Task 4A

When reading the task reader I had so many ideas for lines of enquiry, thing I want to learn about the industry, about how I can look after myself as a dancer, how I can pass my knowledge on to others in either the form of performance or through teaching and choreographing. I have always been interested in teaching and working with children however this has never been part of my ideal plan, it was always a fall back option. I have seen that many people on the course are working more towards the teaching side and I was struggling to find how I could steer my work to what I initially want to do with my career. As I have said before my ambition is to set up my own contemporary dance company, however, this is looking quite far into my future.

Through looking at Emily Brenchley’s blog and looking back at Task 2D I can now see a line of enquiry that will help towards the managerial side of running a company but will also help my current practice (as a performer).

What skills/experience do I need to gain in order to effectively run a company?

            HR?

            Financing?

            Advtertising?

What are the sociological issues within a company?

How can I start to build up my network in order to gain the support of other professionals to set up my company?

How do the pressures of working in this industry affect a dancer psychologically?

Is the industry too obsessed with image?

How can I keep my health and fitness on point to have a lengthy career?

Are these questions still too broad and are they too irrelevant to my current practice? I would appreciate any feedback and if anyone else is looking in to similar lines of inquiry it would be great to hear from you so with can start to bounce ideas and thoughts off each other as part of a SIG.

Emily  

Task 3C - Current Sources of Information

My current 5 most important sources of information are:

Google

I use both Google search and Google reader a lot. Google search is used mainly to research and find information on personal topics such as finding out information on new choreographers, nutrition, fitness exercises etc as well as helping me with BAPP. Where as I use Google reader purely for BAPP. As I am not able to access the internet a lot Google reader gives me the opportunity to see many posts all on one page even when I am offline (after saving the web page) This has been a great tool for me in the past few months.

You Tube

I use Youtube to research different dance styles, to look at different choreographers and to find inspiration for new choreography for myself. I can easily spend hours on here just watching dance, getting ideas from other people’s works that I can adapt and use techniques in my own.

Facebook

I use Facebook as a tool to collect information from other people, through contacts I know and to find new contacts. A lot of dance companies now have their own Facebook page, this makes it easy to what is going on with them, when they are next performing, auditioning or to see what their current projects are. 

Books/Magazines

I like to use book and magazines to find information as I find it a lot easier to read from a book and often find they can hold more detailed information. Magazines are also very good to keep up to date with what is going on in the dance work and also to see audition listings. I particularly like Dance Europe as I find it the most relevant to what I want to do.

Colleagues

My colleagues are an invaluable source of information. Working with such a vast amount of people from all different cultures there is a lot of information and experiences I can get an insight in to. We also talk a lot about our performance, saying where we went wrong and what we can improve on. This not only helps to clean the show but also develop me as a dancer as I am able to take suggestions of how to improve my style. 

Task 3B - Theories Relating to Networking

I really put off doing this task, I just kept making excuses not to do it. However, I finally knuckled down and read the reader and found that although some of the concepts were difficult to understand sometimes, the theories in it were very interesting. I have learnt that I need to just keep reading even if I don’t fully understand something and don’t get hung up on one sentence that doesn’t make sense to me because more often than not it explains itself further down the page.

Professional networking and affiliation go hand in hand. To have a well established network it goes with out saying that you have to be able to affiliate with a wide range of professionals. The dictionary definition, to affiliate: to attach or unite in terms of fellowship (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/affiliate). This definition tells us that not only do we affiliate in terms of creating professional networks but we start to affiliate or attach ourselves to other people from a very young age. Affiliation is a natural part of life how we affiliate differs across different cultures as well as ones preference and the personality, it is to what extent we affiliate and how we use it to network is how you mould a career. It is not until we leave schooling do we really understand the importance of our established affiliates to help us get on and move up/around the career ladder.

A person can have a number of established networks that may or may not interlink. Personal and professional network often cross due to the fact that professional affiliates can also become close friends. A person may also have groups within their network, for example if one worked within a dance company that group would be a very close sub-network, where as if their next job was with a cruise line there is the opportunity to network with a vast amount of people. These two, what we can call sub-networks merge to create one persons professional network.

Cooperation

The cooperation theory was an easy concept to understand. The use of the game ‘Prisoners Dilemma’ to show how people work I feel was very simple but extremely effective. It shows that in the long run cooperating and working with the other person will reap more benefits even when in the short term, if you win, the benefits look greater. When making the first move in a deal you have to trust that if you do right by the person they will in turn do right by you as pointed out in the game that most human beings will reciprocate what the person before them has done.

