A Quote...

I came across this quote on a facebook post from a friend. As soon as I read it I completely understood. Only the the other day my partner came across my module handbook and asked what Web 2.0 was. Instantly i sprung into teaching mode and described in full what is was from my findings within this module-

I had a great feeling of accomplishment as I had learnt about something I knew nothing about, and installed this knowledge into another.

Task 2d inquiry


My enthusiasm seems to constantly gravitate toward the teaching of dance. I extremely enjoy teaching dance to students who are still learning about their bodies and limits. For example, I looked back on my personal journal and picked a short sentence from this which express my need to teach, "After work I go and teach a short tap class which helps me cope through the beginning of my week. The teaching doesn't reach advanced stages and the students may not become the next Vera-Ellen. However the children i teach are inspirational"  I find great comfort in passing on my knowledge and experience within dance to youthful minds, to watch them excel in something they never knew anything about, and to think, yes I did that, I taught them how to do that. I find the person I admire and look up to within this field of performing arts is no-one famous, but someone who has earned and gained respect within the community as a experienced and motivated practitioner. My old dance teacher brought enthusiasm to the class and made every class better than the last. When I have the chance to see her teach or go to one of her classes my enthusiasm returns, a flashback to the little girl I was occurs and I feel the impact of her teaching once more. She is the teacher i admire, if a small part of my teaching techniques compare to hers I will feel accomplished.

I do feel there is a stereotype within dance that is increasingly damaging to young children who are finding a passion for dance. This stereotyping of dancers does make me angry. Not every female dancer is thin, tall and flat chested, Not every male within dance is homosexual. I feel this stereotyping is effecting young dancers wanting to make a career of performing. Talking from first hand experience, I have never been tall, and I have curves. Graduating from college I found the companies with the industry were saying no, because of the way I look. The reason being is every person that got that job was tall an thin, no matter to talent. One audition we all had to line up and they said yes or no with a simple point of their finger. I felt so angry and hideous in myself, I was only eighteen. No child or adult or anyone for that matter should be made to feel not good enough by the way they look. I have yet to find some quotes regarding this matter, however this is very interesting to me which I will look further into. There is no one specific person who I admire regarding this, however my close friends have  expressed their feelings too, which shows it is a recurring problem within the industry. I admire my friends who look on the situation with enthusiasm, and find the courage to carry on with being looked upon not for talent but for their appearance.



'If the dancer dances, everything is there.' The Impermanent Art. Merci Cunningham. I found this quote when studying for my National Diploma and it stayed with me. What i love about dancing is, there doesn't have to be a spectacular scenery or outstanding costumes, those components only add to the the spectacle. Even though the scene and props add to the dance, What makes the performance and choreography is the dancer. In junction with this, I feel one performance from Gene Kelly in Summer Stock backs up my statement. He choreographs a dance around the most simplest of props, and creaky floorboard and a newspaper. This is a link to the recording http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vw-qlHuktJs This performance along with two other dance routines in the film was choreographed by Gene Kelly, he used the props indeed, however the brilliance of the choreographer and movements tell the story.

 "You Wonderful You, The dance turned out to be one of the breakthrough numbers of his career." 

(Gene Kelly (2001), Watson-Guptill, Yudkoff, Alvin)

I have found this task more approachable with the questions provided, another technique I can use toward my practice. My line of inquiry at the moment, doesn't seem too clear. however i have pointed out two specific areas of dance I have a great passion and love for. Teaching toward children and dance within films. Both areas I have experienced. I started teaching a few ears ago, and every since my first lesson I have found myself to be more expressive and have gained new skills. However, dancing within films, I have grown up from an early age watching these movies and have loved every one, I have enjoyed watching the growth of dance used within films from a film like Easter Parade to Step Up.

Task 3a- Current Networks

To help me stimulate my thoughts on my networks i carried out a brainstorm. 

The way I engage with these networks is as followed-

Facebook

I use facebook to interact with my friends mostly, however it is the biggest networking system I use to search for auditions and events. I us the groups to sign up to networks that post about upcoming auditions or important diary dates. I use the messaging to message friends i met within previous contracts to see if they have any upcoming audition dates. I look up the different status updates from friends to see how their contract is going and get feedback on different companies within the industry. It a very helpful networking system to allow me to reach people I don't often speak to, and find out more information about auditions. 

