AbstractsEducation Research & Administration

The purpose of this action research project was to evaluate the attitudes of stakeholders who participated in a non-competitive multi-team ballroom festival. The event consisted of non-competitive workshops and an adjudicated performance, instead of the more common competition based approach to multi-team ballroom events. The stakeholders consisted of secondary aged ballroom dancers and their coaches, the audience members in attendance and the guest professionals/adjudicators. A survey consisting of positive statements connected to a four-point Likert type scale measuring their level of agreement, as well as open-ended questions was used to collect data on attitudes and perceptions. Adjudicators were interviewed to explore how they perceived this new approach to a multi-team ballroom event. Using basic statistical analysis and open coding, the researcher assessed the attitudes of the different stakeholder groups. The findings gave strong evidence that the stakeholders had positive perceptions of the event and very positive attitudes toward the non-competitive festival experience. No differences were found between the groups of stakeholders. Survey results were so positive with all groups that every group requested that the event is longer in the future and many of the participants suggested that there be more of similar events in the future. 22 cm., 71 p.