Original Article

The Development of Imagery in DancePart I: Qualitative Findings from Professional Dancers

Sanna M. Nordin, Ph.D., and Jennifer Cumming, Ph.D.

AbstractA series oi two .studies was undtTtaken roinvfstif;atc the development of imageryamong dancers and how dance teachersmight attect the imagery developmentprocess. "Ihe Hrst study is reported here,the second in Part II. For the present study,in-depth semi-structured interviews wereconducted with 14 female (n -9) and m;iJe(n - 5) professional dancers from a rangeof ages and dance forms. Ihe recordedinterviews were transcribed verhatim andcontent-analyzed with NVivo 4.0, Resultsfell into three categories: Early Experiences,Teachers, and Imagery Changes. Find-ings included few dancers having beentaught about imagery, and that dancersoften preferred teachers who gave plent\'o( images so that each dancer could useimages that suited Ins or her own needs.As dancers became more accomplished,imagery typically changed toward morefrequent, complex, and Idnesthetic images.Suggestions tor further research and ideasfor practical application are provided.

Iniiigtry is often considered tobe ;i psycbological skill that ischaracteristic of high-level per-

formance. For instance, a study ofCanadian athletes found that thosewho performed at higher levels hadaccumulated more imagery practicethan those who performed at lower

levels after eight years of involvement.'As a consequence of such research, ithas been recommended that imageryshould be a key component of train-ing from an early stage.' Despitesuch findings and recommendations,however, remarkably few studieshave been performed into how eliteperformers develop psychologicalskills. Consequently, there has been acall for further investigation into thistopic.'"^ An increased understandingof how imagery is taught and devel-oped in high-level performers couldgive us valuable insights into preferredteaching practices, and eventually leadto guidelines to help teachers as wellas dancers maximize the effectivenessof imagery.

As a related issue, little is currentlyknown regarding the influence ofteachers and coaches on the use ofpsychological skills among perform-ers. Ihe research that does exist hasbeen mainly conducted in sportssettings, leaving the context of danceespecially under-investigated. Foursports investigations are neverthelessillustrative. First, a qualitative studyfound that cognitive skills, includ-ing imagery, helped elite swimmersinterpret their anxiety symptoms as

Sanna M. Nordin, Ph.D., is at the l.ondon Sport Insiitute, Middlesex University,United Kingdom. Jennifer Cumming, Ph.D., isat the University of Birmingham,Birmingham, United Kingdom.

Correspondence: Sanna M. Nordin, Ph.D., London Sport Institute, Middlesex University,Archway Campus, 2-10 Highgate Hill, london, N19 5LW, United Kingdom.

more facilitative in competi t ions.^The swimmers gradually acquiredthese skills throughout their careersvia relatively informal means, partlyby listening to important individualssuch as coaches, other competitors,and parents, and partly throughself-discovery. In a second qualitativestudy, the development of psychologi-cal skills in U.S. Olympic medalistswas examined.'' Tlie athletes in thissample had sometimes been explicitlytaught how to use imagery and otherpsychological skills. For the mostpart, however, their psychological skilldevelopment had been supported lessdirectly by a variety of individuals,including coaches, teachers, familymembers, and friends. Their supporttook various forms, such as encour-agement and modeling of desirablebehaviors. Orlick and Partington^documented similar findings with Ca-nadian Olympians and reported thatmany of them "felt that tbey couldhave reached the top much soonerif they had worked on strengtheningtheir mental skills earlier in their ca-reers." A fourth study compared thepsychological skills (including imag-ery) of national- and international-level gymnasts.*^ Six internationalg\'mnasts and three national gymnastshad acquired their psychological skillsnaturally, while three other nationalgymnasts had participated in psycho-logical skills training (PS'F). It wasfound that the international gymnastshad a more elaborate and wide-rang-

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22 Volume 10, NiimhcTs I 6" 2, 2006 • Journal of Dance Medicine C Science

ing repertoire of psychological skillsthan their national counterparts.However, the PST program helpedthe three national g)'mnasts acquireskills similar to those employed by theinternational gymnasts. As a result,the quality and complexity of theirimagery and other skills stu'passedthose of the three national-level gym-nasts who had nor received any formaltraining.