Email

I use the emailing network to send information to casting directors or companies looking for dancers and performers and to gain an audition. This helps me to keep connected with people, and keep a log of contacts i may need to use in the future.

Google

Google allows me to research for new auditions and events. But also, to find information about casting directors and companies. It also enables me to research new and exciting projects I find interesting, new dance companies, new musicals coming to the UK, new dance classes etc. 

Instagram

This I try and use to keep in contact with friends and family. Its an exciting new app on my phone I can use to see what people see. It is also a good way to follow a auditioning group that posts interesting pictures.

Linkden

This is something i have set up and explored however it is at the bottom of my list to use. However, it has a brilliant way of connecting with people you may know, and to suggest friends or yourself to someone i.e casting directors.

Auditioning/ Word of mouth

Attending auditions has another purpose than to gain experience and possibly a contract. It allows you to connect with new people and find out information about different auditions you may not have heard of. It also gives you the chance to experience different audition processes. Only the other week i managed to find out about an audition i had never heard of. When speaking about this to others i gained an understanding of what the company were about and how well they treated their employees. At the beginning of this course this was something i was never quite good at, however after this strong lead from another professional. this experience has taught me word of mouth networking can surprise and help me along my career. 

When i joined facbook I originally signed up to use to communicate with family and friends however. I noticed it is a brilliant way to promote yourself within the industry. I also began to understand the different groups and events i was getting invited to, and once I had joined that group, new groups and events presented itself to me, My contacts grew from there. It occurred to me that people had set up profiles in  order to just promote themselves as a professional within the industry, which I can imagine is a helpful motive to grow and move forward within contacts. They may find this activity to be helpful and their purpose is to network with a professional profile, in order to seem business like to other communities which can prove effective. 

I suppose my ideal network would be simple, however involve useful resources, self efficiency, outstanding amount of contacts, and the ability to promote myself. To achieve this is could experiment with all my networks and choose at least 3 sufficient and the most successful and commit to these three. I could transfer all contacts into one network and use them from there, to bring all connections together. I could look more into Linkden and establish a community within this programme. there are so many different routes i could build up my ideal network. 

Task 2b- Journal writing experience.

I have been writing my journal for some time now and have experienced a substantial about of new writing techniques I rarely use. I found it very easy to go straight into a dear diary frame of writing however, if I was to learn more about different writing components I was to step out of my comfort zone and test myself. I tried many different styles, lists, diagrams, evaluation, description, what if? It broaden my mind to record experiences, feelings, thoughts in such a different way to what I was used to.


Description
This style of writing is what I thought I preferred, as it's what I'm used to. It's very easy to describe what happened in your own way  as it's your perspective. To record information as what? Where? When? I find very complex as there's not much thinking needed behind it. I have always been a descriptive writers and feel my attention to detail when writing about events, emotions, sights etc, is very strong. I like to let the reader paint a picture of what I'm describing in their head, in their own way with the elements of the writing included. I have noticed within the first few entries in mine journal I describe at least one main event that happened throughout the day. For example-

Monday. Whilst at work on my break I like to scan the internet, I look at a news websites for example or catch up on the day to day running my friends post on Facebook every 5 minutes. A video of a parents watching day at a ballet class in china got posted just as I was scrolling, within a few minutes I was fixated on the video. The leaps and turns, and pas de duex, the pointe work that they were performing in the medium sized room to an audience was incredible. The girls wore beautiful leotards with pristine pointe shoes. The boys we're clean cut with matching uniforms never a beat out of time with each other, It reminded me of soldiers.

Here was a little extract from an entry I did the second day of writing. I describe a lot of the components that descriptive writing uses, where, what, why, who. I used description of their clothes, the room, who was there etc. when writing this it just seemed to flow, not thinking about what should I say next, and I thought. Why is this? Has descriptive writing been drummed into me ever since my creative writing English class at school? Or do I find it easier to just describe in full what I feel, think and see? Everyone has their own comfort zone, I knew this style of writing was mine, but I was determined to experiment with the other styles.


Lists
I used lists halfway through an entry into my journal a few days after I started writing. At first I just listed a few things. And then using it again and again I started to expand, and makes lists off another list, I also started to add lists of how I felt about the situation. This was very alien to me, as I'm not a list person. I try a to do list to stick by however it doesn't seem to work, I get distracted by something. I find lists don't hold enough description of that subject, there very good at quickly listing something down but not remembering the finer details.


