide an overview of various aspects of ballet and dance training.
2.4.1 Ballet class. To develop their expertise, a dancer will attend a ballet class, either as a group (perhaps organised by skill level, age, or sex) or on their own, with a teacher (sometimes known as ballet master/mistress) leading the class through verbal and visual instruction. This may be conducted to live music played on piano or to recorded music (Minden, 2005). Ballet class usually consists of two parts – barre and centre. The barre component of class uses a hip-height horizontal metal or wooden bar, usually cylindrical in shape, to provide support with one or both hands (also called a ‘barre’). Exercises would usually be performed on one side (so using the right leg as the ‘working’ or moving leg, and the left as the ‘supporting’ leg), and then repeated on
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 9
the alternate side, designed to warm up the muscles and practice technical movements while still gaining support from the hand on the barre (Minden, 2005).
The barre component is usually followed by combinations and exercises in the centre (without the support of the barre), progressing in difficulty: from port de bras
(exercises using the arms); centre practice (more challenging combinations than those performed at the barre); adage (slow and controlled movements); pirouettes (turns and turning sequences); and allegro, or jumps and leaps, in varying degrees of difficulty and height (Minden, 2005). For female dancers of a certain age and capability, some exercises may follow in pointe shoes. Pointe shoes may be worn for the full class at a very advanced or professional level. While the exercises given by the teacher may vary from lesson to lesson, the same class format as outlined above is followed worldwide
(Minden, 2005).
This class format, though repetitive, has a purpose given that the complexities of ballet mean that training must follow a sound and logical progression. As Minden states:
Before attempting the thirty-two fouettés in Swan Lake you must master the
single pirouette, but before you can do that you must have developed balance
in retiré on demi-pointe, and to do that you must have developed control of
your turnout. (Minden, 2005, p. 4)
In short, the fundamental technical elements of ballet must be mastered before a dancer can successfully achieve more technically demanding and challenging movements.
2.4.2 Training to increase expertise. It is generally accepted that female dancers with professional aspirations must commence training prior to the onset of puberty (Hutchinson, et al., 2013). Additionally, usually after three to four years of training, dancers aiming for a career in ballet will increase the amount of time training,
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 10
taking class five or six days per week and sometimes more than once per day (Minden,
2005). This “deliberate and continuous repetition ingrains movement patterns into your body and develops ‘kinaesthetic memory’ ” (Minden, 2005, p. 9), preparing the dancer for the demands of a career in ballet. While there is consensus that a career in ballet requires commencing ballet training at a young age, there are some exceptions to this rule. For example, accomplished ballet dancer Sylvie Guillem was a gymnast before starting dancing, yet still achieved notable acclaim (Minden, 2005).
Hutchinson, et al. (2013) found that a later starting age was compensated for by a more rapid increase in the number of hours of practice per week in order to achieve eventual elite levels of performance.
2.4.3 Complementary styles of dance. It is common for ballet students to also undertake study of other dance genres and styles. In particular, contemporary and character dance are considered complementary or even necessary styles to supplement ballet training. Character dance refers to ballet movements inspired by European folk dances, which often appear in the romantic and classical ballets. Many ballet training systems, or syllabi, include compulsory character dance components in various levels
(Minden, 2005).
Another component of many syllabi is modern or contemporary dance
(sometimes also referred to as free movement). Contemporary dance encompasses techniques created though the twentieth century by Martha Graham, Lester Horton,
Doris Humphrey, and their “many choreographic descendants” (Minden, 2005, p. 21)
It is a more grounded style of dance than ballet, with work in both parallel and turned out positions of the feet. While these techniques were initially developed as a rejection of the formalised nature of classical ballet, many Western ballet companies will now include several contemporary works in a season. For example, the Queensland Ballet
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 11
2017 performance season includes four traditional ballets (Swan Lake, La Fille mal gardée, Peter Pan, The Nutcracker) and three contemporary performance seasons
(Raw, Bespoke, Dance Dialogues) (Queensland Ballet, 2017a). Other dance styles, such as jazz and tap, may additionally be studied alongside ballet training.
2.4.4 Men’s training in ballet. Men’s training in dance may differ from women’s, largely due to physical anatomy and the role of a male dancer as compared with a female. Male ballet dancers are often taller and heavier than female dancers, commonly displaying less flexibility and turnout (Minden, 2005).
The roles to be performed by male dancers, and the steps to be mastered, differ from those required of female dancers. Male dancers usually do not dance en pointe,4however they are required to have excellent skills in allegro (jumps) and in pas de deux (sections of choreography partnered with a female dancer which requires the male dancer to lift the female, often above his head). “For men, excellent partnering skills can be even more important than strong technique when it comes to getting a role or a job” (Minden, 2005, p. 54). Subsequently, the training of a male ballet dancer will have a greater emphasis on building strength in the legs and upper body than that of a female dancer. It is also generally perceived that men can start their training later than women, have a higher chance of receiving scholarships and company placements
(due to the smaller number of male dancers compared with female dancers), and often transition into positions of responsibility within dance companies post career (Minden,
2005).
4 Exceptions include where it is a requirement of a choreographer or dance companies that specialise in this as a novelty, such as Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo (Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, 2017)
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 12
2.4.5 Teachers and syllabi. In the same way that a coach plays a role in the career development of an athlete, the importance of ballet teachers in the development of their students cannot be underestimated. As Zeller describes:
In the world of ballet, lineage matters. It is a common practice for ballet dancers
and students to ask about one another’s teachers; such queries may stem from
interest in a particular dancer’s origins in ballet, or from curiosity about the
basis for a teacher’s method of instruction. These inquiries suggest a general
awareness that a ballet teacher’s philosophies and methods are likely to be
woven into a student’s knowledge of ballet. The affective component of ballet
training, in which the teacher often becomes a beloved and revered mentor, can
also motivate devoted students not only to absorb what the teacher espouses,
but also to echo it in their own work. (Zeller, 2009, p. 57)
Many ballet teachers will have achieved their teaching certifications through a recognised dance association that offers a prescribed method of training called a syllabus. A syllabus is “a known commodity with a proven track record of providing safe, solid, classical training” (Minden, 2005, p. 3). Three syllabi of prominence both globally and in Australia are the Royal Academy of Dance (of English origin),
Cecchetti (of Italian origin) and Vaganova (of Russian origin) (Minden, 2005). There may be slight differences in technique based on the syllabi studied, however these subtle differences may be largely unnoticeable to an untrained audience member:
They all look alike to you, but one teacher calls it a tendu jeté, another tendu
degagé, still another tendu glissée. One teacher wants your arms allongé,
another insists on classically rounded positions. One asks for fifth arabesque,
another refuses to acknowledge its existence. Different terms, different
styles, and different emphases – in ballet’s family tree the descendants of
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 13
ballet de cour are like cousins who resemble one another because of their
common heritage, but who differ, and sometimes bicker, as well. (Minden,
2005, p. 63).
The teacher and the syllabi studied by a dancer are both important factors that contribute to the dancer’s training environment, and should be considered in the development and identification of talented dancers.
2.5 Ballet in the Current Australian Context
Ballet is an after-school activity for many young Australians. A study conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) showed that the participation rate in outside of school dance classes (including ballet) for children aged 5 to 14 years increased from 10.4% in 2000 to 14.3% in 2009 (as shown in Figure 1, Children’s
Participation in Dancing, 2000-2009). Broken down by sex, this equates to approximately 348,500 females and 41,900 males (or 26% of females and 3% of males aged 5 to 14) participating in dance classes in 2009.
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 14
15
10 ticipating in Dancing
5
0 Year
2000 2003 2006 2009
% of Australian Children Par
Figure 1. Children’s participation in dancing, 2000-2009. Adapted from “Feature
Article: Children’s Participation in Dancing”, by Australian Bureau of Statistics
(2011).
Although it is six years since this data was published, it demonstrates a trend that saw participation rates in dance increasing over a period of nine years, suggesting that dance (including ballet) is a popular cultural activity for young Australians.
Ausdance, the peak advocacy body for dance in Australia, credits this rise in dance participation to dance becoming more present in popular culture through television shows and government campaigns featuring dance as part of an active lifestyle
(Ausdance, 2011).
The facility to undertake ballet training in Australia lies mostly with the economic resources of the child’s parents and/or caregivers. This is similar to countries such as America and Mexico. Countries including Russia differ where potential dancers are screened for ideal body types for ballet, and subsequently have their training supported through government subsidies rather than paid for by the dancer’s
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 15
parents (Hutchinson, et al., 2013). In support of this, the 2009 study by the ABS showed that children from a family where both parents were employed recorded a higher participation rate in dancing than those from families where one or no parents were employed, suggesting that a higher gross family income may have an association with undertaking dance lessons. The study also showed that children from metropolitan areas had a higher rate of participation in dance than those from regional or remote areas (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2010, 2011).
Ballet training in Australia largely takes place in private dance schools. “There is a long tradition of private dance schools and societies in Australia offering excellent dance training in all genres up to and including professional levels” (Ausdance, 2011).
Once dancers decide to increase their level of expertise, they may seek out training opportunities with a Registered Training Organisation (RTO) in either a full-time or part-time capacity, at a Certificate, Diploma, or Degree level. The number of accredited dance courses available nationally showed dramatic increase “from only a handful 20 years ago to more than 90 in 2010” (Ausdance, 2011). While many institutions now offer intensive dance training with a view to graduating dancers possessing the dance skill set required for employment, arguably the leading RTO for ballet in Australia is The Australian Ballet School. The school was founded in 1964 under Director Dame Margaret Scott, with the aim of developing “a national style and
[to] directly provide the [Australian Ballet] Company with trained dancers” (The
Australian Ballet School, 2017b).
While participation rates in dance training in Australia may be considered high, and the number of institutions offering courses to prepare students for careers in dance has increased, that does not necessarily equate to a high number of employment opportunities for dancers, particularly in the field of ballet. In Australia, full-time
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 16
employment opportunities for ballet dancers exist only within one of the three professional ballet companies: The Australian Ballet, the Queensland Ballet, and the West Australian Ballet. Gaining employment in a ballet company in Australia mirrors that of the situation globally in that, as Bennet argued, there are limited positions available for ballet dancers to gain professional employment (as cited in
Chua, 2014a, p. 23).
As shown in Table 1, Number of full-time dancers employed by ballet companies in 2017, there were 146 ballet dancers listed as being employed full-time by the three companies collectively in 2017. Assuming that the number of children that participate in dance is still similar to that found by the ABS (2010) this equates to approximately one professional position for every 2,850 children that participate in dance, making for an incredibly competitive field. While not all children participating in dance will pursue a professional career in the field, a number of positions in Australian companies are also filled by dancers from international backgrounds, further decreasing employment opportunities for Australians within local ballet companies (see Chapter 5). As outlined in Chapter 1, this limited opportunity for employment is a major contributor to the importance of optimising
TID in ballet.
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 17
Table 1
Number of full-time dancers employed by ballet companies in 2017
Company Number of dancers Source The Australian Ballet 68 dancers (The Australian Ballet, 2017a). Queensland Ballet 42 dancers5 (Queensland Ballet, 2017d). West Australian Ballet 36 dancers6 (West Australian Ballet, 2017). TOTAL 146 dancers
2.6 A Summary of Recent TID Research in Dance
The identification and development of talented individuals remains a contentious topic throughout sport, academia, and the arts worldwide (Walker, Nordin-
Bates, & Redding, 2010). In particular, TID in dance has recently become an area of interest for researchers globally. The following section will outline previous studies conducted in the field of TID in dance since 2010, grouped by the research teams involved and the models used to enhance the understanding of dance TID, allowing for simultaneous discussion of the application of the TID models alongside the subsequent findings of each study. The rationale for using literature published since
2010 is threefold: firstly to ensure the use of only contemporary literature; secondly because of the paucity of dance TID literature available prior to this date; and thirdly because of the significance of the studies in the field published after this date. The work of the research groups outlined below, though few in number and reflective of the scarcity of research in the area (Redding, Nordin-Bates, & Walker, 2011), are
5 Includes 10 Jette Parker Young Artists (trainee positions). Queensland Ballet also lists Character Artists as part of their company of dancers, however these artists do not meet the full-time employment requirements of the study and are not included in the total number of dancers displayed here. 6 Includes 5 Young Artists (trainee positions).
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 18
considered instrumental in their findings and have highly informed the design of this research project.
A large portion of the available literature focusing on TID in dance stems from the work of a group of researchers based at the Centres for Advanced Training (CAT) in the United Kingdom. Arguably commencing the recent wave in interest in the area,
Walker et al. (2010) compiled a review of literature regarding TID in dance, also drawing from sport and music fields. The review defined key factors of TID in dance including: body type, hypermobility, balance and proprioception, memory, aerobic/anaerobic fitness, flexibility, strength, expressive ability, and psychological traits. Other factors pertaining to a dancer’s success included the amount of practice undertaken, and social factors such as support from family, peers, teachers, and the motivational climate of the dance studio. The review discussed a number of talent models, but found that most were “limited by a lack of supporting experimental research, rendering them difficult for dance educators to apply practically” (Walker, et al., 2010, p. 80). The Talent Identification Instrument, (Baum, Owen, & Oreck,
1996), was a multi-session audition process designed to assess elementary school students for talent in music and dance. This was later developed into the Talent
Assessment Process in 2008, and was described by Walker et al. as “holding promise” for adaptation for populations outside North America (2010, p. 261). However, the
Talent Assessment Process is a talent identification tool only, with limitations in charting talent development. While the review did not seek to establish a definition of talent, Walker, et al. suggested six key findings:
1. No single factor alone (e.g. body type) can predict nor truly indicate
talent;
2. Weaknesses in some areas may be compensated for by strengths in
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 19
others;
3. Criteria may need to be age-appropriate and maturation must be
taken into account;
4. There is no guarantee that what may have predicted talent in the past
and in a specific dance genre (e.g. a lean physique in ballet) will be
similarly valued in the future;
5. Talent identification and development should be considered
together, rather than as separate processes, to allow for the selection
of potentially gifted but untrained students, as well as accounting for
the effects of maturation; and
6. The requirements of a career in dance may encompass many
different roles, including performing, teaching and choreographing.
(Walker, et al., 2010, p. 182)
In 2011, this research team published a report detailing the findings of a two- year, longitudinal, mixed-methods study. The purpose of this study was two-fold – to profile the nationwide cohort of approximately 800 dancers enrolled in the CATs, and to examine changes in these dancers across time. A range of quantitative and qualitative methods were used to gather data related to TID, including injury, creativity, dropout, physiology, anthropometry and psychology. The research participants had a mean age of approximately 14-15 years, and engaged in twice-yearly data collection, which included fitness tests, assessments of turn-out, balance, handgrip strength; anthropometrical measurements to ascertain body dimensions over time; flexibility and hypermobility, injury tracking, psychological assessments of self- esteem and anxiety, motivational climate of the studio and passion. Qualitative data
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 20
was gathered through interviews with both students and staff of the CATs, and content analysed using qualitative analysis software.
The extent of the research meant the output of data was extensive. The key findings of the research can be summarised in two points: that, while some components of dance talent may be innate, many of the components considered important to dance talent are trainable; and that the conditions of the training environment are “paramount to optimising talent development” (Redding, et al., 2011, p. 5). It was also suggested that one-off auditions may not present ideal conditions with which to make an assessment of talent or potential. While the significance of this study is important, potential limitations include that only 10% of the cohort completed every assessment and that the study focused on talent development of pre-professional students, who may or may not progress to achieve professional status as dancers. It also did not focus on one dance style in particular (both ballet and contemporary dance are studied at the
CATs), which may have differing markers of talent in terms of both physical attributes
(such as physique in ballet as opposed to contemporary dance) and psychological traits
(such as creativity which may be required more in contemporary dance than in ballet, for example).
Since the publication of this report, several variations to the research team have published results stemming from the data. For example, Walker, Nordin-Bates and
Redding (2012) published results regarding adherence and dropout amongst students enrolled at CATs. They found that “conflicting demands, change in aspirations, course content, difficulty making friends, and lost passion” were key factors in dancers dropping out of their enrolled courses (Walker, Nordin-Bates, & Redding, 2012, p.
65). Minor reasons cited by the dancers studied included “injury, financial factors, low perceived competence, and teacher behaviour” (Walker, et al., 2012, p. 65). Still
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 21
utilising the results from the 2011 report, Sanchez, Aujla, and Nordin-Bates (2013) published the results of a qualitative inquiry into cultural background variables and their effect on dance talent development. Seven dance students who were engaged in pre-vocational training in one CAT in the United Kingdom, participated in semi- structured interviews. The study found that cultural background variables of social support from family and friends/peers, values such as ‘hard work’, economic means, and race/ethnicity had a strong effect on the process of talent development in dance.
In particular, the results of the study indicated that economic limitations had a prohibitive effect on accessing dance training.
Sanchez et al. (2013) utilised Gagné’s (2003) approach by adopting the
Differentiated Model of Giftedness and Talent as a lens, describing how Interpersonal
Catalysts and Environmental Catalysts can drive and transform aptitude into talent.