Research conducted thus far insptirts seetiis to suggest that the ac-quisition of imagery skills by athletesusually occurs gradually, via differentsources, and often indirect methods.Structured imagery training programscan improve this process*^ " but arenot the usual means by which athleteslearn about imagery. By comparison,available sttidies suggest that dancersmay learn about imagery in a slightlymore direct manner. For instance, acomparison ot the imagery instruc-tional methods used by three groupsof instructors found that danceteachers and figure skating coachesencouraged their performers to useimagery more than did soccer coachesbefore and during practices, as well asbefore performances.''The similaritiesbetween the dance instructors and fig-ure skating coaches are not altogethersurprising given the artistic naturethat is inherent to both activities. Itshould be noted that when Overbyand colleagues described encour-agement to use imagery, they werereferring to concrete types of images,such as rehearsing skills and sequencesin one's head.'' However, they alsoinvestigated the instructors' use ofmetaphorical images. Tliese are moreabstract, often referring to actionsand sensations that may not be objec-tively possible, for example "movingacross the floor as if moving throughwater,"'- or "walking and turning asif there were no gravity to keep yotiearthbound."'' It has previously beenfound that dance teachers frequentlygive out such metaphorical imagesin classes as instructional cues or asinspiration for their sttidents." Toreturn to the direct comparison studydone by Overby and colleagties, It wasfound that dance teachers used more

metaphorical imagery than eitherfigure skating or soccer coaches.''Thisis an interesting finding because suchimages have been shown to improveperformance, both for children andfor student dancers.'* "' Yet, apartfrom the work done by Overby andcolleagues, all of the aforementionedstudies concerning imagery develop-ment have focused solely on concretetypes of imagery, to the exclusion ofmetaphorical imagery types."'"''

A third and final point to note fromthe restilts of Overby and colleagueswas that none of the three groups ofinstrtictors (dance teachers, figureskating coaches, or soccer coaches) re-ported using imagery in an organizedway.'- lliis is noteworthy because ithas been suggested that imagery useshotild be structured and regular forbest effect.' Gould, Damarjian, andMedbery reported similarly unsystem-atic incorporation of mental skills intojunior tennis coaching, despite morethan half of their sample consisting ofcoaches with some sports psychologytraining.'" More encouragingly. Halland Rodgers found that following amental skills training program withfigure skating coaches, the athletescoached by the participants reportedthat their lessons had improved.''

Given these findings and thegeneral lack of research into imagerydevelopment, two studies were under-taken. 'Ihc broad aims of these studieswere to enhance our understandingof how imagery develops in dancers,and to investigate the role of the danceteacher for a dancer's imagery devel-opment. Because the area is relativelyunder-investigated, qualitative meth-ods were deemed suitable as a first stepto explore imagery development indepth. Elite performers were chosento participate in Part I because theyare likely to have superior experienceand knowledge of imagery comparedto lower-level performers."^" As partof a larger qualitative study pertain-ing to dance imagery, we employed asample of 14 professional dancers. "Iheinterview results pertaining to imagerydevelopment are thus reported in thepresent paper (Part I). To complementthese findings with more generalized

data, a second study was conducted.That study built on the findings ofPart 1 by using a quantitative meth-odology to investigate imagery devel-opment with a large, heterogeneoussample, and the results of that studyarc presented in a separate paper (PartH).

In sum, the aims of the presentinvestigation were to gain an under-standing of how imagery develops indance settings, and to explore the roleof dance teachers in imagery develop-ment. In the study presented here,semi-structured qualitative interviewswere conducted to get a first, explora-tory insight into the topic.