Graphs, charts and diagrams
I used this style of writing a lot within my journal. I felt it helped me to see a structure in my day, a map of feelings throughout and my reactions to each encounter. Thoughts and feelings spammed off from my first original entry and I started to ask questions within that first original thought. It awoken my brain to think about different thoughts for different subjects or questions, I found my writing flowed easier with this style rather than lists. I started to use this a lot more within my writing, why? I think maybe because I gained more exercise within my brain discovering different feelings to what I originally wrote, and found myself presently surprised by my results.


What if?
Within my writing I already ask a lot of questions, why? I don't know. See another question. I always like to ask questions in whatever I do during the day, I like to understand things and learn more especially since enrol long on this course. It helps me to reflect on what I already know and encourages me to learn more about something I didn't thoroughly understand. I find asking yourself questions within writing can expand your brain to think more about the subject your writing about, and if you don't know the answer to your question it will prompt you to search and discover more than what you knew already.


Initial reaction
I didn't use this technique so much than the others as for some reason it didn't sit well with my flow of writing. I felt I had to stop and evaluate the situation too much and find depth In something had already discussed and explained. I felt sometimes I was repeating myself too much, explaining something that I had already said.


Another view
Again another style I found difficult as I couldn't explain how someone saw that situation as I didn't know. People explain their feelings however the don't explain further how they felt about one particular situation, or what they saw through their own eyes. I felt like I was guessing a lot throughout speaking from another persons view.


Overall experience
I have learnt a lot of new techniques to use whilst writing that I wouldn't usually use. I feel the chart, diagrams and graphs style a big learning kerb for me as it's something I never would have used to record feelings, situations, questions and answers. It unlocked a whole new door within the paths of my brain, I found myself exploring different feelings and stemming off ideas creating new opinions and thoughts. I used this a lot throughout my journal writing, as it was quick yet much more effective than writing for a while.    

Task 2c Reflective theory.

Reflection is something I've never really thought about using within my professional practice. However thinking about my industry and environment I unknowingly use reflective practice more often than not.

Whilst being a dancer is a tough job physically it also can be a challenge on the brain. To remember routines, think about alignments, muscle control and other things. There's so much to think about. More often than not I  find myself in front of a mirror correcting and perfecting my steps, going through routines in my head is a must. If I made a mistake I would go back and go through it again, watching myself in the mirror. If the problem still persists, I would go back and repeat slowly, and ask myself. What am I doing wrong? How am I doing it wrong? Once I have found the centre of the problem I attempt to correct it. I ask myself again, what can I do to change this to make it right? How do I change it? Until we spoke about reflection on the first day of this course I never realised I use it time and time again. Reflecting on my practice has got me through my career as a performer.



Dewey theory


In reader two it explains Dewey theory, 'reflective thought.' I feel this theory plays a big part within performers lives, if you Engage in life and experience new things the reflection comes along within another situation, you can reflect on maybe how different the show is? Or how the dynamic is within the cast? Dewey felt that interaction with the Arts led to a unique and valuable experience (Dewey, 1934) In ever performers life different contracts within work is not strange, but something we grow and become accustom to. I have always, once starting a new contract, reflected on a previous job and tried to compare the two to see if there is anything I can apply to my current position I have experienced before. As my experience starts to grow with more and more opportunities, my reflection become more and more useful.

Kolb.

Kolb in reader two describes the learning cycle. His theory explains the specific time within someone's experience they begin to start learning. Whilst beginning the course our first task was to set up a blog online and blog the different tasks within modules. As this was a new experience to me I was unsure of how to approach it. My first instinct was to go ahead and set it up without a second thought which is what I done. However it was until I decided to research and explore others blogs I started understand and learn what the overall process of the task was. Within kolbs learning cycle this is explained as reflective observation.

I found this was useful to me to understand my learning cycle, I'm able to understand and learn more from looking at other peoples ideas and work to prompt ideas and wake up my brain.



 Overall, all theories have their own point and explanation of reflection to discuss. I found the most effective theory for me was the learning cycle. I found out something about myself, but also it has helped me to progress easier and quicker within my learning. I now know what works for me, so at some point during an activity I will research and explore different topics and subjects within that task to help my progression and learning.