Social Constructionism

It took me a while to get my head around this theory, but after reading the section a couple of times it started to make a lot of sense. It is telling us that humans build meaning, it is not just something that appears and has just one level to it, people add meaning so it is continually growing. I think the example given in the reader of the ‘tree’ makes it easy for us to understand the theory so we can apply this logic to any other object, theory, description. When one says think of a tree we do not just think of the object itself we understand that on a simple level a tree is brown and green, then it is made of bark and leaves, then it needs water and sunlight to live, then it’s leaves uses the sunlight to photosynthesise to produce nutrition for the tree to grow, then animals use the tree for food and for their homes. This is just a simple way of showing how many layers humans have constructed to create meaning to a simple thing such as a tree. This then becomes knowledge only when a group of people agrees, through interaction, upon the belief that this meaning is truth. So therefore knowledge is also constructed not created. This brings out the question; without humans would the world have meaning? I don’t know. It is a very similar question to which every one asks; if a tree falls deep in the rain forest and there is no one around to hear it, does it make a sound?

At first I was not sure how this theory was relevant to the topic of networking. However now, upon reading the section again and writing about it, I have come to understand that without networking, communicating with other people there would be no meaning. Knowledge comes from people agreeing upon truth constructed by what humans believe to be meaning, this knowledge could never have happened without interaction between people and therefore networking.

Connectivism

Connectivism is self explanatory in a basic form. It explains how connecting with other people, creating networks and affiliations, helps one to grow as a person, learning from eachother. The gathering of new ideas, building upon other peoples ideas is how new meaning is constructed. This means that the world of meaning is continuously growing and expanding with different schools of thought from such a variety of people, rather than just one person teaching their thoughts.  

“over the last 20 years, technology has reorganized how we live, how we communicate, how we learn” (Siemens, G. 2004)

I believe this is very true, especially after researching and learning about web 2.0 in task 1. The internet had made a lot more information accessible to a huge amount of people, the amount of people with that access has increased ten fold in the last 20 years too.  Web 2.0 also enables a vast amount of networking, which has increased how much we learn, with ideas and meanings growing and being continually constructed and reconstructed with new information. Connection with a huge range of people within a veriety of living circumstances, cultures and beliefs though this source

Communities of Practice

We need to learn to use our network/afflilations effectively. There is no point in going to the effort of creating a sound network if you are not going to use your contacts to your advantage. 

Task 3A - Current Networks

I feel that I have the means to a lot of networking; however, I don’t feel I necessarily use them to my advantage as a professional.  I have signed up/got accounts and profiles with a good number of networking sites. These include:

·      Facebook

·      Twitter

·      Linked In

·      Skype

·      Network Dance

·      Dancers Pro

·      Star Now

·      The Stage

I use Facebook, Twitter and Skype for personal use but I don’t really use them to network with other professionals in the industry other than those I have connected with on a friendship level. I did open a second account with Facebook with the intention of using as a professional networking, however I didn’t really keep up with it or use it to find people that I could connect with. I do think this was a good idea so I am going to start utilising it more.

Out of the other web sites I have used, my profile on network dance is the one I update more often. I have found this website a really good tool as you can filter the type of auditions you want to see so it is easier to find the relevant ones. The site gives the opportunity for possible employers to look at your profile which includes your CV and photos. 

Dancers Pro and Star Now I find more difficult to use. Although you are able to create a profile and look at auditions it is very limited without paying the monthly subscription. At the moment I cannot justify paying out for something like that as I am currently in work and out of the country.

I feel more experienced professionals often use personal contacts to network. Finding people through others they have previously worked with or met. I would like to expand my network in this sense. I have only had 2 professional jobs but from this I can now think of people I can talk to that could help me network further. I hadn’t really given thought to what I could do already as I was only thinking that I haven’t had many jobs and so not met many people. However, if I utilise the contacts I already have I will be able to effectively expand my network.

My ideal network would be quite vast with people form different styles of dance, different company’s and agencies. Thinking further down the line of my career it may also be useful to connect with artists as well as choreographers, producers and dancers. To gain this type of network I need to branch out and use contacts I already have to connect with new affiliates. 

Task 2D - Inquiry

What in your daily practice gets you really enthusiastic to find more about? Who do you admire who also makes you enthusiastic?