MethodParticipantsFourteen professiotial dancers wererecruited to participate in this study.Nine were female and five were male,and their ages ranged from 22 to 42(M - 30.00, SD - 6.71). Six danc-ers worked in classical ballet, one inKathak, and six in various types ofcontemporary dance. One partici-pant no longer described herself as adancer but as someone who integrateslive art, performance and video withcontemporary dance in her work. 'Ihesample had participated in dance for21.85 years (SD - 5.64) and they hadbeen professionals for 7.61 years (SD= 4.63). They first took up dance at7.64 years of age (SD - 5.47).

MaterialsQuestions concerning imagery develop-ment were constructed for an interviewguide based on the existing relevantliterature in dance and sports psychol-ogy.'*'''"" Ihese questions concernedthe reasons why the dancers first beganusing imagery, whether they started todo so nattirally or were explicitly taught,and how their imagery skills had devel-oped across their careers. The role of theteacher, both when the dancers wereyounger and at the present time, wasalso explored. Ihese questions concernedwhether teachers gave out images inclass, and whether teachers encouragedthe dancers to image on their own. Ilieuse of an interview guide ensured thatthe same open-ended main questions

Journal of Dance Medicine t:f Science • Volume 10, Numbers 1 cf 2, 2006 23

were asked from all participants, whileallowing the interviewer to use elabora-tion- and clariHauion-probes as deemednecessary.'*' Ihe interview guide can beobtained from the authors on request.

ProcedureRecruitmentF.thical approval for the study wasfirst obtained from the relevant ethicsreview board. Participants were thenrecruited via personal contacts oremail addresses found on the Inter-net, or in response to advertisementsplaced in a dance magazine or on anInternet message board for dance art-ists. After 14 participants had beeninterviewed, a point of saturation hadbeen reached; that is, informationgained from additional interviewslargely repeated that of previous in-terviews.'' Consequently, no moreparticipants were recruited.

Interview ProcedureInterviews took place in a locationchosen by each participant, such aswork places, homes, and public places.Prior to the commencement of theinterview, participants received aninformation letter and gave informedconsent. White and Hardy's defini-tion of imagery was then provided to

Unlikely lo say 'hnagcry"

clarify the concept of imagery: "Imag-ery is an experience that mimics realexperience. We can be aware of'seeing'an image, feeling movements as an im-age, or experiencing an image of smell,taste or sounds without experiencingthe real thing. Sometimes peoplefind that it helps to close their eyes.It differs from dreams in tbat we areawake and conscious when we forman image.""- Any differences betweenthe participants' and the interview-ers' perceptions of what constitutesimagery were discussed before theinterview commenced.

Data AnalysisThe interviews were first transcribedverbatim and thereafter contentanalyzed with the qualitative soft-ware NVivo 4.0. Our procedurefollowed tbe recommendations byCote, Salmela, Baria and Rtissell byfirst creating tags for each meaningunit."^ Units were then arranged withother units of similar meaning intohierarchical trees, gradually movingfrom the specific meaning units upto greater levels of abstraction. Bothdeductive and inductive procedureswere used to analyze our data,'" andtheoretical saturation was deemed tobave been reached when the text units

fitted adequately into the hierarchicaltrees.''

Validation and TriangulationProcedureslo ascertain whether our findingscould be considered valid, several stepswere taken. With regard to the partici-pants, we included a question at theend of each interview to help deter-mine that none of the participants feltthey were at all influenced by or ledby the Interviewer. Participants werealso sent their interview transcript, al-lowing them to change any sentencesthat were not congruent with theirintended meaning."' Four participantsreturned their manttscripts with slightalterations.

With regard to the authors, thefirst author transcribed the inter-views and performed the contentanalysis, and the sect)nd author readthree (20%) of the transcripts whenthey had been coded into text units.Thereafter, both authors debated toestablish that all ideas in the tran-script had been extracted into textunits, that each text unit representedonly one idea, and tbat each textunit was suitably named. Lastly, thesecond author independently re-ar-ranged the categories into hierarchies

imagwy, rrurtiirig. or physic

ilrrua»ry lali*n (or flunttd Nw ymn )Frcquem ivhen younger

Itnpsisibit to knoB if sluMnt imigeiPrefer teachers mtto use pler«y 01 imif try \ Dancers' opinkmc ragintng teiehen and imagery

Use pleniy of imaaery to suil al dancers

\ Stt3ln)ies to develop imapery / Studying imagery

Figure 1 Hierarchic:)! illustration of imagery development findings.

