Voluntary dance performance as serious leisure and successful ageing

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study is to explore the lived experiences of older adults who have been performing Korean traditional dance as volunteers. Thirteen volunteer dancers participated in in-depth interviews. The analysis of qualitative data showed that the participants of this study demonstrated six experiential characteristics of serious leisure including: (a) the practice of perseverance, (b) volunteer career development and career contingencies, (c) commitment to the team activities, (d) subculture, (e) a strong sense of leisure-related identity, and (f) enhancing a positive sense of self. Our findings provide empirical evidence that voluntary dance performance as serious leisure can offer durable benefits and play an important role in successful ageing.

KEYWORDS:

• Serious leisure
• older adults
• volunteering
• successful ageing

Acknowledgment

This work was supported by the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Korea and the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF-2019S1A5B5A07088925). The authors would like to thank Ms. Soon Lye Park for assistance in collecting the data.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sanghee Lee

Sanghee Lee is a lecturer in the Department of Sport Industry Studies at Yonsei University.

Jinmoo Heo

Jinmoo Heo is a professor in the Department of Sport Industry Studies at Yonsei University.

Sanghee Chun

Sanghee Chun is an associate professor in the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies at Brock University.

Jin-Hyung Lee

Jin-Hyung Lee is a professor in the Department of Tourism Management at Mokpo National University