After the longest wait, my very first research article is officially published AND it’s open access! (Y’all the publication journey is no joke.)

In my very first project tutorial, I told my Lucie (my supervisor), “I just want to pass.” The thought of publishing never even felt like an option for someone like me: I’m a dancer who isn’t good at science.

Being a dancer can sometimes feel binary. If you do anything else, you aren’t trying hard enough as a dancer. When you’re hustling from one gig to the next, any other interests you might have tend to take a backseat. You’re constantly reminded your career is short. How could you possibly have time for anything other than dance?

There’s more to every dancer than just being a dancer. I’m a dancer AND I’m a researcher. I won’t lie, I’m still getting used to that tittle, but I think little Jenna would be pretty impressed.

Endless thanks to all my participants and every one who has put up with me throughout this process!

TL;DR: I’m a published dance science researcher now!

Journal of Emerging Dance Scholarship article

When I graduated last year, I promised myself I’d start writing about body image in the dance industry. If you know me, you know how much I care about this topic and making research accessible to performers in order to move our industry forward. Plus, what’s the point of doing a Master’s-level research project if you don’t share your findings?

Fast forward to 2020. I don’t know about anyone else, but this year hasn’t quite gone as planned. So this little idea got put on a shelf indefinitely. But then Lucie at The Dance Psychologist reached out and asked me to write a guest blog on body image in dance.

Lucie supervised my research last year, and honestly it still amazes me that she likes my work. She challenged and guided me and most importantly believes in my research. Find yourself a mentor like her.

So here it is. The first (but hopefully not last) blog about my favourite topic featured on one of my favourite websites. Be sure to follow Lucie for more dance psychology!

TL;DR: I wrote a guest blog post. Link below.

Guest Blog Post on The Dance Psychologist