24 Volume 10, Ntmibers 1 &2, 2006 •journal of Dance Medicine (^Science

as she saw fit. Discussion about anyinconsistencies resulted in slightchanges to the emerging hierarchyof results.

ResultsPresentation of ResultsIhrec categories emerged during theanalyses: Early Experiences, Teachers,and Imagery Changes. Hach of thesecategories is ciescrihed in detail below,and is also illustrated in Figure 1. Itshould be noted that this initial studyaimed to explore and not to quantifythe ciancers' experiences. Accordingly,we do not report how many dancersmentioned each particular categoryin this study, because presentingfrequency counts with small samplescan be misleading,'"' and frequencymight wrongly be mistaken for im-portance.''' Indeed, the best teachingpractice concerning imagery might bethe most or the least common one. Asa consequence, we use the system of"fuzzy quantifiers" employed by otherdance imagery authors to illustrate ourfindings.-^ Thus, "some" refers to l-,3dancers, "several" refers to 4-7 danc-ers, "many" refers to 8-11 dancers,"most" refers to 12-13 dancers, and"all" refers to 14 dancers.

Early ExperiencesThis category emerged from respons-es relating to when the participantsstarted engaging in imagery, howthey learned, and their reasons fordoing so. Most dancers had engagedin imagery since they were childrenor said it was something they hadalways done, although one said thatshe started while a dance student.Most ci[ our participants had notbeen taught how to image, but severalthought it would have been usekil toreceive more formal instruction. Itshould, however, be recognized thatseveral of the participants foimd theconcept of teaching somebody howto image somewhat foreign, becausethey felt Imagery is something thatoccurs naturally. Contemporary Fe-male # 1 remarked: "I don't necessar-ily think that there was any real neednecessarily to explain how to markthrough something in your head.

Because you always had to." Despiteimagery often being described as anatural skill, however, a C^ontem-porary Male dancer indicated that aciifference sometimes existed in howdancers with many years of trainint;memorized sequences comparedto dancers who came to their inte-grated dance company with a lessrigorous dance background. Despitebeing skilled movers, these disableddancers sometimes struggled withretaining material, a problem tbeContemporary Male thought mighthave to do with their proficiency inusing imagery.

Several dancers were unsure whythey started engaging in imagery, of-ten because they considered imageryto be something that just came natu-rally to them. Only some participantswere able to identify particular reasonsfor why they started to image, such asfor learning or for choreographing.Some dancers had been encouraged toimage by others, such as family, otherdancers or teachers: "I just thought'well, if that's going ro work and that'sgoing to help me do the pirouettes,then I'll think about it.' So it reallywas directed from a teacher" (Con-temporary Female #2).

TeachersFour categories emerged when analyz-ing interview quotes relating to danceteachers' use and encouragement ofimagery. These categories concernedthe terminology tbat teachers usedwhen referring to imagery, encourage-ment to image received from teachers,images given by teachers, ancH danc-ers' opinions regarding teachers andimagery.

Terminology Used by Teacherswhen Referring to ImageryMost participants reported that theirteachers were unlikely to actually usethe word "imagery," but most oftenused other terms such as "visualize,""think through," "go through it inyour head," and simply "think aboutit." It was also not always clear totbe dancers whether their teacherswere referring to imagery, to physi-cal practice, or to marking. In tbe

words of Contemporary Female #5:"I don't know whether they specifiedwhether you really thought throughit in your heaci, or whether you justmark through it, or whether you kindof do a bit of both."