While this model is effective in describing how talent is developed (as a combination of factors), it does not as effectively chart progress to achieve success. A full summary of the results of the 2011 longitudinal study was published by (Aujla, et al., 2014), followed by a further publication focusing on qualitative inquiry into adherence to a dance talent program at the CATs Aujla, Nordin-Bates, and Redding (2015) which found that enjoyment was the most important factor relating to commitment.
Using the Walker et al. (2010) literature review as a foundation, Chua (2014a) aimed to share research about talent development in dance published between January
2000 and September 2012, using the three-stage Talent-Development Mega-Model
(Subotnik, Olszewski-Kubilius, & Worrell, 2011) to frame the discussion. This model denotes three stages of talent development: start, peak, and end. Although providing a clear trajectory, the model offers limited differentiation of the micro-levels that could exist at each stage (such as within the ‘peak’ period, where dancers could experience
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 22
varying levels of professional success). Chua found that the existing empirical studies examined, failed to “identify the specific characteristics of talented dancers, the degree or quality of natural abilities that need to be present, and how these high-level abilities interact with a multitude of factors to impact talent development and eventual outstanding accomplishments” (2014a, p. 45). Chua also argued for the establishment of a standardised definition of dance talent in order to influence policy and practice, and suggested it would be “relevant to hear from profoundly talented dancers about their success via retrospective research” (Chua, 2014a, p. 47).
Chua (2014b) again applied the Talent-Development Mega-Model to frame her discussion of definitions of success in dancers, and published the results of case studies aiming to identify key factors impacting on the talent development of eight Finnish and Singaporean ballet and contemporary dancers. The analysis revealed “that (a) high level of abilities, (b) developed psychosocial skills, and (c) external factors and chance
[were] integral to all the eight dancers’ success.” (p. 249). In 2015, Chua presented the results of multiple case studies seeking to examine the role of social support in the development of talented Finnish and Singaporean dance students. Using Bloom’s three-stage model of talent development, Chua (2015) presented the perspectives of four dance students, their teachers, and family members, examining the key roles played by support persons at each of Bloom’s phases (early years or first stage, middle years or second stage, and later years or third stage). While the stages of Bloom’s model were based on findings from diverse domains across sports and arts, the three stages of the model are again limiting in terms of differentiation and only account for an upward trend in the level of expertise (Gulbin, et al., 2013).
The theory of deliberate practice (Ericsson, Krampe, & Tesch-Römer, 1993) denotes that it takes approximately 10,000 hours (or 10 years) of structured practice to
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 23
achieve expert performance. According to Ericsson and Pool (2016), a field must be highly developed in order for deliberate practice to apply. That is, it must have an objective or semi-objective way in which to measure performance, must be competitive, and must be well established. Ericsson and Pool specifically mention ballet as having “highly developed, broadly accepted training methods” (2016, p. 85).
They argue that, as a result of their studies in music, dance and other fields, they have determined that “nobody develops extraordinary abilities without putting in tremendous amounts of practice” (2016, p. 96). However Walker et al. (2010) argue that this theory does not take into account the quality nor enjoyment of the training, which they acknowledge as being a key factor in talent development in dance. Given the technical challenges of ballet, it would be misguided to believe that even thousands of hours of poor quality training could still yield expert performance results.
Hutchinson et al. (2013) applied the deliberate practice approach to dance to gain insight into the developmental history of professional ballet dancers. Surveys were used to collect data from participants across three countries with varying cultures
(USA, Mexico and Russia). Using the rank attained within a company and the perceived level of quality of that company (that is, regional, national, or international) as markers of expertise, two main factors were found to predict the level of ballet expertise attained by age 18. The first was the total number of accumulated hours of deliberate dance practice through to age 17. The second factor was “the age of first having the ‘idea of becoming a professional dancer’” (Hutchinson, et al., 2013, p. 21).
Following analysis of the data, the researchers found that starting age did not have an impact upon the level of expertise attained, as later starting ages were associated with rapid increases in training (though the sample of elite professional dancers could automatically exclude those dancers who commenced studying later but as a result did
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 24
not attain a professional career). According to their methods of calculation, the accumulated hours of practice for the dancers in the study averaged more than 10,000 by age 20 (M = 10,301, SD = 4609, N = 46), in line with deliberate practice theory, though the high standard deviation demonstrates a great deal of individual variation among participants. These factors regarding deliberate practice and career decision- making represent important insights and should be noted for inclusion in future data collection in the field.
The studies reviewed here, though small in number, offer key insights into dance TID and indicate the need for further research in the field. While some TID models and theoretical frameworks have been successfully applied to enhance understanding of TID in dance, many fall short of providing a holistic view of the development pathway, due to limited phases, age-defined boundaries, and failures to capture idiosyncrasies (Walker et al., 2010). By using the learnings from these studies as scaffolding for this project, and by understanding the strengths and weaknesses of the TID models used within them, the advantages of the FTEM framework are better able to be assessed and preferentially applied to ballet in the Australian context.
2.7 The FTEM Framework
The FTEM framework was presented as an alternative to existing TID models based on practitioner learnings from the Australian Institute of Sport. In accordance with the findings of Walker et al. (2010), Gulbin et al. argue that existing models have limitations in only addressing part of the TID pathway, presenting a limited number of phases of development and insufficient differentiation between those phases, failing to capture any non-normative transitions. The key advantages of FTEM as outlined by
Gulbin et al. (2013) are:
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 25
• Its four macro stages of development and subsequent 10 micro phases;
• Its rejection of fixed aged boundaries, giving it the capacity to encompass late-
starting athletes;
• Its incorporation of Active Lifestyle and Sport outcomes as well as the High
Performance pathway which pays attention to potentially elite (or pre-elite) stages;
and
• Its ability to be applied across sports, whether individual or team, Olympic (e.g.,
gymnastics) or professional (e.g., rugby league football).
Figure 2: The FTEM Framework, shows an illustration of the FTEM framework, including its stages and micro-phases, while Table 2: FTEM Phases of Development provides a summary of each phase of development as outlined by Gulbin, et al. (2013).
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 26
Figure 2. The FTEM framework. Reprinted from “An integrated framework for the optimisation of sport and athlete development: A practitioner approach”, by J Gulbin,
M. Croser, E. Morley and J Weissensteiner, 2013, Journal of Sports Sciences, 31(12), p. 1323. Copyright 2013 by Taylor & Francis.
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 27
Table 2
FTEM phases of development
Foundation F1 – Learning and The first phase of development denotes learning Acquisition of Basic fundamental movement skills. Here activity encompasses Movement play, games and basic movement as part of lifelong physical literacy. F2 – Extension and In the second phase, movements are refined through Refinement of formal and informal challenges such as deliberate play and Movement guided sport activities modified for age and ability. F3 – Sport-Specific The third phase sees a sport-specific commitment (though Commitment and/or the individual may participate in multiple sports). Regular Competition. practice and participating in formal or informal competition characterises this phase, though aspirations to become an elite athlete may not be the goal for many sport participants in this phase. Talent T1 – Demonstration of The fourth phase, T1, the first of the High Performance potential pathway, is where talented athletes are identified. Typically, an athlete will demonstrate the ability outperform their peers, indicating potential for elite sports success. The process of identification could be formal or informal, dependent upon the sport in question. T2 – Verification In T2, verification of initially identified talent takes place, usually by applying evidence-based measures and subjective coach assessments to particularly assess long term psycho-social suitability for high performance sport. The framework does not denote a time period for this process, which could take place over days or years depending on the sport. T3 – Practicing and The sixth phase, T3, sees a considerable investment by the Achieving athlete in their training, “striving for continual performance improvements and … focused on benchmark outcomes” (Richards, 2015b). This sees athletes engaging in higher levels of training and more advanced competition via the orchestration of a deliberate programming approach (see Bullock et al., 2009). T4 – Breakthrough and The ongoing hard work at T3 pays off at the T4 phase, Reward where athletes may experience a reward or key breakthrough moment, such as receiving an athletic
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 28
scholarship or being drafted into a professional team. The attainment of this key achievement is synonymous with valued and impactful sport and system related support. Elite E1 – Representation The Elite stage represents the professionalisation of the athlete. At E1, participants would be considered to be
operating within the highest possible level of senior competition. E2 – Success The E2 phase represents achieving professional success within the highest level of senior competition, such as
achieving a podium position at a major international event. Mastery The final FTEM stage of Mastery represents the achievement of prolonged sporting success (at E2) over a number of years or High Performance cycles.
2.8 Support and Criticism for the FTEM Framework
The FTEM framework has received industry-level support from sporting organisations nationally, including hockey and gymnastics (Gulbin & Weissensteiner,
2013). However, soon after publication, the framework received criticism by commentators for a failure to contribute new material or knowledge to the field. While justifiably privileging their own proposed model, MacNamara & Collins, 2013 note
Gulbin et al’s work did not overcome issues of preceding TID models. This criticism has since been challenged by the framework’s creators, (Gulbin, Croser, Morley, &
Weissensteiner, 2014), as a misreprensentation and incorrect categorisation of FTEM as a narrow model, as opposed to a broad framework encompassing many facets of
TID, which makes its use here imperative. In addition, the FTEM framework has since been cited favourably in a number of recent studies (see Farrow, Reid, Buszard, &
Kovalchik, 2017; Pion, Hohmann, Liu, Lenoir, & Segers, 2017).
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 29
2.9 Summary
To become a ballet dancer requires serious investment in training, and requires navigating a highly competitive field, which makes ballet ideal for studies in TID. As outlined, the current popularity of ballet within Australia justifies the need for research in TID in the field, particularly from an Australian perspective. While the pool of current literature in TID in dance is small, it is highly relevant to this research context.
Evaluation of the TID models and frameworks used throughout the studies included in the literature review lead to presenting the FTEM framework, including evaluating support and criticisms of it. Chapter 3 discusses how the available literature and the
FTEM framework informed the design of the current research.
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 30
Chapter 3: Methodology
The previous sections have discussed the history of ballet, its training environments, and pedagogies and the current context of ballet in Australia. Relevant recent studies and the strengths and weaknesses of the models and frameworks used to underpin those studies have also been outlined, and the FTEM framework underpinning this project has been unpacked. The following sections will outline the research design of this project and will detail the recruitment of participants, the tools used to gather data and methods of analysis.
3.1 Research Design
A mixed methods design was adopted for this research project, which aligns with the approach of Redding, et al. (2011) who also undertook multiple methods of data collection in order to gain rich data in both quantitative and qualitative forms.
Data collection was undertaken via the use of self-report surveys, similar to those utilised by Hutchinson et al. (2013), and follow-up semi-structured interviews. Given the large geographic distribution of the intended participants across Australia, self- report surveys and the semi-structured interviews could be administered without the researcher nor participants needing to travel in order to complete the research.
It was anticipated that the self-report surveys would elicit a broad range of data from the population of professional ballet dancers in Australia that has not been previously reported or analysed that would be of value to dance industry stakeholders
(for example, determining an average age of commencing ballet training would hold value to dance teachers, dancers and parents). It was proposed that the follow-up semi-
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 31
structured interviews would then enable further detailed data to be educed regarding dancers’ specific TID pathways to be obtained.
3.2 Ethics
This research project was approved by the Queensland University of
Technology (QUT) Human Research Ethics Committee (approval number
1500001043).
3.3 Participants
For the purposes of this research, only professional ballet dancers employed
(or previously employed) by the three professional Australian companies were invited to participate. Chua acknowledged that many of the previously conducted studies
“lack[ed] a theoretical definition of talent in dance with the result that the literature is confounded with a seemingly convenience sampling of dancers having varying ages, nationalities, and career achievements” (2014b, p. 250). It was determined that professional dancers were ideally positioned to discuss TID in dance, having been through the process themselves and having reached the benchmark of being employed by a dance company (which means that they have been identified as talented and have had that talent developed to such an extent as to achieve gainful employment from the art form). Hutchinson et al. (2013) acknowledged that dancers have accurate retrospective recall of their training in order to answer the questions asked in the surveys and interviews.
As previously discussed, the history and training pedagogies of ballet made it ideal for studying the conditions of TID (as opposed to other dance genres that may have less rigorous or less documented training methodologies). Therefore, participants in this research included dancers from the three professional dance companies in
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 32
Australia: The Australian Ballet, Queensland Ballet and West Australian Ballet. Data collection commenced in June 2016, and was completed by December 2016.
In total, five participants completed the survey (N = 5) with year of birth ranging from 1938 through to 1993 (M = 40.8, SD = 22.3).7 All participants identified as Australian with one participant (Participant 1) being male, and the remainder
(Participants 2-5) being female. Two of the dancers (Participant 4 and 5) had retired from dancing professionally8, while Participants 1, 2, and 3 were currently employed as dancers at the time of data collection. Two participants identified as being currently employed by Queensland Ballet, one by The Australian Ballet, and two participants did not respond to this question.
3.4 Recruitment
Initial contact with each of the ballet companies included providing an outline of the research project proposal to a company representative (for example, the company’s General Manager). Once confirmation of participation of the ballet company was confirmed, the representative forwarded an email invitation to dancers to participate in the research study. The company representative did not receive any information which could identify dancers participating in the survey. Despite multiple attempts by the research team to engage dancers via the company representatives, the survey invitation yielded a limited response from currently employed dancers. In order to collect a more substantial number of participants, the invitation to participate in the research was extended to retired dancers via the same company representatives.
7 Participant 4 originally listed her year of birth at 1950 in the survey but this was further clarified via email. 8 This assumption is based on Participants 4 and 5 responding to requests to participate in the survey after it was extended to retired dancers and closed to those currently dancing, and their subsequent interviews.
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 33
In line with the QUT ethical guidelines, the reporting of results from both the self-report surveys and semi-structured interviews was recoded to ensure participant anonymity. However, in reporting the results, participants may be potentially re- identifiable due to the small sample size and the discussion of personal history.
Participants were made aware of this risk, and those who completed an interview
(which provided significantly more personal detail than the survey alone), were provided with the opportunity to review their interview transcript prior to inclusion within the research thesis to ensure their responses were not misrepresented and any key identifiable information could be removed upon request.
3.5 Survey
Surveys were administered using the online software program KeySurvey
(WorldAPP Key Survey, 2017). The survey comprised of 23 questions and was expected to take between 30 and 45 minutes for participants to complete. Participants answered questions regarding demographics (year of birth, nationality and gender) and their current employer before progressing to answering questions regarding their dance training history. Questions were structured to elicit both quantitative and qualitative responses, such as the age of commencing dance and, specifically, ballet training
(quantitative response – numerical) and why they commenced ballet training
(qualitative response – short answer). Further quantitative questions included the age of commencing pointe work (for female dancers), the other styles of dance they may have undertaken, and a list of the institutions at which they had trained.
Several questions were adapted from those asked in previous studies and were elaborated upon where required. For example, participants in the Hutchinson et al.
(2013) study were asked at about the age at which their training began to increase from
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 34
one hour per week, using five-hour intervals (which was then multiplied by 52 to achieve a weekly amount of training and calculate the approximate number of hours trained up until the age of 21). However, the researchers discussed that the use of five- hour increments likely reduced the accuracy of their calculations. As a result of these recommendations, the participants in the current study were asked to nominate the approximate actual hours of ballet training in which they engaged weekly at each age.
This approach provided a higher level of detail regarding how training hours increased in smaller increments as dancers aged and developed.
Furthermore, participants were asked to rank training opportunities (such as competition or examination participation), using a Likert scale to gauge their importance to the dancer in terms of contribution to their career success. Other short answer questions were open ended, such as “What major challenges did you encounter in your professional career?” and “Describe a pivotal moment/s that has positively impacted upon your career progression”, to allow the participants the opportunity to provide detailed descriptions of beneficial and/or challenging influences pertinent to their personal career progression. For a full list of survey questions, see Appendix D.
3.6 Interview After completion of the survey, semi-structured interviews were conducted with those participants who elected to participate in this second stage of the research.
Interviews were conducted over the phone at times convenient to the participants, lasting approximately 45 minutes to one hour, and were audio-recorded and subsequently transcribed. The interview consisted of a pre-approved list of questions
(see Appendix E). In line with the process of using semi-structured interviews, questions were elaborated upon and additional questions asked, given the survey
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 35
responses already provided by each participant and the subsequent responses to the interview questions.
3.7 Data Analysis
Analysis of the quantitative results from the survey was conducted using SPSS
Statistical software Version 23 (IBM, 2015). Interviews were transcribed by a paid professional transcriber, who signed a confidentiality agreement as required for the project’s ethical approval. Transcribed interviews were then coded thematically driven by a grounded theory approach (Heydarian, 2016), using Nvivo computer software
(QSR International, 2016). Thematic analysis allowed for flexibility in terms of categorisation, so that key themes could emerge from the data, not just in terms of the number of times a theme was mentioned, but “in terms of whether it capture[d] something important in relation to the overall research question” (Braun & Clarke,
2006, p. 82). Themes that emerged were critically reviewed several times by the principal researcher in consultation with the supervisory team. Finally, using the
FTEM framework (Gulbin, et al., 2013), each participant’s pathway was written as a biography and summarised as a pictographic depiction (see Appendix F, Figures 7 through 11).
