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Description
This thesis is a qualitative exploration of the subjective experiences of homelessness and dance among women in the San Diego, YWCA's transitional living program, "Passages." Homelessness is a social position characterized by conditions of extreme physical, social, and emotional suffering affecting nearly every aspect of an individual's life. In contrast, dance is a physical activity shown to provide psychosocial benefits to participants cross culturally. Based upon this juxtaposition, in an applied dimension to this study the researcher created and facilitated once weekly, hour-long dance classes for "Passages" residents with the goal of assessing the effects of participation. However, in recognition of the constitutive nature of homelessness for affecting subjectivity, through open-ended interviews, direct interaction, and participant observation this research explores the ways in which "Passages" women have suffered through experiences of their homelessness and how these have influenced their subjective practice of dance participation. An investigation of the experiences of "Passages" residents as homeless women illuminates a marginalized subjectivity often overlooked in the academic literature, in which economic and social marginality manifest in experiences of psychosocial stress and of symbolic Otherness. In this context, dance participation was experienced as a significant stress reliever and provided a sense of social "normalcy" for participants. A discussion of these experiences substantiates previous research highlighting the stress relieving benefits of dance and expands our understanding of the emotional effects of dance participation through a recognition of it's symbolic qualities.
