Choreography as an Imposition: Investigating Imposter Syndrome Through Dance
Alternative Title
Abstract
My project, Choreography as an Imposition: Investigating Imposter Syndrome Through Dance, focuses on how psychological concepts and dance intersect one another, I wanted to explore how personal experiences with these concepts intertwine with physical movement choice. My goal was to combine psychological research with movement to encapsulate the psychological phenomenon known as Imposter Syndrome through a structured dance piece. Throughout the process, I did extensive research on Imposter Syndrome from a social psychology perspective, and how it impacts the way individuals behave with each other and view themselves. Imposter syndrome is a psychological phenomenon heavily prevalent in areas of occupation, specifically the arts. This is what originally pulled me to this project, as many dancers and choreographers (such as myself) experience imposter syndrome, and I challenged myself to answer the following questions: how can psychological research shape a work of art/piece of choreography? Simultaneously, how can engaging in a choreographic process lead to a better understanding of psychological concepts involved in imposter syndrome? What intrigued me was how imposter syndrome influences our behavioral choices. I connected this with my personal experience, as a dance major in college creating an entire dance piece, the constant feelings of self-doubt during the choreographic process were
something I wanted to explorethrough movement. In the dance studio space, I used my dancers as a research medium. I prompted them with specific feelings and behaviors that coincide with imposter syndrome and asked them to correlate those feelings and behaviors with movement choices. Additionally, I did dance-based research on Crystal Pite’s The Statement, a dance that reflects upon her experiences of imposter syndrome as an esteemed female choreographer and director in
the dance world. My findings for this project show that psychological research can successfully intersect with dance movement and gave me a thorough understanding of imposter syndrome in the dance world.