3.8 Statistical Methods
In reporting the results, where the mean of group data was calculated, standard deviation is also reported. In cases where individual variability was important to report, range was reported rather than mean. Bivariate correlation analyses (Spearman's r) were conducted using SPSS and are reported with acceptance of significance at p <
0.05.
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 36
Chapter 4: Results
The following chapter presents the results of the data analyses, both statistical and thematic, including the individual participant pathways which are additionally included in Appendix F. A broad theme of ‘ballet training’ would appear to exist within the analysed data, however upon further analysis, this can be divided into sub- themes (corresponding to particular training methods and opportunities) that form distinctly separate foci within this broad theme. Therefore, the impact of quantity of training, quality of training, performance experience, and external training opportunities will be discussed as separate themes.
4.1 Age of Starting Dance
Two participants commenced dance at the age of four, one at the age of five, one at the age of seven and one at 14. The mean age of commencing dance training was 6.8 years of age (SD = 4.2). All dancers commenced their training with ballet, excluding Participant 2 who commenced ballet training at age eight, one year after commencing her dance training in other styles at age seven. The average age of commencing ballet training was 7.0 (SD = 4.2). This was not vastly different to the study conducted by Hutchinson et al. (2013) researching Mexican, Russian and
American contexts, although they did observe a gender bias, with a later starting age for males (M = 10.6, SD = 3.3) than for females (M = 7.6, SD = 2.9). The gender bias was not observed in the current study, though this may be due to the small sample size.
No statistically significant correlation between the age of starting ballet training and the level of expertise attained by age 18 was observed (rs = .05, p > .05).
This is similar to the findings of Hutchinson, et al. (2013), who observed that later
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 37
starting ages were accompanied by a more dramatic increase in the number of hours of training per week. While starting age may not have had an impact upon the level of expertise attained, the data revealed that it may have had a psychological impact on the dancer concerned. For example, Participant 4 did not commence ballet training until age 14, yet was the dancer with the most expertise gained in this study (reaching
FTEM stage M which included the rank of principal dancer). In her interview, she said:
I didn't know enough [about ballet] to know how unrealistic I was which was
probably a good thing … And I remember thinking, ‘Oh well, I’ll never be a
dancer,’ because this other girl who’d started learning at three or something
and by this stage was about 15 or 16, she was beautiful. And I remember
thinking, ‘Well I can’t be a dancer because she’s going to be a dancer, I can see
it’.
As outlined in the introduction, there are recorded examples of dancers succeeding as acclaimed dancers despite a late starting age (Minden, 2005). The implications of starting age on dance TID will be further discussed in Chapter 5.
4.2 Age of Commencing Pointe Work
As outlined in Chapter 2, commencing pointe work represents a significant milestone for female dancers. Of the female dancers, three commenced dancing en pointe between ages 11 and 13. As Participant 4 did not commence any dance training until age 14, it is not unexpected that she did not commence en pointe until age 16
(which is when she also commenced dancing approximately 20 hours per week). The mean age of commencing pointe work was 13 (N = 4, SD = 2.16), which is older than the ages observed by Hutchinson, et al. (2013). Table 3 Mean Ages of Commencing
Pointe Work, displays the mean age of commencing pointe work for each nationality
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 38
within the Hutchinson et al. study, compared with the mean age of commencing pointe work observed in the current study of Australian participants.
Table 3
Mean ages of commencing pointe work
Nationality Mean Age (SD)
Australian 13.0 (2.1) Mexican* 11.8 (1.2) Russian * 10.0 (0.63) American* 10.5 (1.9) * As observed by Hutchinson et al. (2013).
If Participant 4 is considered an outlier and excluded from the data, the mean age of commencing pointe work for the Australian dancers is 12.0 (SD = 1.0) and still older than all of those observed by Hutchinson et al. (2013). The later age of commencing pointe work could perhaps be attributed to the study of syllabus work, where dancing en pointe is only commenced when graduating to certain levels, or could be attributed to recommendations by the International Association of Dance
Medicine and Science not to commence pointe work before age 12 (Weiss, Rist, &
Grossman, 2009). While the small size of the sample should be taken into account, the causes and implications of a later starting age of pointe work could be an area that warrants further exploration.
4.3 Complementary Styles of Dance
As outlined in the literature review, many dancers will study other dance styles in addition to their ballet training (Minden, 2005). The survey revealed that all of the
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 39
participants studied other styles of dance in conjunction with their ballet training, with the most common styles studied being contemporary and jazz, as demonstrated in
Figure 3, Additional dance styles studied by the participants.
3
2
Number of participants 1
0
Dance style
Figure 3. Additional dance styles studied by the participants.
Participant 1 discussed his perception of the benefit of studying character dance alongside his ballet training. This benefit was realised once gaining a place at the
Australian Ballet School:
The teacher that I had … [she] was one of the best that I've ever had and no
other teacher that I've ever had has come to where she has kind of brought me
… So for me, that's what I kind of experienced. And in fact, I found most of
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 40
the character stuff [at The Australian Ballet School] quite easy to do. Because
I, you know, had done so much complicated work with [my previous teacher].
4.4 Private Coaching
Participants were asked whether they participated in any private coaching (also known as “private lessons” where just one dancer is present for the lesson with one teacher). Four participants received private coaching as part of their training.
Participant 4 did not receive private coaching, nor studied a recognised syllabus as part of her training. None of the participants who undertook an interview raised private coaching as an important part of their training.
4.5 Quantity of Ballet Training
Based on the findings from Hutchinson, et al. (2013), it was decided that participants would answer questions based on the number of hours of deliberate practice undertaken at each age to reveal an accurate representation of the total number of hours undertaken. In order to calculate the approximate total hours of dance undertaken by the time the participants turned 18, the participants were asked to recall the number of hours of deliberate practice of ballet they undertook per week at each age from two years through to 17 years of age. These responses were then used to calculate the approximate number of hours the participant had undertaken by the age of 18 (by multiplying each week’s hours by 40).9
9 Most dance schools in Australia operate approximately 40 weeks of the year, taking breaks from regular classes over holiday periods in April, June, September and December/January.
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 41
This approach also differs to the method used by Hutchinson, et al. (2013), where the hours per week were multiplied by 52 weeks in the year. The results are shown in Figure 4, with a mean of 4380 hours of accumulated practice observed (SD
= 2907). The large standard deviation represents the wide variability in the results of this question, also demonstrated in Figure 4.
10000
8000
6000
4000
2000
Approximate total hours of accumulated practice 0
Figure 4. Total number of hours of deliberate practice estimated by age 18
Hutchinson, et al. (2013, p. 31) observed that the level of ballet expertise attained by age 18 was significantly correlated with the accumulated hours of practice by age 17 (r = 0.42, p < 0.005), with a mean accumulated practice hours of 6127 (SD
= 3882). However, within the current study, no significant correlation was found to exist between the amount of accumulated hours of practice and the FTEM level achieved by age 18 (rs = 0.00, p > .05), though the small sample size should be considered.
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 42
While there is no significant correlation between the number of hours of training and FTEM level attained by age 18, examining the number of hours of ballet training undertaken does allow for some interesting comparisons between participants.
For example, Participant 1 engaged in three hours of ballet training per week from five years of age, progressing to 10 hours per week of training at nine years of age. This is much higher than Participants 3 and 5 who, despite commencing ballet training earlier, undertook only one to two hours of training per week until approximately age 12.
Further discussions regarding the causes and implications of the number of hours of training undertaken take place in Chapter 5.
4.6 Age When First Attaining Rank
As detailed in Table 4, Age of attaining ranks within a ballet company, of the five participants, two received a traineeship commencing their employment as a ballet dancer. Three of the participants were employed by a company by the age of 18, while one participant was 19 and the other 21. Only one of the five participants had achieved the rank of principal at the time of completing the survey. The mean age of attaining any position was 18.8 years (SD = 1.3).
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 43
Table 4
Age of attaining ranks within a ballet company
Rank Participant 1 Participant 2 Participant 3 Participant 4 Participant 5
Trainee/ 21 18 Young Artist Corps de 19 22 19 18 ballet Coryphée 20
Junior soloist 22 28
Soloist 18* 22
Senior artist
Principal 20*
* Participant 4 achieved the rank of soloist at age 18 and principal at age 20, but not with one of the three ballet companies defined by this study as the professional ballet companies in Australia. She clarified in her interview that she achieved the rank of soloist with The Australian Ballet at age 20 and principal at age 26. The further implications of this are discussed in the Limitations section of Chapter
5.
4.7 Reasons for Commencing Ballet Training
Responses to the question “Why did you commence training in ballet?” were varied, as shown in Table 5, Reasons for commencing ballet training. Although there was no consensus among the participants, two participants did cite their mother as a reason for commencing.
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 44
Table 5
Reasons for commencing ballet training
Participant 1 Participant 2 Participant 3 Participant 4 Participant 5 I was To have Mum used to From the age My mum sent inspired by more teach so I of around 6, I me to ballet seeing technique wanted to go always because she contemporary and with her. believed I loved it, I dance on discipline in was going to went along to film. my other be a ballet my first class styles of dancer, even and was dance. though I had hooked. only seen it in books.
4.8 The Age of Thinking About and Working Toward Becoming a Dancer
Participants were asked the age they were when first thinking about becoming a professional ballet dancer, and their age when they commenced working towards becoming a professional ballet dancer. The responses to these questions were also quite varied, as demonstrated in Table 6, Ages of thinking about and working towards becoming a professional ballet dancer. For example, Participant 5 had the initial thought and made the conscious decision to work towards becoming a dancer at age four. In contrast, Participant 1 made the decision to work towards becoming a professional ballet dancer at age 14 despite dancing for ten years prior to this. The mean age of first thinking about becoming a professional dancer was 10.4 (SD = 5.0), while the mean age of making a conscious decision to work towards becoming a professional dancer was older at 12.2 (SD = 4.8).
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 45
Table 6 Ages of thinking about and working towards becoming a professional ballet
dancer
Participant 1 Participant 2 Participant 3 Participant 4 Participant 5
Age of first 14 15 13 6 4 having the idea of becoming a professional ballet dancer?
Age of making a 14 16 15 12 4 conscious decision to work towards becoming a professional ballet dancer?
4.9 The Importance of Various Training Opportunities
Participants were asked to use a Likert scale to rank the following training and
performance opportunities in terms of their importance in contributing to their career.
The mean response to this question is illustrated in Figure 5: Importance of training
opportunities (mean response).
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 46
)
Mean response
(where 1= not important and 5 = very important
Training Opportunity
Figure 5. Importance of training opportunities (mean response)
All participants ranked “Dance concerts or performances within the
institution/s you trained in” as either important or very important. This had the highest
mean response (M = 4.4, SD = 0.5). Three out of five participants ranked competitions
(including solo, group, regional and state level) as important to their careers, while
three out of five dancers also ranked major Australian competitions to be important or
very important to their careers. Three out of five dancers nominated summer schools
as being important or very important to their careers. Three out of five dancers
nominated child/supernumerary roles with professional companies as important or
very important to their careers. In a follow up question, Participant 1 stated it was
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 47
important in order “to gain onstage/offstage experience and confidence, also to gain an insight into company life and what a career in ballet/dance is like.”
4.10 Quality of Training
The quality of training emerged as a key theme from qualitative responses to the survey and in the interviews. This theme was then grouped into three sub-themes of teachers, syllabus and examinations.
4.10.1 Teachers. Participants 1 and 4 specifically comment about the role that their teachers played in supporting them through their training. Participant 1 described his teacher as “one of his greatest heroes”, stating: “She basically instilled the passion that I have for dance which I still have today. And she basically showed me that no matter what happened, you can always do your best. She'd never, ever, ever give up.”
Participant 4 lacked parental support, but reported that she found unequivocal support from her teacher:
My mother went along after a year to watch the end of year class … she said
to [teacher’s name removed], “What should I do with her?” … [Teacher’s name
removed] said, “You can do whatever you like, because she’s going to be a
dancer anyway.” … [she] just decided that it was, you know, it was sort of fait
accompli. So she just was incredibly generous and just allowed me to do any
[classes], for the first two years I only did one class a week and then she let me
do whatever I liked. Which was absolutely everything, seven days a week. And
I lived in the hostel so there was nobody really monitoring me. So I just kept
saying I had to go to ballet and they just didn't care so I went … it was
absolutely wonderful … I owe my whole career to her.
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 48
Conversely, it took Participant 5 some time to find a teacher who could progress her training to the level she demanded of herself:
I think it was around [age] eleven I moved to a bigger more established ballet
school. I stayed there for a few years and I had problems with the teachers.
They … I was a child that always questioned things and … looking back now,
I think the teachers just didn't know the answers … So one of the teachers she
was particularly … not mentally abusive but just not helpful. All I wanted to
do was dance and she’d be yelling at me. So I left that school and went to
another school where … I related to the teacher and I wanted to get my Solo
Seal [Award] and do a bunch of competitions and audition for The Australia
Ballet School. And she was able to get me there.
4.10.2 Study of a syllabus. Three participants studied the RAD syllabus, and one studied the Cecchetti syllabus. Participants 1 and 5 were accepted and subsequently trained at The Australian Ballet School after studying the RAD syllabus.
As shown in Figure 5, the mean importance of studying a syllabus was rated as 3.2 out of a possible 5. If the response of Participant 4, who did not study a syllabus, is excluded, the recalculated mean importance was 3.75 out of a possible 5 for all remaining participants. In his interview, Participant 1 outlined why he believed that the RAD syllabus prepared him for subsequent training at The Australian Ballet
School:
I think the RAD syllabus set me up and it gave me a vocabulary of what ballet
is. Which is obviously vital … I started off with RAD but then moving down
to The Australian Ballet [School], they have the Vaganova based training. The
Russian style of training. So that was just a transition to get in there. So I think
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 49
that's what RAD did for me. It basically gave me a base vocabulary of what I
needed to know and the steps I needed to do and then from there was just a
matter of learning a different name of a step.
Participant 5 also commented about how the RAD syllabus prepared her for undertaking training at The Australian Ballet School:
As you progress through the years and then into the vocational levels it just
seemed to flow and there didn't seem to be any holes in the training. When I
joined The Australian Ballet Company or even The Australian Ballet School I
was able to keep up so to speak.
While she doesn’t mention the lack of use of a syllabus in her training specifically,
Participant 4 laments that she found some technical elements of her training were lacking:
Although my training was excellent artistically, it did not develop the control
my flexible body required. Although my technique was strong in many areas,
I was weak in others where my training had been inadequate … I did not feel
confident in virtuoso technique such as turns. I always felt that I could have
overcome my weaknesses if someone could have explained what was missing,
but at that time company processes did not focus on technical development.
Arguably, it is possible that study of a recognised syllabus that covers the documented technical elements required of professional ballet dancers may have covered these
“virtuoso techniques” and allowed for her to develop greater technical proficiency.
4.10.3 Examinations. The fact that a recognised syllabus also allowed the participants to undertake examinations and be observed under conditions of relative
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 50
objectivity was also of importance. If the response of Participant 4, who did not participate in examinations, is excluded, the mean importance of examinations to the remaining participants (n = 4) was 3 out of a possible 5, however the importance of undertaking examinations was outlined by Participants 3 and 5 in the survey, as being important for “technique skills” and for allowing “me and my parents to show us that
I was an elite dancer” respectively. Participant 5 further explains how the high results she achieved allowed her to prove her talent to her parents:
I was always getting Honours or Highly Commended and it wasn’t until sort
of a few years kept coming and I was the best in the class and getting the good
results that Mum and Dad started to think, “Oh, you know, she’s got a little bit
of talent for this”.
Participant 1 also outlined why he thought examinations were important to his career in his interview:
As I got older through my schooling, they got … my marks got better and
better. I started off with, you know, probably as a child getting maybe 60s and
70s out of 100 and then as I progressed, I started to get 80s and then into 90s
then high 90s into my final exam.
4.11 The Value of Performance Experience
The value of gaining “performance experience” arises as a key theme in both the survey and interviews. Performance experience would be defined as gaining experience from performing in front of a live audience. Performing forms the basis of employment of a dancer once employed by a ballet company (Ausdance, 2011).
Performance opportunities like end-of-year dance concerts were the most highly valued opportunities in the survey with a mean value of 4.4 out of a possible 5.
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 51
As outlined in Table 7, in addition to the experience gained from being “on stage”, participants also discussed how performance experience increased their understanding of stage craft or being “off stage”, such as practice in applying makeup and preparing hairstyles, as well as providing inspiration and understanding of the mechanics of engaging in performances.
Participants 2 and 5 make mention of competitions, which as shown in Figure
5 ranks equally at a value of 3.2 out of 5, regardless of the location or type of competition. However, it should be noted that the competing and comparison aspect forms only one part of its importance from the participant’s perspectives. Both
Participants 3 and 5 describe competitions as being important to their training because of the performance experience that these opportunities provide, as shown in Table 7.
While the value of comparison to a wider pool of dancers and talent shouldn’t be excluded, the value of the performance experience that competitions provide should also be acknowledged.
