Fieldwork Diary Entry (March 14, 2014)

I have been in touch with Joanna, the convener of No Lights, No Lycra to discuss the event and why I wish to attend.  She thinks NLNL would be perfect for my research topic and invites me to attend a session which takes place every Tuesday night in Hackney. The below description is from the NLNL website

Everyone can dance. There is no lights, no lycra, no teacher, no steps to learn, no technique, just free movement. NLNL is a space where you can completely let go, shake out the stresses of the week, and lose yourself in the music and the physicality of your body.

This week I also sent out this email to friends whom I identified as possible research participants:

Hello Ladies & Gentlemen,

I am looking for research participants for my dissertation and was wondering if any of you would be interested?

First off the bat - I am not looking for trained dancers. I am looking for the average person's experience of dancing.

My research topic is that I am looking at self choreography on the dance floor at social events. So basically the moves that you pull when you get up to dance at a wedding, club, party etc.

I’m going to be going to a couple of clubs – most likely one in East London and one in Wimbledon or thereabouts and most likely one gay club too. This will take place sometime between Apr- June.

I need some couple of people to come with me these clubs (if you are willing to take part you will need to commit to coming to at least 2 clubs if not all 3), participate in the dancing that goes in there and feedback to me their experiences of it.

Feedback will take place in the form of filling out a questionnaire and also a short interview with me afterwards. You will also get a short questionnaire to fill out beforehand to establish your background

All participants will get a consent form to fill in which will cover health and safety, copyright etc. I will be filming and taking photos as part of my research. However if you wish to not have visual records of yourself, you can specify this when you complete the consent form. You can also choose to remain anonymous.

I will pay for any entrance fees to clubs but unfortunately will not be able to reimburse travel. Let me know if you are interested or have any further questions

The responses received so far indicate a reluctance, based upon the effort involved to go out. Also some respondents feel that they are too old to be out dancing at clubs. One reply from a father of two in his forties read:

Perhaps 20 years ago if you asked me I would have been up for it. If I went now then the results would be :-

  • This is embarrassing
  • I feel really old compared to everyone here
  • I need more to drink

Another friend said that she would like to participate but cannot because of her childcare commitments (she has two young children under the age of 3)

Another response from a female trained dancer in her mid 30's read:

I avoid clubs at all cost mainly because I am rubbish at social dancing without guidance!! (Weird for a trained dancer right?!!) Basically if I have to do it myself it makes me feel most uncomfortable and I usually avoid it when going out. However if you are short of subjects please let me know and I might be able to be persuaded!

So for the time being, it looks like I will be doing all the fieldwork on my own. I am intrigued that within this small pool of responses, I already have some verification that raising children kills your social dance life and that trained dancers aren't necessarily comfortable dancing socially.

I will be curious to see if more substantive research backs up these trends or not.