Imagery EncouragementSimilar to findings by Overby andcolleagues,'" imagery encouragementmainly referred to concrete types ofimagery, such as rehearsing skillsand sequences. Differences existedbetween our participants with regardsto whether they had been encour-aged to use snch concrete images bytheir teachers. Contemporary Female#2 was one of the dancers who hadreceived such encouragement: "As astudent... we were advised to do thatmental practice thing of^—especiallywith pirouettes, I used to have aterrible time with pirouettes—andmy teacher used to say, 'Co awayand think about it. Don't just keepphysically practicing it, just thinkabout it, visualize it in your head,seeing yourself doing a pirouette.'And that used to really help me."By contrast. Ballet Male #1 did notperceive imagery encouragement tobe a common occurrence: "It will besomething tbat possibly would bementioned... probably quite rarely...Whilst you're at school it's more kindof direct corrections of what you'redoing wrong in performing a steprather tban coaching the mental ap-proach to it." A response from manyparticipants was tbat teachers andchoreographers at the professionallevel simply take it for granted thatdancers use imagery.

Images Given by TeachersAgain similar to Overby and col-leagues,' ' this category emergedfrom responses referring mainlytt) metaphorical images that wereprovided by teachers. It was foimdtbat metaphorical images were notfrequently given to the participantsby their current instructors, but thishad been more frequent when theywere younger: "When you were a kidit'd be like, you know, 'blossom like aBower,' or 'open the hands to the sky

Journal ot Dance Medicine d^Science • Volume 10, Numbers 1 &2, 2006 25

and sec all the stars'...It's really quitetangible metaphors" (ContemporaryFemale #4). Reasons why teachersused metaphors included to make itfun and interesting tor children, to en-hance understanding, and to enhancethe quality of movements.

Dancers' Opinions RegardingTeachers and ImageryIt WAS noted by some participantsthat because imagery is an internalexperience, it is impossible for teach-ers to know whether their students areactually using the images that havebeen given to them or not. However,many agreed that for this reason "youshould feed lots of images so thatpeople can find whatever works forthemselves" (Contemporary Female#4). Indeed, several dancers still pre-ferred instructors who gave plentyof images. To illustrate why this wasimportant. Contemporary Female#1 gave the following example of achoreographer who did not use im-ages to describe his movements: "Hejust wasn't very...good at explaining,he'd just show it again and say, 'It'sgot to be...like this,' or something,and youVe like, 'Yes, but what is that,''Eh, I don't know, you just take yourarm up.' And he'd be doing it in thisamazing way, and you'd be like 'Well,but how, what does that mean?' Andthat's very frustrating, it somebodycan't explain what they're doing."

Imagery ChangesThis category consisted of tour sub-categories, namely improvements inimagery, deterioration in imagery,changes in imagery types used, andstrategies used to develop imagery.

hnprovements in ImagerySeveral dancers reported that theirimagery had improved over time.For example. Ballet Female #1 re-ported increased complexity andcontrol over her images: "How it hasdeveloped. ..I suppose that when Iwas a kid I could only imagine themovement. And very often 1 startedimagining myscit tailing over and thestuti I didn't want to happen... And Isuppose that now I've managed not

only...it's like I can actually imaginewatching myself if I want to, or Ican imagine myself doing the steps.Or also I can imagine myselt tcelingwhat I'm meant to be interpreting orthe character I'm meant to be. Andputting them both together, like themovement plus the teel ol it...I sup-pose that is the way it has developed,that before it was just a very crudeform of movement."

