Dance students perceptions of the phenomenon happiness in dance.

Happiness is a phenomenon in human lives that is constantly being researched, and even though the topic is expanding there is still no literature about happiness in dance in Sweden. The purpose of this study is through a phenomenogaphical approach to get increased knowledge about how dance students perceive happiness, and the variations in their perceptions of happiness. In order to find out about this five dance students in the University of Dance and Circus were interviewed in the spring of 2018. The results showed that dance is affiliated with feelings of happiness, at least when those dance students were interviewed about it. Of course, the picture was not a clear picture, but rather complex and varied. What happiness in dance means turned out to be quite different, ranging from a euphoric feeling, a sensual experience of the movements of the body, to joy over challenging limits, accomplishing a new achievement or simply a feeling of well-being. In addition, different situations, contexts, moods and occasions give different opportunities to feel happiness in dance, according to the dance students. The atmosphere of the group, the influence of the dance educator, and the role of the audience influence in different ways. Requirements for good performance can both cause happiness when you succeed and sadness when you fail. This study creates new knowledge of happiness in dance, which has not previously been investigated; and shows that describing happiness in dance is like defining a very subjective experience.