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 52
Table 7
Examples from the survey about the importance of performance experience
Participant Response
Participant 1 To gain onstage/offstage experience and confidence, also to gain an
insight into company life and what a career in ballet/dance is like.
Participant 2 Competitions gave me the performance experience
Participant 3 Performance value is important for those skills
Participant 4 My teacher was a former ballerina and a choreographer with
exceptional artistic and theatrical ability. Her training in
performance skills and her development of my creativity were
extremely valuable in my professional career.
Participant 5 Dance concerts - inspiration, learning stage craft, make up, hair
Competitions - to see where I rated in a bigger pool of dancers,
learning how to perform and conduct myself under pressure.
Performances that occurred outside of the dancer’s school ranked only 3 out of
5 in terms of importance in the survey, but both Participant 1 and 3 make mention of their overall importance, again in terms of gaining performance experience. Participant
3 in the survey said that amateur, community and youth ballet company performances provided her with “inspiration, dancing with kids from other dance schools and being taught by new teachers”. Participant 1 in his interview discussed the inspiration he received from performing with a professional ballet company:
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 53
It only happened a couple of times. But being able to go on stage and [dance
with] a professional company. Even when you have no true understanding of
how a company works, it was amazing … And if anything, that just, you know,
it just made me want to do more and more and more and more. To, yeah, just
for me to realise, “this is what I want to do. This is fantastic”.
In summary, dancers found that performance experience gained through dance concerts, competitions, and performances outside of their dance school, to be highly valuable to their training and career progression. The implications of this will be further discussed in Chapter 5.
4.12 Exposure to External Influences and Training Environments
The results suggested that training opportunities, such as short-term scholarships and summer schools, may be considered as key catalysts for expertise development. For example short-term scholarships, particularly those involving travel and interactions with companies, were listed by a number of participants as having a positive influence on their training and/or career progression.
The bestowment of scholarships, both those for long-term training (where tuition is paid for) and short-term opportunities for interaction with either a national company (in the case of a dance student) or with an international company (in the case of a company member) are long-established components of the system of dance training that reward talent. For example, the scholarship prizes offered in the Prix de
Lausanne, one of the largest and most prestigious international ballet competitions, enable pre-elite dancers to travel worldwide to experience alternative training environments (Prix de Lausanne, 2017).
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 54
Throughout the T stage of the FTEM framework, “breakthrough performances result in system rewards”, which may include opportunities for interaction between these pre-elite dancers and their elite counterparts (Gulbin, et al., 2013, p. 1326). The receipt of a short-term scholarship to train with a company is one such opportunity, as
Participant 2 outlined in her survey response:
I was fortunate to win a scholarship in a local eisteddfod which enabled me
to spend a week with a professional ballet company. This experience and
insight into the world was really when I made my decision [to become a
professional dancer]. I think I was 15 at the time.
This experience took place just prior to her transition to T3, suggesting that this exposure to a professional ballet company was pivotal in her decision to become a professional dancer.
Participant 1 in the survey suggested that for him, a four-week scholarship to
America was a “pivotal moment” in his career. He further elaborated on the impact of the scholarship in his interview. He was chosen for the scholarship by the director of the ballet company, in his second year as a corps de ballet member, and describes it as
“one of those ‘you’ve got to pinch me’ moments”, indicating the gravity of receiving the opportunity. He said:
I've learnt so much, you know, visiting all the different companies and I've
really grown as a dancer from that experience and seeing what, you know, the
standard is of the rest of the world. And bringing that [back] to Australia and
putting that into my own career and seeing what I can do.
Drawing a direct link between receiving the scholarship and receiving a promotion to junior soloist the following year would be tenuous. However, it does suggest that an acknowledgement of talent by the artistic director of the company (in awarding him
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 55
the scholarship) and exposure to various environments in other companies and the expertise of other dancers and ballet masters/mistresses may have had a positive influence on his career progression from E1 to E2.
Participant 4 in the survey also discussed the positive benefits she received from overseas travel, suggesting that the recognition from peers helped improve her confidence as a performer:
As a soloist on my first trip overseas, I attended a class alongside world-
renowned dancers. I expected to be hopeless (Australia's cultural cringe was
rampant) but [name of dancer removed] insisted on my being in the front line
[of the class] with her because she assumed I was the company principal –
another example of recognition helping my confidence.
Participant 5 also experienced benefits from scholarships while in the T4 and E1 phases. She received multiple training scholarships (where her tuition was paid for), but also travel opportunities as short-term scholarships to other countries:
At the time that I was at the Australian Ballet School it was a three-year
diploma course … I received the main scholarship for the first year girls that
year. The second year I received the main scholarship for the girls and I also
received a scholarship with a boy in my year to travel over to a summer school
in Boston in the States . . . Then my third year I won the major female
scholarship again for that year, [and] went on Dancer’s Company tour.10
Participant 5 additionally received a scholarship to travel overseas when she was in her second year as a dancer with the Australian Ballet. “I went to New York, Paris and
London and got coached by some really cool ballerinas, ex-ballerinas which was pretty
10 The Dancer’s Company is a performing opportunity available to selected dancers in the Graduate Year at the Australian Ballet School. It takes the form of touring to regional Australia and performing works for paying audiences in a company-like setting (The Australian Ballet, 2015).
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 56
wild … I got two of those scholarships over the years so it was pretty cool.” She received a promotion to soloist the year after first receiving the travel scholarship.
Summer schools present a similar opportunity to receive input from external sources. A summer school would consist of an intensive training opportunity over and above usual ballet training, often undertaken at either an institution other than the dancer’s regular school; with guest teachers; or outside of the dancer’s usual cohort.
Attending summer schools had a mean ranking of 3.6 out of a possible 5 in terms of importance to the participants in the survey. Participant 2 in her survey response said,
“Summer schools helped me connect with other dancers working towards the same goals and different teachers that could offer different opinions and experiences.”
Participant 3 also outlined the importance of summer schools to her, saying “it is important to travel around so you can compare to others out there and also hopefully be seen by the right people.” Participant 5 in her interview identified that, for her, in addition to the exposure to external influences and comparing herself to other students, summer schools enabled her to prove the existence of her talent to her parents:
I think it was also important for my parents to see where I was at because at
that stage I was dancing every day and they were unsure whether to steer me
or not steer me. So I think it would have been very difficult for them, but I kept
coming up with the goods.
In summary, short-term scholarships and summer schools provide exposure to external sources of influence such as guest teachers, as well as giving the opportunity for students and other stakeholders to make comparisons about their talent in relation to others. The implications of engaging in these training opportunities will be further discussed in Chapter 5.
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 57
4.13 Drive and Passion
Many of the participants were observed to possess an innate sense of drive and overriding passion for ballet. For example, Participant 1 stated, “quite honestly, I've never worked a day in my life. Because it's always been fuelled by love and passion.”
He even went so far as to audition twice for the ballet company that he wanted to work for, just to make sure that he made a good impression on the company’s artistic director. When asked about commencing ballet classes, Participant 5 reported, “I just remember loving the movement and wearing the pink leotard and skirt and the music was a big thing for me, I loved all the piano music.” She stated that she had an almost life-long commitment to working towards becoming a dancer.
I was working from four to become a professional dancer … It was very
serious, it wasn’t ever anything else. Which I look back now and think that
that’s quite amazing but it was never going to be anything else … I don't know
whether it was because I happened to be really good at it, that that on a sort of
a psychological level is why I went, or whether it was just the magic of the
theatre and … the fairyland of performance and the feeling I got from it.
Participant 4 reported a strong sense of drive in battling her family circumstances to attend class. She described in her interview how she would catch trams to and from the studio at the age of 14, and would skip meal times at the hostel that she lived in, just so she could attend class. A love of dance permeated her training, even before she truly understood what ballet was:
Well from about six or seven I don't know when but around, very young, I
wanted to be a dancer but I’d never seen ballet. But I’d seen A Baron at the
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 58
Ballet, you know that book? And so we didn't have any money so I just
pretended I was a dancer and I used to pretend to all my friends that I did learn
ballet. And they did learn ballet and I’d show them what I did and it was much
more exciting and dramatic and passionate than what they did. So I thought I
was, they thought I was really good. But I didn't have my first lesson until I
was 14.
This aligns with findings from Walker, et al. (2010) who found that enjoyment was a factor in talented dancers progressing through training, and Redding, et al. (2011) who found that passion in talented students did not alter over time. This sense of drive and passion for ballet may have seen these dancers overcome challenges that arose throughout their career and may have prevented drop out.
4.14 Challenges
Participants listed a variety of challenges that they experienced throughout their training and their careers. Using the factors of athlete development proposed by Gulbin and Weissensteiner (2013) in their three dimensional athlete development model (3D-
AD), the challenges are categorised as athlete, environmental, and system factors, including sub-factors. It is important to note that not all factors and sub-factors of athlete development are listed here, and that the factors and sub-factors do influence athlete development in both positive and negative ways, however only those factors identified by the participants as ‘challenges’ to their development are listed here:
4.14.1 Athlete factors.
Morphological. In the case of Participant 1, he lacked turn out and the ability to articulate (point) his feet fully, which caused distress through his training and into his
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 59
career. Injuries affected Participants 2, 3, 4 and 5 throughout their training and in their professional careers. In the case of Participant 5, a knee injury that plagued her through childhood eventually ended her career as a ballet dancer. Participant 2 and Participant
4 both commented that their height proved challenging in the professional careers
(Participant 4 because she was “too tall”; Participant 3 did not define whether it was shortness or tallness that affected her). Participant 4 stopped dancing due to motherhood, as at the time there wasn’t dance medicine support for mothers to return to dance after giving birth.
Psychological. Participant 1 experienced mental instability throughout the final stage of his training due to being placed on probation, which involved the potential discontinuation of his involvement in his dance Diploma. Participant 2 also described that the “psychological side” of the art was proving harder to handle as she aged.
Sport-specific skills. Participant 4 acknowledged that she lacked virtuosic technique. Participant 5 also commented that being left-handed presented a challenge when learning choreography that gravitated towards use of the right side of the body.
4.14.2 Environmental factors
Geographical. Participant 3 may have experienced some level of isolation given she did not train in a capital city until being offered a position as a trainee with a ballet company. Participant 5 had to travel in order to complete some of her exams, as they were not offered in her city in certain years.
Family. Participant 1 commented that his parents had family friends who would support his training financially when his parents were unable to. He also commented that he lacked family support when he had to relocate to study at The Australian Ballet
School. Participant 4 could not start dancing despite a strong desire to due to the
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 60
inability of her family to support her financially. Her training was sponsored almost entirely by the ballet school she attended.
Teachers/Coaching. Participant 5 found it challenging to find a teacher that was knowledgeable enough to adequately progress her training. Participant 4 found that her teacher lacked knowledge in some technical areas, while being gifted in others.
4.14.3 System Factors. Participant 1 lamented not being chosen for roles due to the subjective nature of selection within the art form. Subjectivity could therefore be considered a system factor.
4.15 Applying the FTEM Framework
In order to test the validity of the framework within the ballet context, the participant’s development pathways were reconstructed, first as biographies and then as pictographic summaries. For Participants 1, 4 and 5, pathways were constructed using both the data from the survey responses supplemented with the further explanations they provided within their interviews. For Participants 2 and 3, who only completed the survey, their pathways were constructed using the survey data only. The data was analysed and presented against the FTEM framework as it is outlined in
Chapter 2. Each Participant’s biography and corresponding summary can be viewed in Appendix F.
It should be noted that while the phase of F2 is included in one participant’s pathway, it is not included in others due to lack of information regarding this phase.
Likewise, F1 is not present for all participants. Another factor to note is the definition of the T4 phase. Upon consultation with the literature, T4 was defined as receiving a traineeship or entering a ‘Professional Year’ program with one of the three ballet
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 61
companies, or entering study of a Diploma at The Australian Ballet School. Other full- time and part-time training opportunities were categorised as placing participants at the F3 phase. Discussion of the limitations of the model used and the data collected, as well as recommendations for further research in this area are included in Chapter 5.
4.15.1 Comparing FTEM pathways
Figure 6, Participant’s FTEM pathways charted against age, demonstrates participants’ FTEM pathways compared with their age. While FTEM is devoid of fixed age boundaries, in order to make comparisons between participants and represent them in a visual manner, age was used as a common factor. Other than an upward trend in progression through the FTEM phases, the only major similarity is that the participants all commenced operating at an FTEM phase of T3 between the ages of 15 and 17. Otherwise, the pathways for each participant show a great amount of variation.
Some participants move quickly between phases, such as Participant 4 who moved from F3 at age 14 to T4 at age 17, while other participants (e.g., Participant 3) moved more slowly through the phases.
It should be noted that while this graph shows linear progressions with an upward trend through the FTEM phases, the results could be due to lack of information
(especially from Participant 2 and 3 who declined to complete an interview). For example, the progression of Participant 2 through T3 to T4 shows an upward linear progression. However, if more information was available regarding her activities between the ages of 15 (entering a full-time course) and 21 (receiving a traineeship), her pathway may not necessarily have been linear.
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M
E2
E1
T4
T3
T2 FTEM Level T1
F3
F2
F1
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 Age
Participant 1 Participant 2 Participant 3 Participant 4 Participant 5
Figure 6. Participants’ FTEM pathways charted against age.
By using the FTEM framework as a guide to mapping the pathways of the participants, in combination with viewing the results of the statistical analysis and thematic analysis of the data, it can be seen that while the participants shared some commonalities, they also experienced a range of challenges and ultimately undertook various and individualised pathways to becoming professional dancers. Further analysis of the FTEM framework and its effectiveness in charting participant’s pathways in this context takes place in Chapter 5.
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Chapter 5: Discussion
The purpose of this chapter is to use the FTEM framework as a lens to analyse ballet TID within Australia. Observations are included about the conditions in which talented ballet dancers are identified and developed, as well as areas where knowledge gaps remain. Limitations of the study will also be addressed and recommendations for future research put forward.
5.1 Applying FTEM to Dance
This research applied the FTEM framework within a new context of dance
(specifically ballet). Its application in this context is suitable due to several factors.
Firstly, dance shares a number of similar characteristics with sport. Dancers have been referred to as “performing athletes”, with dance requiring much of the same financial, psychological and physical commitment as sport demands of professional athletes
(Chua, 2014a). Secondly, in addition to Walker et al. (2010) having already established the paradigm that the dance discipline can draw from the learnings surrounding TID in sport, a discourse exists within the dance community around the issue of dance becoming “sport-like” (Garecht, 2014; Kottler, 2014). This implies (rightly or wrongly) a growing focus on virtuosity and skill or athleticism rather than artistry, leading to the potential for findings from sport research to be accepted by the wider dance community, not just academia.
Furthermore, several sports share some characteristics with ballet including: codified movement; the use of memory to replicate those movements; and coordination of synchronised movements across team members set to music. The framework could be suitably applied to rhythmic gymnastics and synchronised
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swimming for example. The major difference between these sports and ballet is the intent of the performance and the subjective nature of judgements regarding performance. For example, gymnastics and synchronised swimming are subject to objective scoring systems, and performative elements (even those with an artistic component) link back to the scoring system. In ballet however, a large component of performance involves conveying the artistic intent of the choreographer (Aujla, et al.,
2015). Similarly, it could be argued that the competitive element of dance, once having entered the Elite or professional phase, lies not with competing with other dancers for prizes but rather competing for promotions or roles, which may be extrinsic to the performative elements and reliant on subjective markers of success, such as the opinion of a director. Subjectivity in ballet will be further discussed throughout this chapter.
5.2 The Effectiveness of the FTEM Framework
Having established that FTEM can be suitably applied to ballet, it is important to evaluate its application in the context of this research. Analysis of the findings indicated that there is much more to be understood about these conditions and the ways in which dancers are developed, though in a general sense, the FTEM framework is highly applicable to ballet in Australia. The macro stages of Foundation, Talent, Elite and Mastery were easily applied to dancers based on parallels drawn between the development of elite athletes and the development of ballet dancers. This has facilitated the following findings about TID in ballet (as framed by the phases of the framework).
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5.2.1 F1 – Learning and acquisition of basic movement foundations. The
F1 phase is categorised by the learning of fundamental movements. This study did not yield detailed information about the participants’ experiences prior to commencing dance or ballet training. Participant 1 was the only participant to discuss his level of activity at the F1 phase. “Prior to [starting dance], I guess, the only activity or movement that I had been doing was, I guess, the average toddler/infant kind of movement. Running around, you know, playing with balls. You know, just general kids’ stuff.” Although this particular study does not shed much light on how the physical literacy developed during this crucial early period impacts upon the development of expertise in dance, it should be noted that this is an area of concern at an industry level. For example, the importance of mastering crawling in early development has been linked to the successful development of core stability in dancers
(Howell, 2015).
As discussed by (Gulbin, et al., 2013), parents and siblings play a key role during this period. With the exception of Participant 3, who commented that her mother was a dance teacher and that she wanted to go with her mother to dance class, very little information was yielded about the role of participants’ parents and siblings at this stage. It is possible this is due to the survey and interview design, rather than participants not experiencing parental or sibling support or influence at this phase. The role of parents and siblings at this first phase of development may be an area of investigation for further research.