Some participants further reportedthat their imagery had become morestructured and deliberate. For ex-ample. Contemporary Female #3provided the following quote: "Myability to use imagery...it's some-thing that I wasn't aware was a skill.it was just something that I could do.I didn't know I could use it to helpin rehabilitation until a Feldenkraisperson pointed it otit to me. Butnow that I am aware oi it, I can useit to prevent injury, to help recoverfrom injury, to help create material,to help create ditferent layers of com-munication within the material thatI make." Thus, although imagerycame naturally to this participant,her imagery became more deliberateand wide-ranging following advicefrom a Feldenkrais therapist. In ad-dition to increases in structure anddeliberation, several dancers hadincreased their use of kinestheticimagery: "more...sensations. We'llbe collecting or conjuring up sensa-tions ot what the movement telt like"(C^ontemporary Female #4). Severalparticipants had also increased theiruse of imagery. This was mainly interms ot trequency, but sometimesalso in generality: "...that was in aballet class, and I took it away andapplied it to other things as well,that mental image of myself doingsomething" (Contemporary Female#2).

Deterioration in ImageryIn contrast to the above tindings. Bal-let Female #2 perceived her imageryuse to have deteriorated in both qual-ity and quantity since she was young.She explained this by "straying" tromballet tor an interval in her teens:"...and then I went back to it and

then I sort ot realized it's still what Ireally wanted. But during that time Ithink that I lost all of that...good wayot imagining."

Changes in Imagery Types UsedDecreases were also noted by severalparticipants in the extent to whichthey engaged in certain types ofimagery. For example, some danc-ers reported now using less imageryot metaphors, ot their goals, and oftheir appearance than when theywere younger. In accordance with theincrease in image complexity notedabove, images had also in several casesmoved away from simpler "pictorial"images of steps and toward images ofroles and characters. Ballet Male #2felt that this was an imagery type thatteachers and choreographers wotilduse most at the professional level: 'Ithink it's more of trying to play thepart you actually are. Not just doingthe steps but actually doing the partas well...I mean, it you're Romeo inRomeo and Juliet, you can't just be.. .aguy dancing. You have to put a lot offeelings in it too. I would say that'sthe kind ot imagery they would use."Contemporary Female #4 reportedan increased use of anatomical im-ages: "From being more imagery of,say...moving like a tree or like a roseor like a princess, something like that,to actually becoming more anatomicalconnections thrt)ugh the body."

Strategies Used to Develop ImageryAlthough not a part of our interviewguide, a few examples of strategiesused to develop imagery emergedinductively during the analysis stage.These included studying imagery,meditating, and receiving advice fromother dancers.

DiscussionThe present study investigated imag-ery development via interviews withl4 professional dancers. Similar toqualitative studies done in sports,''''many of these performers felt thatimagery came naturally to them,while few had been tormally taughthow to image. Also similar to Gouldand colleagues' study,'' some dancers

26 Volume 10, Numbers I & 2, 20U6 • Journal oi' Dance Medicine 6" Science

were encouraged to image by others,such as teachers. Family, or otherdaticers. Otily some participantsidentified particular reasons for whythey started using imagery, such asfor learning ot for choreographing.Moreover, it was noted that onlythtee of the interviewees had receivedany dance or sports psychologytraining, and even then It was onlyfrom passing references or occasionalworkshops.

Some participants voiced a con-cern that imagery is an internalexperience that cannot be taught,which might be due to a lack ofawareness by dancers that imagery isa skill. While no such sttidies have yettaken place in dance, there is plentyof evidence trom sports literature thatathletes may improve their itnagerythrough formal training programs.**''It has also been shown that coachescan enhance practice quality throughundertaking a similar psychologicalskills training program.''' Other au-thors have noted that performing artsprograms typically do not includepsychological skills education, butthat dancers could benefit greatlyfrom its introductioti.'^-^ Weencour-age such imagery training for dancersand their teachers, but even in theabsence of formal programs, danceteachers should be encouraged to useimagery. 'Jhey can do this by givingOta metaphorical images, by inform-ing dancers that imagery is a skill thatcan be improved, and by encouragingdancers to mentally practice usingimagery. Other dance imagery writershave also provided useful recommen-dations for how to develop imageryskills in dancers.' •'"'•'- However, thevalidity of these recommendationshas not yet been investigated.

