”To allow oneself to dance….”

Abstract

Abstract The purpose of the article is to illuminate the experiences of young dancers working with their own individual training in a context of contemporary dance education. Through a three-year programme, the students have kept logbooks and developed material based on the question: What were the essential experiences of individual training today? From having a focus on training strength, mobility, resilience, stamina and balance in the beginning, they often reoriented their training so as to give themselves the space to relate to and create confidence that their own subjective and relational experiences have validity in a professional dance context. As young, prospective professionals they learn gradually that what they experience is “not wrong”, but an expression of “where they are”. Their experiences contribute to the questioning of “narrow” definitions which a number of dance researchers also do today.