5.2.2 F2 – Extension and refinement of movement foundations. Based on the mapping of participants’ pathways, all but one of the participants were identified as commencing their ballet training at the F3 phase. Participant 3 commenced her ballet training at the F2 phase, having reported undertaking half an hour a week of
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dance training at ages four and five. This could position her at an F2 phase due to the dance class being “organised age-appropriate modified sport” (Richards, 2015b). It is possible that Participant 2 commenced dance training at an F2 phase but in another style of dance, therefore entering the pathway for ballet directly at F3 when she commenced ballet training at age 8 with the specific purpose of using ballet to enhance her technique in other styles.
While the study showed that participants (excluding Participant 3) commenced ballet training at the F3 phase, because the F2 phase is intrinsically linked to normal biological development (such as enhanced movement patterns from the F1 phase), all participants would have experienced both the F1 and F2 phase, regardless of when they commenced ballet training. The lack of data at the F2 phase is linked to the research design and structure of the survey and interviews, which did not yield responses from the participants about their years of movement prior to commencing dance or ballet training. As a result, this information was not included within the
FTEM pathways or in Figure 6 (excluding Participant 3). This is an area of research that warrants further exploration.
Given the wide variety of dance schools in operation throughout Australia
(Ausdance, 2011), its likely that some schools may service this sector of the dance market exclusively. For example, some schools may only offer dance as active recreation without offering exams, competition participation or more demanding training environments that would facilitate a dancer’s progression to the F3 phase. This could be an exclusively preschool-based program, or could also encompass classes for adults pursuing dance as part of a fitness program or as a contribution to an active lifestyle.
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5.2.3 F3 – Sport specific commitment and/or competition. This phase is arguably where the results revealed the most about TID in ballet in the Australian context. The F3 phase is characterised by an increased level of commitment to training, with skill development specific to the sport, as well as an engagement in competition
(Gulbin, et al., 2013). For the purposes of the ballet context, the undertaking of examinations also fits within this phase. It is hypothesised that, as with sporting participants, many dancers may operate within the F3 phase for a lifetime, whether through “choice or ability” (Gulbin, et al., 2013, p. 1325).
5.2.3.1 Hours of practice. Although the total accumulated hours of practice was not found to have a significant impact upon the level of ballet expertise in this study, all participants showed an increase in the number of hours of ballet training undertaken throughout the F3 phase. While a correlation with expertise may not be present, undertaking additional hours of practice may have other implications. For example, Participant 1 progressed to a T2 phase at age nine, after undertaking more hours of training than the other participants, who did not progress to T2 until age 14 or older. It is possible that engaging in additional hours of training during the F3 phase may impact how quickly his talent was identified and confirmed by teachers and other stakeholders. However, an earlier transition into the T1 phase does not seem to have had an impact on how quickly or successfully Participant 1 then progressed through to
E1 or E2. This could be due to the completion of study commitments (such as taking three years to complete a Diploma at The Australian Ballet School).
Participant 3 only achieved approximately 1280 hours of ballet training by age
18. Research into the schools she attended (though not included here to maintain anonymity) reveals that she was living in a non-capital city, so may have not had access to more intensive training locally, mirroring findings by the ABS (2011). However, it
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was not possible to precisely confirm why she was unable to undertake more hours of training.
While Participant 4 only engaged in minimal training with a teacher upon commencing ballet training at age 14, in her interview she clarified that she would practise for multiple hours on her own:
After my first [lesson] I went home and practised [for] eight hours. And then
the next day was Sunday and I practised [for] eight hours. So every weekend I
practised [for] eight hours a day and then I practised [for] three or four hours
the other days. No doubt doing it extremely badly because I didn't know
anything then.
While she admits that the additional practice may have been in vain due to her lack of knowledge, it is possible that this additional self-guided practice saw her achieve more than her classmates and perform beyond the expectations of her teachers.
In contrast to the findings of (Hutchinson, et al., 2013), there is a large amount of variability in the number of hours of practice undertaken by the participants in this study, with only Participant 1 nearing 10,000 hours of accumulated practice. This indicates that, while practice is an important part of talent development, it is not the only factor that should be considered in dance. This mirrors findings from the sporting domain of Campitelli and Gobet (2011), Tucker and Collins (2012), Seifert, Button, and Davids (2013), and Macnamara, Moreau, and Hambrick (2016) that the amount of accumulated deliberate practice is important but not sufficient to achieve expertise.
However, this is in contrast to the findings of Issurin (2017), who found that the theory of deliberate practice was applicable to highly coordinative sports such as gymnastics, but not to sports grounded in endurance and power. It is possible that elements posited by Redding, et al. (2011) such as the motivational climate of the studio, creativity,
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passion and self-esteem may be of equal importance to the development of talent in dance. Indeed, in the current research dancers valued the study of a syllabus, their teachers, and performance experience more than the number of hours of practice.
5.2.3.2 The study of a syllabus. According to the data, what appears to have had more impact than quantity of hours of training is the quality, or sound pedagogical underpinnings, of the training the participants received. This appeared to be of importance through the F3, T1 and T2 levels, with a resulting impact on the dancer’s preparedness for more extensive training at T4, as identified in the outline of the experiences of Participants 1 and 5 previously.
While the sample size is very small and two participants have spoken about their positive experience of the RAD Syllabus, it should not be misconstrued that studying the RAD syllabus is exclusive to preparing students for a career as a ballet dancer. What the data does establish however, is that studying a documented and proven training method, like a reputable syllabus, throughout F3, T1 and T2 phases provides solid grounding of technique that may increase a dancer’s preparedness for
T4 and E1. The RAD syllabus has undergone major changes in recent years and whether it still provides the same level of preparedness requires further examination in the future.
5.2.3.3 Examinations. Undertaking examinations through a recognised syllabus was also categorised as forming part of the F3 phase due to the increased commitment to skill progression this requires. It is possible that these examinations and their subsequent results formed benchmarks by which the participant’s talent was able to be measured and objectively observed. The fact that dancers are judged on set exercises against set criteria should mean that examinations are more likely to reveal
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objective measures of talent than competitions, though a degree of subjectivity may still exist, as discussed further in the T1/T2 phase.
5.2.3.4 Performance experience. One of the key themes that emerged from the data was the value of performance experience. All participants placed value on having received substantial amounts of performance experience throughout their training. It is possible that the performance experience gained throughout the F3 phase and the T stage further develops the skills specifically involved in performing (such as controlling nerves, performing under pressure, connecting to an audience, facial expressions, achieving flow state). Once a dancer is employed, essentially their primary purpose is to perform in the ballets and works presented by their company
(Ausdance, 2011). It therefore seems likely that gaining experience in the act of performing throughout a dancer’s training would have an impact on their preparedness to undertake performance once in a professional setting (see Seifert, et al., 2013).
5.2.3.5 Other factors for consideration in the F3 phase. Though not as critical as the areas outlined above, a number of other factors should be considered throughout the F3 phase. The age of commencing ballet training (and entering the F3 phase through sport-specific commitment) did not appear to impact the development of expertise or the level of the FTEM framework reached. This is in line with research in other areas of TID that found that a late starting age was not an inhibitor to the development of expertise (Macnamara, et al., 2016). The age of commencing pointe work (which may occur during this phase) did not have a statistically significant impact upon the eventual FTEM phase achieved, however it was notably different from other studies (Hutchinson, et al., 2013). This could point to suitability for pointe work (and perhaps talent for ballet in general) being assessed and confirmed earlier in other countries and could be an area for future research.
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This study identified that parental support was an important element during this phase. Participants 1 and 5 both outlined the role their parents played in supporting them financially and physically (for example, transporting them to attend class). This is in keeping with findings from Chua (2014a, 2014b, 2015). The benefits of including study other styles of dance in addition to ballet through this phase is worthy of further investigation. In particular, Participant 1 studied a significant amount of folk or character dance during this time, which he perceived to be of great benefit when he progressed to the T4 and E1 phases.
In terms of identifying talent, a dancer’s ability to out-perform their peers during this phase is key to progression to the T1 phase (Gulbin, et al., 2013). While examination and competition results may begin to give an indication that a dancer is outperforming their peers, and people external to the process may even begin to identify talent (as in the case of Participant 5 who reported other students’ parents commented on her technical capabilities), the data largely points to teachers as being integral in identifying talent and progressing dancers through to the T1 phase. This was acknowledged by Participants 1, 4 and 5, and is in keeping with previous findings
(Chua, 2015).
The knowledge of teachers was identified as a challenge at this point.
Participant 5 described changing dance schools in order to find knowledgeable teachers, while Participant 4 described how her teacher’s lack of expertise in certain areas limited her own mastery of certain technical elements. Other challenges experienced at this level could be categorised as physiological and financial. In summary, findings in the F3 phase are numerous, including the importance of high quality training (perhaps using a syllabus and examinations), informed teachers,
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gaining performance experience through competitions and performances, and the role of parents and teachers in supporting dancers.
Another inhibitor to participating in dance classes within the F3 phase uncovered in this study was financial constraints. Participant 4, for example, was unable to commence dance class despite a desire to do so, due to her family being unable to afford classes. This is in line with the findings of Sanchez, et al. (2013) who found economic factors to be an inhibitor to dance training.
5.2.4 T1 – Demonstration of high performance potential and T2 – Talent verification. T1 represents the beginning of the FTEM high performance pathway and the exhibition of skills and physical, physiological or psychosocial attributes that indicate future potential. As Gulbin, et al. (2013) outline, “the final decision on what constitutes potential talent will ultimately combine established evidence-based metrics with the sport-specific insights of the respective national sporting organisation” (p.
1325), and it is in these phases that an opportunity presents itself for consideration within a ballet context. In particular, the metrics by which talent is measured in ballet appears at present to be somewhat vague and incongruous.
Firstly, there is no national sporting organisation that governs the development of talent in dance or ballet in Australia. Unlike governing bodies such as Gymnastics
Australia which encompass all phases of FTEM and all facets of the sport (Gymnastics
Australia, 2017), there is no overarching body that has reach to influence training in all dance schools or training institutions in either ballet or more generally, dance.
Please note that given the various styles of ballet training that are required to prepare dancers for the different choreographic styles that exist within professional ballet companies, it is unlikely nor necessarily desirable to have one governing body that oversees ballet. While beyond the scope of this thesis, this has implications for
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defining and measuring talent in dance, and specifically ballet, in light of the potentially varied approach that would be required to establish such standards in a meaningful way.
While the importance of engaging the established systems of training that a syllabus offers must be recognised, there still exists issues with using a syllabus grade or level as the only marker of talent. While transition through a syllabus may demonstrate high performance potential (for example, transitioning to the vocational grades of the RAD syllabus), it is possible for dancers of varying capabilities to progress through syllabi levels and pass, regardless of whether they are outperforming their peers. Exam results could present an opportunity for identifying talent in an objective manner, however given syllabi are not universally studied throughout
Australia, results received in a similar grade in one syllabus versus another may not be comparable. Additionally, given that exam candidates are usually only assesed by one examiner, a level of subjectivity still may exist in examination results.
Competitions and their results unfortunately only present a subjective indication of talent. Where many sports differ greatly from dance is that the winner of competitions is not just the fastest, strongest or which team scores the most points.
Even sports with artistic elements such as rhythmic gymnastics or synchronised swimming are subject to strict rules and regulations. Conversely, in ballet, many competitions and eisteddfods, especially at a regional level, are judged by only one adjudicator, with entirely subjective criteria that may vary from judge to judge
(Thompson, 2015). Competitions are also often grouped by age, which could result in dancers at one syllabus level performing with students studying at another level. Some schools may not participate in competitions at all, so solely using competition results as a marker of talent may prove ineffective.
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Therefore, while study of a syllabus, examination results and competition participation and results are important training opportunities, they do not present definitive options for metrics of talent identification, and may only form part of the
TID process. This creates issues within the T1 and T2 phases of FTEM, as categorical transition to these phases relies on having these metrics established and in place. This is not necessarily an issue with the framework’s applicability to ballet, but is possibly part of the broader discussion around TID in dance and why it is so challenging to define, and could be a contributing factor in why it has become a burgeoning topic of research.
Though establishing evidence-based metrics of what constitutes progression to the T1 and T2 phases proves challenging, what has been identified in this study is that teachers might be a primary source of talent identification. This was the case for
Participant 1, whose teacher was responsible for him first engaging in competitions, the results of which could potentially form part of the T2 talent verification process.
Participant 4 also says she owes her “whole career” to her teacher, who identified her talent at the very beginning of her training and supported her throughout. Participant
5 also acknowledges the role her teacher played in training her to the highest possible level of expertise prior to being accepted at The Australian Ballet School. In a purely logistical sense, it seems fitting that teachers would form the primary identifiers of talent, as they would be charged with making initial assessments about students’ eligibility for class placements and exam readiness. Parents, for example, are unable to submit students for dance examinations without the endorsement of a registered member of the corresponding association. In best practice, teachers should work with parents to establish opportunities for talented dancers to progress and seek
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opportunities for confirmation of talent, as Participant 5 experienced in travelling interstate to complete exams and undertake auditions (Hague, 2017).
5.2.5 T3 – Practising and achieving. The T3 phase involves engaging in higher levels of practice and working towards a particular outcome. Gulbin et al.
(2013) argue that the largest cohort of future athletes exist within this phase, and it could be hypothesised that this statement could also apply to dance. It is suggested that this phase is where dancers engage in either part-time or full-time training to improve their skill set in preparation for life as a professional dancer, while focused on achieving a “benchmark outcome” (Gulbin, et al., 2013, p. 1326). For example,
Participant 1 undertook a year of full-time training at his ballet school at the age of 15, with the goal of auditioning for the Australian Ballet School at the end of that year.
Participant 5 also engaged in a similar program, attending school part-time while studying ballet intensively, with the same goal of auditioning and gaining a place at
The Australian Ballet School.
From the data, it can be seen that the receipt of scholarships that involve the opportunity to work within other dance environments (such as a professional company) during the T3 phase provides opportunities for the improvement of expertise. Not only does receipt of the scholarship as bestowed by a school, judge or company director indicate a recognition of the dancer’s talent, the opportunity itself could provide the dancer with increased knowledge, confidence and exposure to dancers, teachers, or coaches with greater expertise. These in turn could be key catalysts for transitioning to a more advanced FTEM phase.
5.2.6 T4 – Breakthrough and reward. A key learning from this research is the importance of “vertical integration” with pre-elite and elite dancers, particularly at the T4 level. In the survey, Participant 3 stated that she found the Professional Year
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program that she undertook with Queensland Ballet prior to being accepted as a corps de ballet member to be highly beneficial to her career “because of the interaction with the company and the director.”
This integration could prove pivotal for dancers who, at the end of their T4 phase, would most likely have to undertake an audition to be accepted into a ballet company. “Being seen” by the company director and having greater opportunities to perform at an elite level, as well as experiencing the day-to-day life of a company member may prove beneficial for the audition process.
According to the participants, major challenges experienced at this level included injuries and psychological challenges. Participant 5 reported experiencing shin splints, which saw her having to rest in order to recover. Participant 1 reported experiencing extreme psychological challenges after being put on “probation” at The
Australian Ballet School for failing to meet the technical standards required of the course. These challenges are significant in that dancers would hope to be at their peak level of performance at the time of having to audition for a position with a company.
As previously outlined in Chapter 4, this research has categorised the T4 phase as the equivalent to acceptance into a traineeship, Professional Year program or the
Australian Ballet School,11 due to the level of professional support provided in these pre-elite levels of training. Other full-time training opportunities (such as that experienced by Participant 1 and 2), and part-time intensive training opportunities
(such as experienced by Participant 5), were categorised as operating within the T3 phase. This is in order to draw attention to differences in training that occur through
11 The participants who attended The Australian Ballet School in this research undertook a three-year diploma, which was the program available at the time. As will be discussed further in the following section regarding Limitations and Difficulties, the school has since expanded its programs on offer and as such, acceptance into the school may no longer be the automatic equivalent of transition into a T4 phase.
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the variety of full-time and part-time courses in dance that are now available throughout Australia (Ausdance, 2011), compared with those outlined above that are closely monitored or administered by the professional ballet companies. Performing detailed comparisons between full-time courses is beyond the scope of this research, however this is an area that may be of interest for future research.
5.2.7 E1 – Senior elite representation, E2 – Senior elite success, and M –
Sustained elite success or Mastery. These final phases of the FTEM framework fit the elite level of ballet performance well. In this study, E1, or senior elite representation, is defined as gaining a position as a corps de ballet member with one of the three companies. This represents the professionalisation of the dancer in that they are no longer a student, but are being paid for their work. Transitioning to the E2 phase is defined as receiving a promotion, such as to junior soloist or soloist, as this represents an “established metric or accolade historically bestowed and recognised” by a ballet company (Gulbin, et al., 2013, p. 1327). To then transition to the Mastery phase, a dancer would need to “represent the most advanced and optimised exemplars of the bio-psycho-social components” for ballet, and have achieved “repeated and sustained success” over an enduring time period (Gulbin, et al., 2013, p. 1327)
Entry to a company is largely audition-based. Dance companies such as the
Queensland Ballet now conduct auditions in several locations on a yearly basis
(Queensland Ballet, 2017c). Some exceptions to auditions may occur (for example,
Participant 4 was offered a position a second time after having auditioned and declined a position previously), confirming that some company members would gain their place via invitation from a director. Available positions at a company would be based on funding, so there is a systemic limitation to how many dancers can be accepted into the company at any one time.
