A Qualitative Investigation of Young Female Dancers' Use of Imager

Although dancers have noted using imagery to mentally rehearse a routine, understand and reinforce movement, inspire strong emotions and lower arousal levels (Pavlik & Nordin-Bates, 2016), this finding is specific to adult dancers, overlooking imagery use with young dancers. The present study qualitatively examined the 4 W's of imagery use (Where, When, What and Why young dancers are imaging) with young female dancers 7-14 years of age. Furthermore, age differences between the four cohorts (7-8, 9-10, 11-12, 13-14) were also examined. Twenty-three female dancers (Mage = 10.43, SD = 2.19) from various dance styles participated in one of four focus groups discussions. Thematic analysis revealed findings similar to those identified in both the adult dance and children's sport domains. There were findings, however, emerging from the current study specific to young female dancers. These findings, in addition to practical implications for both dance instructors and physical education teachers are provided.