Perceived autonomy support, basic psychological need
satisfaction and different dance genres
Within vocational dance, dancers usually specialize in a particular
genre. While ballet environments are typically regarded as
authoritarian and controlled (Aalten, 2005), the contemporary
genre is typified by freedom, personal expressiveness and exploration.
Thus, the first major purpose of this study was to test the
BNT hypothesis with respect to the dancers’ major genre of study.
To address this aim, we compared daily levels of perceived autonomy
support, basic psychological need satisfaction and reported
affective states between dancers partaking in classes in three
genres that vary in terms of the structure and degree of individual
input. In addition to ballet and contemporary, we also targeted
Chinese dance. This genre stems from a traditional heritage that has
developed over hundreds of years and is typified by ritual and
a specific movement vocabulary and technique, with minimal
personal expressiveness and novelty. We hypothesized that
dancers engaged in ballet and Chinese dance classes would report
lower perceptions of autonomy support and basic psychological
need satisfaction after classes than their contemporary dance
counterparts.