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Morphology may also be a factor in being accepted into a company, especially as there needs to be male and female dancers of appropriate heights in order to perform pas de deux work. Participant 2 mentioned that she found her height to be a major challenge, as did Participant 4, who would only be cast in certain roles due to her tall frame:
When I joined the company I was the tallest, really the tallest. And so I got all
the ‘tall girl’ roles, I was always at the back, if anything. Actually that was
funny because [choreographers name removed] was wonderful to me … he
would always put [another dancer] who was even taller than I was … in the
middle of the front row and build all the choreography around us being, you
know, starring, sort of thing … then as soon as he went back overseas [the
director] would rearrange the whole thing. And then you might be dancing it
for two weeks in these other places with us at the back and then [the
choreographer] would come back and he’d … put us back in the front row.
Anyway, we were very tall, and by the time I left the company I was middle
sized and I was dancing ‘small girl’ roles.
This passage from Participant 4’s interview also represents how the physical aesthetic of a company may change over time, which could affect which dancers are accepted into a company. This mirrors a findings of Walker, et al. (2010) who found that there was no guarantee that the physical attributes currently valued by a particular style of dance would be valued in future.
The offer of employment from a company would be almost solely at the discretion of the company’s director, as would the allocation of roles and promotions, and as such is innately subjective. Participant 1 outlined that he felt that at times he was overlooked for certain roles:
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Especially in the first year [of dancing with a company], there were a couple
of the guys were getting roles that I wasn't necessarily getting. Roles that I
really, really wanted to do. And, I mean, I won't go as far as to say there was
favouritism or there was a preference. But ballet is a subjective art form and
you know, opinions are going to come into play.
Conversely, this subjectivity worked to the advantage of Participant 5, who benefited from being selected for principal roles even though she was still a corps de ballet member, because the director “thought [she] suited the role.”
The receipt of scholarships was found to be of benefit at the E1 and E2 phases.
In a similar way to receiving a short-term scholarship at the T3 phase, receiving a scholarship to travel overseas at the elite stage demonstrates a recognition of talent by the company director. In the case of Participant 1 and 4, receipt of scholarship preceded receiving a promotion.
Physiological and skill-specific challenges may still occur through these levels and may inhibit dancers from receiving promotions. Participant 1 commented that while his artistry continued to improve, “The aesthetic of my legs and my feet … has been a weakness of mine and that's something that I've always struggled with.”
Participant 4 also commented that while she too thought her training prepared her artistically, she struggled with technical challenges like turns. She found that being able to engage in a “flow state” enabled her to overcome these challenges.
Injuries were a commonly experienced issue at this point in the dancer’s careers. Some were continuations from childhood training, as in the case of Participant
5 who had a recurring knee injury that eventually ended her career. She also experienced chronic blisters from pointe work, which she describes as a “huge challenge” throughout her career. She also suffered a debilitating hip injury that
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eventually required investigative surgery to discover the cause. Participant 4 began to experience back pain at the age of 22, due to arthritis, and cites a lack of medical knowledge at the time for the prolonged nature of her discomfort.
[It just] fused up once when we were on tour in Adelaide … And they didn't
know anything about, you know, exercises to protect it or anything like that.
Because being flexible I was really not protecting it and we didn't have
anything like core control in those days, it wasn’t a concept.
Participant 2 also mentioned suffering injuries in the survey, though the nature of her specific concerns is unclear. The advancement of dance medicine and science in recent years may enable some of these injuries to be conquered through prevention and more informed medical practice. The Australian Ballet, for example, has a medical team of nine practitioners encompassing doctors, physiotherapists and strength and conditioning experts (The Australian Ballet, 2017b).
The lack of dance medicine available at the time also meant that Participant 4 retired from dance when deciding to start a family. She discussed that motherhood resulted in the end of her career as a ballet dancer:
There was never any thought about going back [to ballet] because, you know,
we didn't have the sort of scientific training that would get you back. And
dancers I think just retired much younger then because just that’s how it was
… But I would have happily gone on for a few more years because I loved it,
absolutely loved it. I was as good as I’d dreamt.
It is possible that the evolution of dance medicine and science has also contributed to dancers being able to return to professional ballet after giving birth, as evidenced by a number of female dancers at The Australian Ballet in 2012 who are mothers (The
Australian Ballet, 2012b).
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While much of the dance TID literature focuses on the identification and development of pre-professional dancers, only minimal studies draw attention to the progression of dancers in these elite levels (Chua, 2015; Hutchinson, et al., 2013). The
FTEM framework and its holistic approach encompassing the whole pathway accommodates these findings about the challenges and mechanisms of development once dancers reach the Elite levels and are experiencing varying levels of success as paid professionals.
Overall, while FTEM was originally developed for use within the sporting domain (Gulbin, et al., 2013), the use of the framework in the context of this research has facilitated a greater understanding of the TID landscape in ballet in Australia. It acknowledges the variety of trajectories available to dancers in order to eventually receive a position at a company, and enables greater understanding of the phases of talent at either end of the spectrum. The use of the framework in this research has identified that ballet lacks standardised and universal benchmarks of talent in the T stage that requires further understanding.
5.3 Limitations
A number of limitations were factored into and impacted the development of this study. They include the approach to and design of the research, participant recruitment, the effectiveness of small sample sizes, and potential issues in applying the framework, designed primarily for sport, directly to dance. Each of these limitations will be discussed herein.
The approach utilised to gather data from the participants did not include a physiological examination (that is, examinations of a dancer’s morphology and physiology such as capacity for turn out or flexibility were not conducted). Similarly,
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 82
psychological assessments were not conducted, nor were any observations gathered of the participants in a class and/or performance situation. While these physical and psychological factors are certainly contributors to the identification and development of a talented dancer (Redding, et al., 2011; Walker, et al., 2010), it was determined that as the participants were already employed by a company (that is, they possessed the physical and psychological attributes necessary to gain employment) these contributing factors to talent need not be measured within the scope of this project. As documented in the methodology, this approach is similar to other studies conducted in the field with professional dancers as participants such as Chua (2015) and
Hutchinson, et al. (2013).
The sample of participants is equivalent to approximately 3.4% of the population of professional ballet dancers in Australia. It is therefore difficult to draw many definitive conclusions. Regardless of the small sample size, the findings in this study are especially helpful in highlighting that the pathway undertaken by each dancer is unique and complex, confirming what may have been observed anecdotally within the dance context. Hutchinson, et al. (2013) acknowledged that it might not ever be possible to recruit a sufficient number of participants in a study of this nature, given the small population of professional ballet dancers worldwide. The small sample size could also be attributed to the timing of the research (the initial survey was sent during a vacation period for some of the companies). Further collaboration with and cooperation from the ballet companies in future TID research could yield a more substantial sample.
Given the numerous international dancers that are employed by the ballet companies included in this research, consideration may have needed to be given to whether or not the participants in this study were born and raised in Australia, “so that
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 83
the sociocultural contexts in which they develop[ed] their talents … are similar and comparable for cross-case analysis” (Chua, 2014b, p. 252). However, it resulted by chance that only dancers born and trained in Australia chose to participate in the research. Broader scope could warrant exploration of dancers training or gaining positions in companies overseas. Whether there is a prerogative to keep talented dancers within Australia and employed within the major companies remains unclear.
For example, Queensland Ballet currently lists four principal dancers who were all born and trained overseas (Queensland Ballet, 2017d), yet training ballet dancers of the future is a key tenet of their training arm and “central to Queensland Ballet’s strategic vision” (Queensland Ballet, 2017e).
As the recruitment process yielded only a small number of responses, the invitation to participate in the research was extended to retired ballet dancers. This presented limitations, especially in the case of Participant 4, whose experiences of being employed as a dancer are vastly different to those such as Participants 1, 2, and
3 who are still currently dancing. In similar studies in the future, it would be ideal to gather information from more participants of the same or a similar cohort.
The inclusion of retired dancers links to an overarching issue with the research design, as the training environments that currently exist differ not just from that experienced by Participant 4; but differ even from those participants who are still dancing. For example, the Queensland Ballet has commenced operating an Academy as a feeder school for the company (Queensland Ballet, 2017e). In addition, the
Australian Ballet School now runs programs for students from as young as nine years of age, as opposed to the three year diploma undertaken by Participants 1 and 5 (The
Australian Ballet School, 2017a). Even in the time between data collection and thesis write up, Queensland Ballet and West Australian Ballet have initiated use of the term
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 84
demi-soloist instead of junior soloist (Queensland Ballet, 2017d; West Australian
Ballet, 2017). This presents a challenge when attempting to formulate generalisations about the landscape of TID in dance. The constant change within the training landscape may present interesting opportunities for further study, in particular of the T1-T4 phases in the future.
Using only professional dancers to discuss their history using retrospective recall has its challenges, especially in gathering data around the F1 and F2 phases.
Only some participants were able to recall their behavioural activities prior to commencing ballet. Additionally the survey and interview questions were geared more greatly to the activity of the participants once they commenced ballet training, rather than the acquisition of movement beforehand. It is possible that the participants may not be able to recall their movement activities during these periods, which take place at a young age (for example, prior to the age of four for Participant 1 and the age of five for Participant 5). Even so, the research design did not allow for detailed exploration in this area and a lack of data resulted. Exploration of this area in future may need to incorporate data gathered from parents and siblings in order to yield more information about this critical period.
Other possible limitations lie in the use of the two tools utilised to gather data.
The survey was designed to initially yield a larger amount of quantitative data than was received, and was quite lengthy (comprising of 24 questions). It’s possible that the length of the survey may have deterred some dancers from participating.
Additionally, many of the questions, especially those requiring a short answer response regarding challenges and successes, were of a personal nature and may have also deterred some dancers from participating for fear of being identifiable in the research
(regardless of the anonymity in the publishing of results). Though the phone interviews
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 85
revealed a high level of data, it’s possible that a face-to-face interview may have enabled more trust in the interviewer and allowed for more open conversation from participants and further eliminated gaps that appeared in the data. This was, however, beyond the financial restrictions of this study. The interviews comprised of over 20 open-ended questions, which allowed for free discussion from participants. However, considering that the participants were being asked to discuss a lengthy period of development (essentially from birth through to adulthood), a longer interview may be required to yield even further detail about their TID pathways in future.
Using thematic analysis to analyse the data might also be considered a limitation. While the approach to analysis was systematic and checks were undertaken by the supervisory team, the researcher’s perspective was informed by literature review, was naturally shaped by the questions included in the survey and interviews, and as such may potentially contain bias. In future, results could be analysed and categorised using factors identified by a TID instrument, such as the 3D-AD model presented by Gulbin and Weissensteiner (2013).
Lastly, when thinking toward industry applications of the FTEM framework and what that could mean for dance, concern arises with the use of some of the terminology. Differing dance syllabi use terms such as grades, levels and other naming conventions to describe their programs. Introducing terminology like the ‘stages’ and
‘phases’ of the FTEM framework may present challenges to the stakeholders in the dancing population. Additionally, terms such as pre-professional and professional are used in the dance discourse in substitution of more sporting-friendly language like pre- elite and elite. These limitations may be considerations for how a TID framework is applied to dance in the future. Based on the application of FTEM in this research, a
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 86
need exists to develop a framework that resembles and learns from FTEM, but takes into account the findings of this research and any other future research in the field.
5.4 Future Research
As identified throughout Chapter 4: Results and Chapter 5: Discussion, the following are considered key findings of this research:
• That neither the age of commencing ballet training, nor the accumulated
number of hours of ballet training had an impact upon the FTEM phase
achieved by the participants.
• That the participants found opportunities to perform throughout the T stage
highly valuable.
• That the quality of training (such as following a respected syllabus and having
knowledgeable teachers) was preferential to large quantities of inferior hours
of training.
• That the participants found short-term scholarships and summer schools
valuable for their opportunity for exposure to peers, teachers, choreographers
and/or company representatives outside of their current company or institution,
and that this exposure often propelled them to the next phase of their pathway
• That a passion for dance helped see them through the various challenges
encountered.
• That exam and competition results did not appear to be reliable markers of
success.
• That the situation in Australia mirrors that of dance globally that encounters
difficulty in defining ‘talent’ in dance (Aujla, et al., 2014; Chua, 2014a;
Walker, et al., 2010).
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 87
• That ballet teachers may be the first stakeholders to identify talent in a ballet
dancer.
With these key findings in mind, specific areas for future research could include:
• The creation of a framework like FTEM that applies specifically to ballet
and/or dance in Australia, including consultation with integral stakeholders in
its development and incorporating language/terminology already in use in the
dance discourse.
• Further investigation of the value of performance experience.
• Further investigation of examinations, competitions and progressing to pointe
work as potential benchmarks of TID.
• Investigating how talent is identified by teachers within the context of the
dance school.
• Gathering further insight into dancer’s development in the F1 and F2 phases.
• Investigation of the current T1-T4 phases, including comparison of full-time
training in dance, comparisons of syllabi, and the value or impact of private
coaching.
• After considering the limitations of retrospective recall, consideration of the
potential opportunities of longitudinal studies of talented dancers should be
made, given the potential insights this might provide.
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 88
Chapter 6: Conclusion
This study explored potential resolutions to the research question, How can applying the FTEM framework to ballet dancers in the Australian context help us to better understand their talent identification and development pathwayst? Overall, the
FTEM framework has facilitated a greater understanding of the TID landscape in ballet in Australia. Through the analysis of quantitative and qualitative data, it was identified that both the age of commencing dance and the number of accumulated hours of practice did not have a statistically significant impact upon the level of ballet expertise attained by age 18. The data pointed to participants valuing performance experience as an aspect of training with major contribution to their careers, and that the quality of training was preferential to the quantity. It was also identified that short-term scholarships and summer schools that allowed for exposure to external influences may have a turn-key effect in propelling dancers to the next phase of the pathway.
Challenges experienced at different phases through the pathway were outlined, as well as identifying that a love of dance permeated participants’ pathways.
Difficulties arose with using the framework in defining the metrics by which ballet judges talent, particularly in the T1 and T2 phases. It appeared that ballet in
Australia lacks universal definitions, benchmarks, and processes by which talent is identified, evaluated, and confirmed. This mirrors a multitude of contemporary research that also struggles to define talent in dance (Aujla, et al., 2014; Chua, 2014a;
Walker, et al., 2010). The use of exam and competition results as sole markers of talent were noted to be limited in terms of effectiveness.
This research has established that teachers are possibly the first stakeholders to identify talent in a ballet dancer. This points to a need to ensure teachers are supported
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 89
to identify talent and are informed about creating environments for success and choosing further study options for their dancers to pursue beyond the T1 and T2 phases. Investigating how teachers identify talent and how they are supported (or not supported) to confirm and develop that talent within the environment of the dance school could prove an area for future research.
It is hoped that by making a contribution to the understanding of TID in ballet this research will provide opportunities for other researchers to gain greater insight into this complex and under-researched area. With the popularity of ballet and dance in general in Australia, and for the many dancers for whom becoming a ballet dancer is a dream, the need for further research into defining talent and how it is identified and developed in dance remains paramount.
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 90
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Weiss, D. S., Rist, R. A., & Grossman, G. (2009). Guidelines for Initiating Pointe
Training. Retrieved 19 June, 2017from International Association of Dance
Medicine and Science, https://www.iadms.org/page/185
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 100
West Australian Ballet. (2017). Dancers. Retrieved 3 May, 2017from
http://waballet.com.au/the-company/dancers/
WorldAPP Key Survey. (2017). Key Survey. Braintree, MA: WorldAPP.
Zeller, J. (2009). Teaching through Time: Tracing Ballet's Pedagogical Lineage in
the Work of Maggie Black. Dance Chronicle, 32(1), 57-88.
doi:10.1080/01472520802690283
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 101
Appendices
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Appendix A: Participant Information Consent Form – Survey
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 103
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 104
Appendix B: Participant Information Consent Form – Interview
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 105
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 106
Appendix C: Agreement Transcriber
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 107
Appendix D: Survey
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 108
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 109
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 110
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 111
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Appendix E: Semi-Structured Interview Questions
Read prior to interview: The purpose of this project is to gain insight into the Talent
Identification and Development of ballet dancers within the Australian context. This research seeks, firstly, to identify the ways in which talented ballet dancers are identified and developed within the Australian context. Secondly, the research will then map this process against an existing Talent Identification and Development (TID) framework (Foundation, Talent, Elite and Mastery framework – FTEM), developed by the Australian Institute of Sport.
Please answer in as much detail as you like, but if there is a question you’re not comfortable answering then let me know.
