During the late 1920s, representatives from the English Folk Dance Society came across an unusual custom in a narrow valley in the northwest of England. Every Easter a small group of men would dance through the local streets, accompanied by a silver band and led by a whip-carrier who cleared a space in which they could perform.

On the face of it such ceremonial activity was similar to the annual practices of English morris and sword dancers whose repertoires and customs Cecil Sharp had rescued from oblivion in the early years of the century. Certainly, in broad terms, the custom conformed to Sharp's definition of the morris as a ceremonial performance by men only, in special dress, and at a particular time in the local calendar (1909: 10–12).

What is dance and what is the experience of dancing? What does dancing mean for those who do it?

Dance scholars and critics have written many words in response to these questions. Choreographers give their answers to “what is dance?” in the work they create and, often, in commentary about it. Professional dancers have also spoken, primarily in biographies and autobiographies, of what dance and dancing mean to them. Not all voices are heard in dance literature, however. In particular, the voices of children and adolescents, especial ly those not enrol led in professional schools, are silent. What is the dance experience like, and what does it mean, for them? What do their experiences—and the meanings they make of them—say to us, who work with young people in dance?

These were the questions that propelled three researchers into this study focusing on a group of 16–18 year old young women. In particular we were interested in finding out what young women dancers thought of their place within dance and dancing. This research focused initially on young adolescents and, as such, represents only a beginning of what we view as an important area of investigation.

The nineteenth century brought a tidal wave of immigrants from many European countries to the United States. The immigrants tended to cluster in various areas across the country. One group came from what is now known as Czechoslovakia and settled in an area of eastern Iowa. Today, Cedar Rapids has the largest Czech community in the state. The population of the town and its metropolitan area is 125,000 and the Czech population is estimated at 30%, counting third and fourth generation Czechs.

From their earliest arrival in the community around 1852 the Czechs congregated in an area that became known as “Little Bohemia,” where they formed their own community life. They continued their traditional hobbies of lace-making, egg-painting, theater, music, gymnastics, and dancing.