Motivation for Dancers

Motivation for Dancers is ideal for anyone with an interest in the teaching and/or learning of dance and who wants to enrich their dance practice. For example, it is appropriate for teachers of dance and movement and it is appropriate for people who are serious about their dance training.

This course is also available to be accessed by all performers, the course content is relevant for those who are interested in understanding and learning more about motivation and mental skills for dancers.

Module Aims:

To provide an introduction to the “why, what and how” of Motivation.

To provide a working definition of Motivation within the context of dance and performance.

To provide an introduction to two major theories of Motivation and to place these within the context of dance and performance.

To provide an introduction to the role of Goals in the motivational process.

To look at several practical methods for managing Motivation.

The content is delivered online by Dr Peter Lovatt through a series of videos and accompanying slides. Pause & Reflect activities and Active Learning exercises, presented by Lindsey Lovatt, are interleaved between the videos. The module includes a set of suggested reading and the Learning Outcomes are assessed by a Multiple-Choice Quiz (MCQ). Successful completion of the module leads to the award of five hours of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) (CE/CPE) and a Certificate of Completion.

Motivation for Dancers and Performers is part of the Movement in Practice Mental Skills for Dancers and Performers portfolio of courses.

Course Content

Welcome to Motivation for Dancers and Performers

Module Guide for Motivation for Dancers and Performers

Meet your Instructor

Lecture Aims

Motivation: Definition & Context

Pause & Reflect Activity: What Motivates you to Dance?

Dance Break – First Eight

Motivation: Theories & Experiences

Theories & Experiences – Maslow

Pause & Reflect Activity: Reflecting on your Hierarchy of Needs

Theories & Experiences – Self-determination Theory

Active Learning Exercise: Dance Motivation Questionnaire

Dance Break – Second Eight

Goals

Active Learning Exercise: Dance-SMART

Dance Break – Third Eight

Managing your Motivation

Managing your Motivation: Part 1

Managing your Motivation: Part 2

Active Learning Exercise: Motivational Dance Imagery

Additional Reading on Dance and Motivation

Summary

Lecture Summary

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About Instructor

Dr Peter Lovatt

Peter is an award-winning university lecturer with over 25 years of teaching experience. He started out as a teaching assistant at Stirling University in 1993, where he ran seminars on Cognitive Psychology and had his first experience of marking coursework. This was followed by a Psychology Teaching Fellowship at Essex University where he taught Psychology undergraduates, as he completed his PhD. At the same time Peter was also involved with teaching at the Centre for Continuing Education, which provided a range of open access courses for people to complete in the evenings and at weekends. Peter got his first full-time lectureship in 1996 in the Department of Psychology at the University of Greenwich, where he taught Cognitive Psychology and Research Methods. In 1998 he moved to the University of Cambridge, where he taught on the MA in Applied Linguistics and supervised PhD students in the Research Centre for English and Applied Linguistics (Faculty of English). From 2001-2003 Peter was a visiting Lecturer at Birkbeck College, University of London, where he taught the Psychology of Language to undergraduates, and from 2001 to 2004 he held the full-time post of Senior Lecturer in Psychology at Kingston University. In 2004 Peter moved to the University of Hertfordshire to take up the post of Reader in Psychology where, in 2008, he set up the Dance Psychology Lab and established a course in the Psychology of Performing Arts, which included lectures on Dance Psychology. In 2009 Peter’s teaching was Highly Commended in the Vice Chancellor’s Awards. From 2008 to 2019, Peter taught the Psychology of Performing Arts and Dance Psychology at every level of undergraduate and postgraduate teaching (from first year undergraduates to PhD candidates) in the Department of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire. In 2017 Peter started to teach Dance Psychology at the Royal Ballet School in London. Peter and Lindsey Lovatt co-founded Movement in Practice, and the Movement in Practice Academy, in 2020.

6 Courses

Course Content

About Instructor

Dr Peter Lovatt

Course Includes