1. Did you engage in any informal dance or movement before you engaged in
any formal dance classes?
2. Where did you grow up?
3. What were your family and siblings like?
4. Can you elaborate on why you started dancing?
5. You started dancing at xxx age, can you tell me a little bit about your early
years of dancing. What was it like? How often did you go? Who took you?
Where was the school in relation to your house? Did you like going? What
kept you going back every week? What were your teachers like? Was it a
formal ballet school or was it more for fun?
6. Was ballet the first style of dance you studied?
7. What role did your family play in facilitating your training?
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 114
8. At this very early stage, did you have any inkling that you possessed any
talent for ballet?
9. Was there any challenges you had to overcome in dance at this point?
10. When you start to engage in any competitions or exams? Did you perform?
Inside the school/outside the school?
11. When did you know you were ‘talented’ / did you notice you were
outperforming your peers/ Did you always think you were talented?
12. What about you set you apart (athlete factors, environment factors)?
13. Were you ever told you were ‘talented’ – what/who told you that you might
have the potential to become a successful dancer? Was there a specific
event/person?
14. Refer back to number of hours of dancing and lists of schools they attended,
identify any changes (e.g., more hours, different schools, challenges they
listed)
15. What was your family support like at this time?
16. What were your teachers like?
17. You made a conscious decision towards becoming a dancer when you were
xx age, can you tell me a bit more about that?
18. When you made your decision to become a dancer, what was the goal (if
there was one?)
19. What did you undertake to further your training at this point? Private
coaching? Full time dance? Were you competing? Undertaking exams?
20. Did anything set you apart from your peers at this point?
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21. You outlined that ______[training opportunity/ies] had a major impact
on your career. Could you go into more detail about why you think that is the
case?
22. Key milestones? Vertical integration?
23. Refer back to data regarding significant influences and also challenges, ask to
elaborate.
24. What were you doing right before you were selected for xx Ballet Company?
25. Tell me about the process of being selected for xx Company (audition?
Offer? What was the audition like? Elaborate)
26. Refer to progression within company – what prompted being promoted –
what stopped you from being promoted (athlete, environment, system,
chance)?
27. Can you describe the challenges you experienced in your professional career
and how you overcame them?
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Appendix F: FTEM Pathways as Biographies and Pictographic
Summaries
Participant 1 Participant 1 was born in 1993, is Australian and male. He grew up in the eastern suburbs of Sydney. He was five years old when he first undertook a ballet class.
“Prior to that, I guess, the only activity or movement that I had been doing was, I guess, the average toddler/infant kind of movement. Running around, you know, playing with balls. You know, just general kids’ stuff.” His inspiration for commencing class came from seeing dance on film:
As the story goes, one of my mums was a television producer with SBS. And
as mums do, they take their children to work. And she was working on this
piece of footage with this choreographer. And I was sitting there in the
editing room while there was this piece on the screen. And as the story goes,
this is what my mum has told me, I pointed up at the screen and said “I want
to do that.” And then had the audacity to actually ask the choreographer
(who's quite well known), “can you teach me?” And he said to me, you know,
that he couldn't teach me because he only teaches adults but from that point,
he said, “well let's find you a school.” And so we found my first ballet school.
His first and only dance school was located close to his home in eastern
Sydney. He undertook approximately three hours per week of ballet from the age of five, attending class approximately twice a week. He undertook significantly more hours per week than any of the other participants surveyed/interviewed, and started participating in exams straight away:
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 117
Exams started from, like, from the first year that I came in, there were little
like, infant exams where we learned specific steps and have to perform it to,
you know, a jury, you know, to get marked but it was always [with] the
teachers there. And I trained through the Royal Academy of Dance training.
So I did those exams from five.
Because of the undertaking of exams and the considerable number of hours undertaken, it was determined that Participant 1 is positioned at a F3 level at the age of five.
He describes his parents as being very supportive:
Both my parents … took me to class whenever I needed it, they were really,
really supportive, they never said, you know “don't do it” or anything like
that. And it was fantastic to have parents that you know, really wanted me to
be happy in life.
He describes himself as a “very athletic” boy. “I was in the cricket team and the rugby team”, indicating that he pursued athletic interests outside of dance. By the age of seven he was undertaking approximately eight hours per week of ballet training. He describes the school he went to as being quite “serious” about ballet training:
It was a serious ballet school … We all did eisteddfods and competitions. For
me, [competing] started at nine years old. And there … There came a point
when I was about 14 years old when I realised that I actually wanted to take
dance and bring it into my life as a career. Which kind of made it even more
serious. But there was never a point where I thought that this wasn't serious
business. You know, I was there because I wanted to dance.
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 118
His teacher was responsible for his engagement in competitions:
She saw something within me. To this day I think it was the fact that I had a
big smile and you know, sparkly eyes or something like that. And she said,
you know, “we're going to ... compete in the next eisteddfod.” So there wasn't
really a choice. You're nine years old, you know, you can't really say, “I don't
know about that.” But I went along with it, you know.
He describes these competitions as giving him the opportunity to develop “stage presence” and “a lot of stage experience”. It could be argued that this keen interest of his teachers signal a transition to T1 at age nine, with his subsequent performances at competitions (where he did well), forming part of the T2 talent verification process.
Training in the RAD syllabus helped to set him up for his transition into further study down the track:
I think the RAD syllabus set me up and it gave me a vocabulary of what
ballet is. Which is obviously vital. The best thing about ballet is that, you
know, all the steps are universal. There's never a situation where you maybe
don’t understand the steps. The name may be different but the step itself is
still the same. So even visually, if you have trouble, you know, hearing what
they've said, you can visually see it and immediately you can understand
exactly what is being taught. And I think that's all it is, like learning a
different language, you just adjust to what the different steps were. I mean I
started off with RAD but then moving down to the Australian Ballet, they
have the Vaganova based training. The Russian style of training. So that was
just a transition to get in there. So I think that's what RAD did for me. It
basically gave me a base vocabulary of what I needed to know and the steps I
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needed to do and then from there was just a matter of learning a different
name of a step.
Progressing through the syllabus also helped him to identify benchmarks for himself:
As I got older through my schooling, they got … my marks got better and
better. I started off with, you know, probably as a child getting maybe 60s
and 70s out of 100 and then as I progressed, I started to get 80s and then into
90s then high 90s into my final exam. And I think that just purely came from
the understanding of what they wanted to see. And just providing it.
By the age of 10 he was undertaking 12 hours per week of dance training, increasing that to around 15 hours per week by the age of 13.
At the age of 14 he made a conscious decision to become a professional dancer:
I believe it was the [natural] evolution [of all my dance training up until that
point]. It's funny, I could pin point the exact feeling of what I felt. But I
couldn't tell you exactly what day it was. So, yeah, it was 14 that I just went,
“you know what? That's it. I could actually do this.” And then we put the
steps into motion to make it all happen.
I don't think it was anyone specific [who told me I was talented]. But through
the confidence that I got from the belief that I had from my teachers and from
my family, that kind of instilled a belief in me that said, “You know what,
you can do this.” And once I saw, especially the men, in the ballet world,
what they were doing and how it, you know, was associated with what I was
doing, that kind of said to me, “no, you know what, I can do this.” … My
teachers, they had the biggest belief in me. They said, you know, “you could
do anything, you know.” And my family said that to me as well. So it wasn't
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 120
as though there was one specific person that saw me. But it was the entire
support network that allowed me to believe within myself that I could do it.”
Participant 1 undertook a year of full time training at his ballet school at the age of 15, with the goal of auditioning for the Australian Ballet School at the end of that year:
I had to get my head around that. That it was going to be, you know, a full
eight hours a day [of ballet training]. It was going to be intense training but it
was all going to benefit ... the future and basically this would create you know,
my daily schedule of what I would eventually do. I mean that's what I do now,
eight hours a day five days a week.
This transition to full-time training demonstrates a move to T3 at age 15 due to the
“higher levels of sport specific practice and striving for continual performance improvements that are focused on a benchmark outcome” (Gulbin, et al., 2013, p.
1327).
He then auditioned for the Australian Ballet School:
We sent off an application and they accepted it. And then we did a class in one
of the studios at the University of New South Wales. And we basically just did
a normal class which is kind of standard for any audition. And then after the
class, they tested our flexibility a little bit. And then that was it. That was all
we did. I mean we were only about 15/16 so I mean it wasn't anything like a
Company audition. But yeah. But then I got accepted and I went down the next
year.
This shows a move to the T4 phase.
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While in his final year of study at the Australian Ballet School, he found out that Li Cunxin would become the new artistic director of Queensland Ballet, and he decided to audition for the company.
I didn't tell any of my peers that I was going to do the audition, but I flew up
to Brisbane and did the audition there which I believe was in August or July.
And I made sure that I did the audition, you know, did it well. I personally
went and thanked Li for letting me come to the audition. Because this was
something that I really, really wanted so I made sure that I did whatever I
could to make sure that I could get there. And then when I came back down
to Melbourne and told everyone what I, you know, had done. Suddenly there
was this massive, you know, excitement and at the Melbourne auditions,
suddenly everyone was auditioning. So although I had already done the
audition, I wanted to do it again in Melbourne and that was purely to
reinforce my willing to get into this company and I made sure that, you know,
if Li was there, I wanted to be there to show him, “I want to be here, I want to
be in this company.” And surely enough he was there. And I got to do the
audition again. And then in October, prior to me graduating, I got a call from
Li saying, “I'd like to offer you a job.” Which was a pretty incredible, you
know, moment. Picking up the phone and going, “hello?” And hearing, “This
is Li Cunxin ... ” You think, “Oh right. Okay. Hello, nice to meet you, hi ...
good to hear from you.” So it was an exciting moment. But having graduated
and knowing that I had a job for the next year in October, that was probably
the best moment ever.
He was 19 years old when he accepted and commenced this position as a corps de ballet dancer with Queensland Ballet, which demonstrates his move to the E1 level
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 122
as an athlete “playing at the highest level of competition” (Gulbin, et al., 2013, p.
1327).
While in his second year with the company, he received a scholarship to tour to the United States and Canada to study with other companies for four weeks:
I've learnt so much, you know, visiting all the different companies and I’ve
really grown as a dancer from that experience and seeing what, you know the
standard is of the rest of the world. And bringing that to Australia and putting
that into my own career and seeing what I can do.
He was promoted to junior soloist at the age of 22, and credits the smaller company size (of approximately 30 dancers) and the attitude of the company’s artistic director as providing opportunities to perform leading and notable character roles even as a corps de ballet dancer:
He believes in opportunity. So he would give people, he would put on maybe
three or four casts as opposed to maybe one or two for a couple of seasons.
And … which would give people the opportunity [to perform bigger roles].
When another male dancer left the company abruptly, it provided an opportunity for Participant 1 to perform a lead role on an opening night performance:
In 2014, the year before I got promoted … a week before, in Romeo and
Juliet, one of the guys that was supposed to be dancing left the company. So I
was immediately boosted up to first cast. On like, the Opening Night cast
doing Tybalt. Which is a huge role to do … I nailed the role and I even got
nominated for an Australian Dance Award. So, you know, that was amazing.
But when I got promoted, all these little roles that had been happening, I
think … Well I believe, it showed how consistent that I could be. You know.
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I was putting on good shows and you know, good performances. So that
really, really helped [me to secure a promotion].
This promotion signals a move to the E2 level, as the promotion to junior soloist represents an “established metric or accolade historically bestowed and recognised” by a ballet company (Gulbin, et al., 2013, p. 1327). At the time of writing,
Participant 1 has only been at the E2 level for 2 years, so is yet to move to the
Mastery level.
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E2 Promoted to junior soloist (age 22)
E1 Offered and accepted corps de ballet position at Queensland Ballet (age 19)
T4 Accepted to The Australian Ballet School (age 16)
T3 Full-time ballet training at ballet school, working towards The Australian Ballet School audition (age 15)
T2 Competing in eisteddfods and exams at the request of his teacher and performing well (age 9 through 14)
F3 Commenced dance training, dancing approx 3 hours per week at "serious" ballet school, undertaking exams (age 5 through 8)
Figure 7. Participant 1 FTEM pathway.
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Participant 2
Participant 2 was born in 1987, is female and Australian. Most (if not all) of her ballet training took place in Australia, studying the Cecchetti syllabus. She commenced dancing at age seven, and at age eight commenced ballet in order to
“have more technique and discipline in my other styles of dance”, indicating that ballet wasn’t her initial or perhaps preferred style of dance and was undertaken to help her gain more technical prowess in the other styles she studied which were jazz and tap. This would therefore place her at an F3 level at ages 7 and 8, due to the undertaking of consolidated regular practice (Richards, 2015b).
She undertook approximately two hours per week of ballet from age eight through to age 12, where she increased to approximately four hours per week. This also coincided with commencing dancing en pointe (at approximately 12-13 years).
It’s possible that this shows a progression to T1, however without an interview to further elaborate on the reasons for this increase in hours, it is hard to pinpoint the exact moment of progression.
Participant 2 listed a car accident as a major challenge she encountered through her training. She was 11 at the time and was not only injured herself, but family members (unspecified) also had injuries that made them unable to take her to class. She also lists her height as being a major challenge, saying “[I was] told I was too short to make it [as a professional dancer]”. She also grew up in a rural location, having access to “limited resources”.
At 14 years of age she commenced studying five hours per week of ballet. Participant
2 listed the following opportunities as “important” in contributing to her career as a professional ballet dancer: summer schools; dance concerts or performances;
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amateur/community/youth ballet companies; child/supernumerary roles; solo competitions/eisteddfods at local levels and in capital cities; group competitions and performances at local levels and capital cities. “Competitions gave me the performance experience [I needed]. Summer schools helped me connect with other dancers working towards the same goals and different teachers that could offer different opinions and experiences.”
It seems that she really valued the performance experience provided by competitions and performances like concerts within her dance school and through other avenues. She also placed a high value on connecting with other dancers through summer schools (which presumably she would have had to travel to from her regional residential location). An interview could have further defined how this performance experience and exposure to other dancers and teachers impacted her career pathway.
She first thought about the possibility of becoming a professional ballet dancer at age 15:
I was fortunate to win a scholarship in a local eisteddfod which enabled me to
spend a week to with a professional ballet company. This experience and
insight into the world was really when I made my decision. I think I was 15 at
the time.
She undertook full time training at the age of 16. This “investment in more advanced forms of training” (Richards, 2015b), demonstrates a move to T3 level. Up until the age of 18, she had completed approximately 3200 hours of ballet training.
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 127
Participant 2 did not attain a position with a company until age 21, when she gained a position as a trainee, moving to a T4 level. As she did not undertake an interview, it’s unclear why there was a five-year gap between undertaking full time training at age 16 and 17, and receiving a traineeship at 21. Further training could have been undertaken, or it is possible that she undertook work as a dancer outside of a traditional ballet company structure. Though its not possible to pinpoint her movements during this time without conducting an interview to clarify, it would be reasonable to assume she would have been actively maintaining and/or improving her technical capabilities during these four years in order to receive a traineeship.
A year later at 22 she attained a position in the corps de ballet, showing her transition to E1, or the equivalent to “playing in the highest possible competition”
(Richards, 2015b). She was not promoted to the position of junior soloist until age
28. This promotion signals a move to E2, as it is an accolade “historically bestowed and recognised by a sport” (Gulbin, et al., 2013, p. 1327).
Participant 2 is yet to attain the Mastery level, having not yet progressed beyond the junior soloist rank. The challenges she described in her survey response may indicate some reasons as to why she has yet to progress and/or why it took several years to receive a promotion to junior soloist. Challenges included height
(which also plagued her during her training); the “psychological side”, which was described as being “harder to manage” (though she did not elaborate on what psychological factors were specifically challenging her); and injuries.
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E2 Promoted to junior soloist (age 28)
E1 Offered and accepted corps de ballet position at Queensland Ballet (age 22)
T4 Traineeship at Queensland Ballet (age 21)
T3? Unclear period, though must have still engaged in ballet/dance training.
T3 Full-time ballet training (age 16)
T1 Increase in training hours (age 8 through 15)
F3 Commenced ballet training in order to complement other styles of dance (age 8)
Figure 8. Participant 2 FTEM pathway.
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Participant 3
Participant 3 was born in 1988, is female and Australian. She grew up and undertook her training in a regional area (approximately an hour and a half’s drive from a capital city). She commenced ballet training at the age of four because her mother taught dance and she “wanted to go with her”. She undertook about half an hour a week of dance training at ages four and five. Although the nature of the class is unknown, this could put her at an F2 level, as it may be “organised age-appropriate modified sport” (Richards, 2015a).
At six years of age she progressed to one hour of ballet per week, suggesting a possible move to F3 due to the consolidated hours of practice (Richards, 2015a).
She studied the RAD ballet syllabus. She continued at one hour of class per week until age 12 where she began to undertake three hours per week. This could be indicative of progressing to a more advanced level (such as Pre-Elementary) in the
RAD Syllabus, which would indicate some level of potential talent and a move to T1
(though this is largely conjecture without an interview to clarify).
