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Creative Dance and Social Wellbeing Community dance of various types is enjoying huge popularity at present in the UK and beyond. Creative dance classes at community level for young people give them the chance to explore their movement potential outwith the restrictions of school syllabus but within safe parameters, under professional supervision. However, it is not just their physicality which is challenged and stretched: working together to create dance as art affords them the chance to reflect on how they feel about themselves. This book explores how members of a youth dance company feel about interacting with their peers and negotiating to take control of their self-image. With reference to Bourdieu´s (1990; 2005) concept of ´habitus´ - that buffer zone which both protects and restricts the individual within his/her social field - the author explores the dancers´ feelings of social wellbeing through their creative dance experience. Hermeneutic phenomenology is her chosen methodological approach.

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Sue Oliver, PhD: Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh. Freelance dance tutor, choreographer, researcher and writer, specialising in creative dance to promote wellbeing among participants of all ages in communities.

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