What are the significant traits that contribute to the success of a community dance organisation? A critical reflection of La Escuela community dance group

Abstract

Given increased visibility of the benefits of community dance, a need arises for greater understanding of how to create community dance groups. Cognizant of variations between community dance groups, it remains beneficial to assemble generally applicable guidelines. This thesis asks what are the significant traits that contribute to the success of a community dance organisation? In doing so, this thesis proposes to take a step towards understanding the workings of successful community dance practices by examining a community dance organisation and attempting to identify the traits that make it successful. It does so by studying one central Auckland community dance group, La Escuela, and existing research, from a qualitative postpositivist constructivist perspective. This thesis employs the narrative case study method, carried out via semi-structured narrative interviews analysed thematically and through constant comparative analysis.This thesis pursues the meaning of success from within the group, and involves group participants in collectively defining success for the group. If we understand the goals and aims to be those of the group participants, we can approach community dance as a phenomenon and understand why this phenomenon is happening. The participants considered La Escuela to be successful, defining success as a friendly, non-competitive environment, with a high quality of flamenco dance instruction, and with the group able to sustain its existence at its current size. The traits identified as key to fostering that success were the teacher’s ability to build positive interpersonal connections to the participants, participants’ confidence in the quality of dance instruction, the leader’s financial independence from the income generated by the group, and for students to have had previous meaningful exposure to the dance form practiced by La Escuela.