She commenced dancing en pointe at age 13, which is the age at which she also first thought about the possibility of becoming a professional dancer. At 15 years of age she undertook four hours of ballet per week, which is when she also made the conscious decision to work towards becoming a professional ballet dancer.
She may have been at T2 at this stage but without an interview this is hard to confirm. There would have been some sort of verification process (such as receiving high marks in her exams which may be the case as she lists examinations as an important part of her training).
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 130
Throughout her training she also studied jazz, tap and contemporary. She did undertake some private coaching as part of her training. She listed “school and injury” as major challenges to her training, though without an interview the specifics of this cannot be identified. Her estimated total hours of training are the lowest of all the participants in the study, being approximately 1280 hours.
At 16 years of age she was undertaking five hours per week of ballet training, increasing to seven hours per week at age 17. This is not indicative of full-time training, but still represents a significant investment of time across multiple days of training per week (plus any other dance styles she may have been studying). It is proposed that she moved to the T3 phase at age 17.
She listed the following as important to her training: the RAD syllabus and exams, dance subjects at secondary schooling, dance concerts/performances, amateur/youth ballet company performances, solo and group eisteddfods at regional and capital cities, and international competitions. She listed the following as being very important to her training: summer schools, syllabus-focused competitions, and major nationwide competitions. The fact that she lists syllabus-focused competitions and major nationwide competitions as very important suggest that she may have been outperforming her peers and that these served as verifications of her talent. She said
“performance value is important for those skills as well as examinations for technique skills, it is important to travel around so you can compare to others out there and also hopefully be seen by the right people.”
She received a traineeship with a ballet company at age 18, indicating her definite progression to T4, “because of the interaction with the company and the director.” After completing her traineeship for a year, she was promptly promoted to
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 131
a corps de ballet member at age 19, signalling the transition to E1, but has not received a promotion since. She mentions injury as both a major challenge to her career and a positive. It is possible she may have experienced a benefit from having an injury herself, or that an injury to another company member may have meant a positive outcome for her, but this is unable to be clarified without an interview.
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 132
E1 Corps de ballet member (age 19)
T4 Received traineeship (age 18)
T3 Increase in hours of training (age 17)
T2 Increase in hours of training/possible verification (age 15)
T1 Possible move to more advanced syllabus level (age 12)
F3 Increase in training hours and commitment (age 6)
F2 Commenced ballet training (age 4)
Figure 9. Participant 3 FTEM pathway.
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Participant 4
Participant 4 was born in 1938 in Melbourne and is female. Prior to the age of
14, she had no formal ballet training. In spite of this, she already harboured a love for the art form:
Well from about six or seven I don't know when but around, very young I
wanted to be a dancer but I’d never seen ballet. But I’d seen A Baron at the
Ballet, you know that book? And so we didn't have any money so I just
pretended I was a dancer and I used to pretend to all my friends that I did
learn ballet. And they did learn ballet and I’d show them what I did and it was
much more exciting and dramatic and passionate than what they did. So I
thought I was, they thought I was really good. But I didn't have my first
lesson until I was fourteen.
From the age of 10 she lived in a hostel with her mother, away from the rest of her family, due to her parent’s separation. The opportunity to first take a dance class came about due to a friend:
Well I was always on about [taking ballet classes] but knew that it was a pipe
dream. But then a friend of mine at school who was in a similar situation with
a split up family found out that there were going to be free ballet lessons
given by the daughter of a politician and it was a political thing you know.
And so I went home absolutely excited and I said “Oh I can learn ballet
because there’s these free lessons.” Anyway my mother knew enough to
know that you don't just go to anyone for ballet and since she thought it was
really good idea. I don't know why she took that trouble but she did. And so
she asked around and found out that [teacher’s name removed] was the best
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 134
teacher according to what she found out. And so she [took me] for a term’s
lessons and she paid for that first term’s lessons and then she never paid for
anything else. That’s when I was fourteen. And … my teacher just let me do
the rest of my training free.
This introduction to ballet training consisted of one class per week:
And so that was really frustrating to me because I was in with eight year olds.
And there were a couple of older people but I don't think anyone was as
fanatical as I was. I mean I know they weren’t. After my first [lesson] I went
home and practised [for] eight hours. And then the next day was Sunday and I
practised [for] eight hours. So every weekend I practised [for] eight hours a
day and then I practised [for] 3 or 4 hours the other days. No doubt doing it
extremely badly because I didn't know anything then.
Though her first training experience only consisted of one hour per week with her teacher, the dedication and intent behind practising for significant periods of time
(though unsupervised) demonstrates her commencement at F3 level because of her
“pursuit of personal improvement” (Gulbin, et al., 2013, p. 1324). She transitioned to
T1 a year later at age 15, due to showing “demonstrable and measurable gifts or talents” (Gulbin, et al., 2013, p. 1325), as described below:
Well my mother went along after a year to watch the end of year class ... And
she said to [my teacher], “What should I do with her?” … [my teacher] said,
“You can do whatever you like because she’s going to be a dancer anyway.” I
didn't know about that until I was much older, till I was [an] adult. [She] just
decided that it was, you know, it was sort of fate acompli. So she just was
incredibly generous and just allowed me to do any [classes], for the first two
Chasing Dreams: Investigating Talent Identification and Development in Ballet 135
years I only did one class a week and then she let me do whatever I liked.
Which was absolutely everything seven days a week. And I lived in the hostel
so there was nobody really monitoring me. So I just kept saying I had to go to
ballet and [they] didn't care, so I went. So yes it wasn’t easy from the point of
view of ballet went right through meal times at the hostel and so on. But to
me that was a small thing compared to the fact that I could go to ballet. And
you know it was absolutely wonderful. So … I owe my whole career to her.
At the age of 16, she began winning prizes for being the top of the class within her school and also received a scholarship, which serves as confirmation of talent, progressing to T2 level. At age 17, she began performing principal roles with the Ballet Guild of Victoria. Though not always paid roles, the Company existed as a
“sort of state company” prior to the formation of the Australian Ballet. She describes these opportunities as “very, very important”. Throughout ages 17 to 19, Participant
4 was also teaching (at her former ballet school) and developing her ideas about ballet training and technique. She also began performing on television in ballets that were filmed and aired by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), which she was paid to do (though often she would request that instead of making payment to her, they use the funds to ensure she had a properly trained male partner to dance with). Although at times she was receiving payment for her performances, she had not yet attained a full-time position with a company. Therefore, in order to keep consistency of definition across the participants, Participant 4 is categorised as being in T4 during the ages of 17 to 19 (though it could be argued that as a professional full-time ballet company did not exist at that time, a place within one therefore could not be obtained).
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She briefly performed with the Borovansky Ballet at age 18, at the request of the company’s then director. She was essentially talent spotted:
Then [the director] asked me to join the Australian Ballet and I said no. And
then when the company [The Australian Ballet] started she said again. I said
“No, because I’m doing Giselle with the [company name removed].” So she
came and saw [the performance] and she asked me again, [by] then I ran out
of money and I went to see her and she gave me a job which was very good
of her.
By receiving a position as a soloist in The Australian Ballet at approximately age 20, she had achieved the transition to E2 level. She describes receiving a promotion to principal at approximately age 26 as “a huge shock”:
I just didn't expect it. But we were getting ready [before the second act of]
Giselle … And then [name removed] came along and very sort of business
like and tapped me on the shoulder and he said, “[The Director] wants to see
you,” and I said “I can’t see her now I’ll see her after the show.” He said,
“She wants to see you now,” and I said, “Sorry I’m busy I’m preparing I can’t
see her now,” and he said “Yes, you have to see her now.” And I said “no, no,
no.” He grabbed me by the arm and dragged me off. And so I sat down with
this sort of “hurry up” look on my face. She said, “Oh sorry to interrupt you
but I just wanted to tell you we’re making you a principal,” … it just sort of
was so surprising I just didn't think it would happen.
The promotion to principal dancer, though a shock to her, signifies her ability to achieve “repeated and sustained success” at an E2 level, thus transitioning to the
Mastery FTEM level (Gulbin, et al., 2013, p. 1327).
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Participant 4 retired from dancing at the age of 30, as that is when her husband (who was also a dancer with The Australian Ballet) suggested they both retire as that was considered common practice. After having children,
there was never any thought about going back [to dance professionally]
because, you know, we didn't have the sort of scientific training that would
get you back [to dancing]. And dancers I think just retired much younger then
because just that’s how it was … But I would have happily gone on for a few
more years because I loved it, absolutely loved it. I was as good as I’d
dreamt.
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M Principal with Australian Ballet (age 26)
E2 Soloist with Australian Ballet (age 20)
T4 Teaching others and performing professionally at times (age 17 through 19)
T2 Begins winning prizes within school (age 16)
T1 Teacher recognises gifts (age 15)
F3 Commences ballet training (age 14)
Figure 10. Participant 4 FTEM pathway.
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Participant 5
Participant 5 is female, and was born in Australia in 1975. She grew up in
Perth, Western Australia. She did not engage in any other movement activities prior to starting dance: “My mum just sent me to ballet”, she says. She commenced ballet training at age four. Already, she had an understanding that ballet was going to be her career.
Mum sent me to ballet because she’s super tall, five foot eight, and she never
had any sort of dance training or anything and just always felt very tall and
gawky as a woman. So she didn't want her daughter to be tall and
uncomfortable so … she sent me to ballet, yeah, to get coordinated. And also
our next-door neighbour the mother was sending her daughters to ballet. So I
think that was the flow on from that.
She attended class
once a week on a Saturday morning. Loved it. Jellybean at the end of the class
… the teacher had the jellybean jar and we could all go up. So I don't know
whether it was the addiction to sugar that kept me going, coming back every
Saturday or whether it was the dance. But I just remember loving the
movement and wearing the pink leotard and skirt and the music was a big thing
for me, I loved all the piano music.
Despite her young age, and the “recreational” nature of the school she attended, she could already identify herself as being the best in her cohort, and had already had the idea of becoming a professional dancer:
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I can’t remember the definitive moment that I decided I wanted to be a
ballerina but it was probably four. Because I knew, that was what I was going
to do. Being the best in the class I think I always knew that.
She goes on to state, “I was working from four to become a professional dancer … It was very serious, it wasn’t ever anything else. Which I look back now and think that that’s quite amazing but it was never going to be anything else.” Because of this sport-specific commitment, she is categorised as commencing her ballet training from the F3 level.
She studied ballet dance exclusively until age 11, and then supplemented her training contemporary and character dancing as well. At approximately age six, other mothers started identifying her as being talented. “I always remember my mum saying that other mothers would say to her ‘You’ve got to do something with her’ and that started probably at about six or seven.”
At the age of 11, she moved to a “bigger, more established ballet school”. She engaged in competitions and was excelling in her RAD exams, and began pointe work (about the same age she started the Pre-Elementary level in her syllabus work).
I was always getting Honours or Highly Commended and it wasn’t until sort
of a few years kept coming and I was the best in the class and getting the good
results that mum and dad started to think “Oh, you know she’s got a little bit of
talent for this.” Not that they steered me in any direction but I just loved it so
they just kept sending me back each year.
She soon moved on from that school, citing “problems with the teachers”:
I was a child that always questioned things and not in a cocky way and I
really, looking back now, think the teachers just didn't know the answers if I
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asked them a sort of specific things about technique or stretching or something
like that. They just didn't have the answers. So one of the teachers she was
particularly oh … not mentally abusive but just not helpful. All I wanted to do
was dance and she’d be yelling at me. So I left that school and went to another
school where … I related to the teacher and I wanted to get my Solo Seal
[award] and do a bunch of competitions and audition for the Australia Ballet
School. And she was able to get me there really well.
By the age of 14, she was dancing “six or seven days a week”, undertaking a part-time dance program that saw her dance for a half day and attend school for a half day, which operated thought her current dance school at the time. She also recalls performing with a local amateur ballet company that had a guest from The
Australian Ballet perform the lead role/s. She stresses the importance of finding performance opportunities to her career:
That was everything about becoming a dancer. I loved it, it was, yeah, the
performing on stage, the make up, the hair, the costumes, just being in a
theatre, just made me feel alive I suppose. And the magical world. That’s what
I loved about it all.
This more intense training period is in line with T3, in that she was “committed to higher levels of sport-specific practice and striving for continual performance improvements that [were] focused on a benchmark outcome” (Gulbin, et al., 2013, p.
1236).
At the age of 15, Participant 5 undertook both her Advanced and Solo Seal
RAD examinations. “They didn't have [the examinations available] that year in
Perth, so I flew with another girl and my ballet teacher to Sydney and we did Solo
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Seal and also Advanced exam and a competition.” The same year, she auditioned for, and was successful in gaining a position at, the Australian Ballet School.
“I moved away from home at fifteen and a half [to dance at the Australian
Ballet School]. I never had a problem, I never had homesickness. I loved it, I
adjusted really easily. My parents always said there’s always a bedroom for
you, there’s no pressure. If you don't like it we’ll get you on a plane and you
can come home. So I never felt that I had to make it or I had to prove anything
to anyone. So yeah it was an easy transition for me. I mean I'm sure I messed
up a few laundry loads and couldn’t cook for many, many years. But I seemed
to get by somehow.
She excelled while at The Australian Ballet School, which is demonstrative of her move to T4 due to the breakthrough and reward she experienced after her part-time training (Gulbin, et al., 2013). This was despite sustaining several injuries:
At the time that I was at the Australian Ballet School it was a three-year
diploma course … In the first year actually I had a surgery. I had shin splints so
I spent a little bit of time sitting on the floor and recovering from that [but] I
received the main scholarship for the first year girls that year. The second year
I received the main scholarship for the girls and I also received a scholarship
with a boy in my year to travel over to a summer school in Boston in the States
… it was just brilliant. A whole bunch of international kids came together and
sort of created this company run by some choreographers, American
choreographers and professional dancers. And at the end of the month we did a
bunch of shows at Jacob’s Pillow, that was really lovely. Then my third year I
won the major female scholarship again for that year, went on [The] Dancers
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Company tour and then dislocated my knee, the same knee that I hurt as a
child. And the same knee that [eventually] ended my career. And it was at the
time where everyone was doing the final year assessments to audition for The
Australian Ballet. So I couldn’t do [the audition], but I received a contract with
the Australian Ballet to join … in spite of the injury. But I was to repeat some
of my final year and when I was fit enough, when my knee was strong enough.
I would then join the company, the following year.
This acceptance into the corps de ballet at the age of 18 signals her transition to E1, closely followed by a promotion to coryphée at age 20. She describes her first two years as a corps de ballet member as “great.”
I loved it and at the end of my second year [the artistic director] cast me as a
principal role in … one of the ballets … so that was pretty radical, a second
year getting cast in a principal role was … not the usual. But not uncommon
from time to time.
I was promoted [to coryphée] I think the following year, maybe. I also received
that year a scholarship to go overseas at Christmas to study and see other
companies. I went to New York, Paris and London and got coached by some
really cool ballerinas, ex-ballerinas which was pretty wild. All expenses paid
for, over your Christmas period, that was really nice for I think three weeks or
something. I got two of those scholarships over the years so it was pretty cool.
At age 22, she received a promotion to soloist. “I don't know how it came about, maybe he just saw something in me that he wanted to promote as well.” The promotion to soloist signifies a move to E2 level, though she was still plagued with injuries. Not long after being promoted to soloist, she encountered an injury that saw
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her unable to dance for 9 months. It took exploratory surgery while she was on tour with the company in the United States to uncover the injury’s true cause:
They [the surgeons] went in and they found a one centimetre tear in the lining
of my hip joint yeah which didn’t show up on any of the [previous] MRIs. So
then they fixed it up and then I was dancing within sort of two to three months.
That was pretty great to get out of pain because I was in quite a lot of pain for
many, many, many months.
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E2 Soloist with The Australian Ballet (age 22)
E1 Offered and accepted corps de ballet position (age 18)
T4 Accepted into The Australian Ballet School (age 15)
T3 Part-time training program and goal of The Australian Ballet School (age 14)
F3 Commences ballet training (age 4 through 13)
Figure 11. Participant 5 FTEM pathway.
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Appendix G: Glossary
Adage: slow and controlled movements
Allegro: fast, quick jumping movements
Barre: a component of ballet class performed alongside and with assistance from a horizontal wooden handrail (also called a barre)
Centre: a component of ballet class performed without the assistance of a barre
Corps de ballet: the ‘body’ of a ballet company, the least valued dancers as part of a ballet company
Corypheé: a rank of a dancer in a ballet company
Demi-pointe: half point
Entrechat: jumps with the legs beaten back and forth
Fouettés: a challenging series of turns executed by whipping the working leg in small circles while coordinating rising and lowering on the supporting leg
Pas de deux: a series of steps danced as a pair, usually a male and a female
Pirouette: a turn
Pointe/ en pointe /pointe work: to dance on the tips of the toes
Port de bras: movements of the arms
Principal: the highest rank of a dancer in a ballet company
Retire: raising the working leg so that the foot touches the knee of the supporting leg
Soloist: a rank of a dancer within a ballet company
Turn-out: External (outward) rotation of the legs so that the feet point sideways
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