Creating together, growing together: a qualitative study of adolescent experiences in an inclusive, co-creative performing arts project.

PURPOSE: Adolescence is a formative period marked by exploration, identity formation, and a growing need for belonging. Co-creative performing arts practices may support learning and relationship-building across diverse groups of young people. This study explored how adolescents without disabilities, enrolled in mainstream educational programmes, experienced and reflected on their participation in a long-term, inclusive, co-creative performing arts project (SPOR).

MATERIALS AND METHODS: A qualitative inductive design with three focus groups was used, grounded in phenomenological, hermeneutic, and existential traditions. A meaning-oriented approach rooted in reflective lifeworld research ensured methodological coherence, and reflexive thematic analysis facilitated a systematic yet adaptable exploration of participants' lived experience.

RESULTS: The analysis yielded two themes: Finding pride in the challenge of co-creation and Tracing essentials for living. The latter comprised three interrelated subthemes: Seeing oneself and society with new eyes, Unlearning stereotypes through sustained encounters, and Grieving the heartfelt community.

CONCLUSION: Participants described emotional growth, mutual recognition, and a sense of belonging and mattering arising from collaborative artistic engagement with peers with disabilities. The findings suggest that inclusive co-creative performing arts can promote adolescents' psychosocial development and well-being, while highlighting the need for supportive structures that sustain and extend such experiences into everyday life.