Centring the ‘subjective’ when examining performance in the field of dance medicine and science

Whilst research studies in dance science have focused on gaining insight into what constitutes a performance from the perspective of the performer, their attention to primarily isolated aspects of performance has precluded understanding of how these elements form the experience of the performer in a holistic sense. This chapter explores the role of subjective approaches in dance research. It argues for the value of situating the self within experience, drawing on the academic writing of those in the fields of dance studies, performance studies and dance medicine and science. This chapter will offer the provocation that whilst dance science researchers increasingly adopt interdisciplinary approaches, the field largely aligns with a positivist research position, emphasising measurable outcomes and robustness of findings over subjective experiences and insights. It is hoped by bringing the viewpoint of the performer to the fore that it may in turn place greater value on other ways of knowing and contribute to a wider understanding of what constitutes the multi-faceted components of artistic performance, which other disciplines may duly benefit from.