Defining the Parent's Role in Guiding and Nurturing Young Talent in Dance

This study explores the role of parents in nurturing and guiding young professional dancers including: identifying talent; managing dancers' careers; detecting eating and body image disorders; and coping with competition, social pressures, and expectations. An examination of field resources, comments from 35 parents of dancers attending the Broadway Dance Center Summer Intensive, and interviews with seven professional dancers, reveals that parents do have a significant role in the nurture of young dancers; however, parents are not addressed as such by the leaders and institutions in the field.