It appears that imagery structureand deliberation increased as thedancers became more experienced.This fmding is in agreement withevidence that elite athletes have morestructured and tegular imagery ses-sions than do novices.*''^ Because ithas been claimed that imagery sessionsneed to be structured to be effective Jincreased structure in imagery teach-ing should probably be promoted. It

has previously been shown that animagery training program can helpincrease both the frequency and thestructtire of imagery practice.''"" Inaddition to improvements in struc-ture, our dancers typically experiencedmore muiti-sensory or more kines-thetic images as well as greater imagequality, complexity and control as theybecame tnore experienced. Again thisresembles some previous findings insports. • •'•' Moreover, the dancers hadgenerally increased their amount ofimagery as they progressed. This con-ctirs with the findings ot Brasslngtonand Adam, who showed that the moreexperienced soloists in ballet u.se morepsychological skills, such as imagery,than the less experienced corps de bal-let dancers.''^ Bradley and Partingtonfound that more advanced Highlanddancers also engaged in more imagerythan their lower-level counterparts."'Similarly, a consistent finding insports has been that elite athletesuse more imagery than do non-eliteathelctes.'-''-'^-* What none of thesestudies have addressed, however, iswhether the greater use of imageryon be-half of more skilled dancers isa result of their typically longer andmore intense involvement in theiractivity compared to their less skilledcounterparts, or whether other factorsunderlie this difference. We addressthis question further in Part II.

One of the factors that couldaffect a performer's imagery use isthe encouragement received fromsignificant others. In the presentstudy, individual differences existedas to whether the participants hadbeen encouraged to image. Specifi-cally, only some of them had receivedsuch encouragement, and many re-ported that imagery use was simplyexpected at the professional level,implying that encouragement wasnot necessary. However, a qualita-tive study with athletes suggests thatencouragement does have a positiveeffect on the amount of imageryused,'''' and this would be an inter-esting finding for future research toverify with dancers. Encouragementmight also vary with activity type,for exatnple, sports or dance,'" or

experience level.'' Again, we exploreftirther in Part II the issue ot whethera relationship exists between imageryencouragement and imagery use.

Dancers also reported that teach-ers may influence the imagery processby providing metaphorical imagesin class. As young dancers most hadreceived these types of images fre-quently, and it was suggested thatenhanced understanding, interest,enjoyment, and movement qualitywere the reasons for giving such im-ages. However, several dancers alsoreported that this teaching practicehad declined across their career. Bycontrast, Overhy has reported a moreeven distribution of images given tobeginner, intermediate and advanceddancers." Given these discrepancies,the question ot what is typical teach-ing practice can be better addressedby the quantitative data presentedin Part 11. 'Ihe value of qualitativeresearch is, however, highlightedthtough indtictively-emerging datasuch as the quotes indicating thatthe dancers in tact reported a preter-cnce for teachers who gave plenty ofmetaphorical images, 'thus, the use ofa semistructured interview approachto explore imagery development indance yielded findings that were notanticipated, but that can have valueboth for further research as well as forapplied dance psychology contexts.

In conclusion, we have shed somelight on dancers' imagery develop-ment, including their imagery ex-periences, the role of their teachers,and the changes in their imagery asthey progressed. By using qualitativemethods, we were able to explorethese phenomena in depth andwithout imposing restrictions onthe dancers' responses. As such, om'study also allows a more informeddesign of subsequent quantitativeinvestigations, such as that reportedin Part II. An interim conclusion thatmay be drawn from the interviewfindings is that imagery is perceivedto be an important practice activitythroughout the professional dancers'careers, which also indicates the po-tential value of further study into thetopic. In the words of Contemporary

Journal of Dance Medicine ^Science • Volume 10, Numbers 1 &2, 2006 27

Female #3, imagery is "...very, veryhelpful. In fact I wouldn't have gotas far as I ve got without it, really.You just...can't work professionallyif you don't use ir, I don't think. Norusefully, and not...you know, if youwant longevity in a career, in espe-cially a dancing career, my Cod youhave to look after yourself, and there'sno point battering your poor jointsif your brain can do it for you."

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