I love to choreograph, this is a real passion that i want to take on further when I have finished my performing career. I am really lucky to have to opportunity whist on board to, along with my fellow cast members, choreograph and put together a bumper show that will be performed on the theaters 'dark night' on the 8 day cruises. Although the style of the show will me more typical Jazz with elements of cabaret and burlesque which is not the style I would naturally choreograph in but will be a great experience to learn from other cast members about their style. I naturally use contemporary for the basis of my choreography as I like to create abstract pieces of work that make the audience think and means they have a lot to look at on stage. I would like to find more about how physiology like to how a dancer performed. We have had quite a few issues already in my current contract that have meant a lot of feelings have been flying around and situations arising. I would like to see how issues outside of work effect issues inside and compare this to other jobs inside and outside of the artistic industry. I would love to connect these two ideas and see how I can explore this idea though dance and how I can get an audience to think about these issues. A choreographer I really admire is Wayne McGregor he looked in to the idea of how the body created movement, how the nervous system and the brain sent messages to the muscles to create the shapes. He collaborated with Cambridge University to research this before starting to choreograph. My cousin also introduced me to a few interesting ideas from her course where she majored in Philosophy. I also think these would be interesting to look into through choreography.

What makes you angry or makes you sad? Who do you admire who share your feelings or has found a way to work around the sadness or anger?

It makes me angry that people think that those working in the arts profession are not as intellectually capable as those working in an office for example. The stereo type of dancers being thick is really frustrating especially when you think that they have to remember choreography, retain the details, perform, use reflection in action  as well as reflecting after. I don't think I can pinpoint just one person who feels this, I think that this is the general consensus across the whole of the performing arts industry. 

What do you love about what you do? who do you admire who also seems to love this or is an example of what you love?

I love performing and choreographing just as much as each other. I love feeling that I am giving the audience a part of myself when I perform and the enjoyment they get from watching me. With choreography I love to experiment, be that with different themes, shapes, musicality I am really eager to explore how I can get the audience interested and thinking about what I am trying to put across. Anna Teresa De Keersmaeker seems to also love this, she experiments with the use of cannon, creating seemingly complex timings that come together in moments of connection. She also still loves to perform so occasionally will choreograph herself into her pieces.  

What do you feel you don't understand? Who do you admire who does seem to understand or who has found a way of making not understanding it interesting or beautiful, or has asked the same question as you?

There are a lot of thingsI don't think i understand. On a business level I don't understand what is entailed with being self employed, I don't understand how tax's work or how they effect me, what am I meant to do with them, I don't understand the running of a business. However, I have never had to deal with these sorts of things, I know I will need to look at it and learn about it at some point in the future as it will be relevant to me but right now I don't feel it is relevant to me work to make an inquiry about it.  On a more academic level, I don't understand how the mind works and I am very interested in the psychology and even sociology of the dancers working environment, be that on a sip, in a company or as a free lance performer or teacher. As I have said previously Wayne McGregor has looked at this in depth and has created pieces of dance to explore further in to his study, I think he has made the research process very interesting by gathering his knowledge to create a beautiful piece of art. 

From looking at my answers to these questions I can see a few possible lines of inquiry emerging:

Psychology of dancers in the workplace and outside

Sociology within different working environments for dancers

Philosophy 

The way different choreographers research or look in to subject matters

At the moment I feel these lines of inquiry are very broad so I need to research a little in to each to find specific ideas I want to research in to depth.

Christmas Time

We started rehearsals for our on board christmas show yesterday and I was so pleased to find that I was chosen to do the Adage (a partner work duet). This really proves that hard work does pay off!

Task 2B - Reflective Writing

I started out on this task by writing the journal how I would usually go about writing reflectively. This seemed to take the form of a mixture of description and initial reflection. I have since gone on to experiment with the different ways of writing about events that have happened in the day.

Initially I found it hard to know what to write about. I was worried that there was not enough going on from a professional sense to write about. Working on a Ship that runs 7 day cruises and only performing and having scheduled rehearsals on 2 of them I was struggling to balance the profession verses personal events that I would normally evaluate. Reflecting on this I can see that for this job specifically a lot of what happens out of being clocked in really does affect what happens when we are. We are living and working so closely together that it is almost like we are working 24/7. I have also realized that I can reflect on duties that we have to perform in addition to the shows. Even though these are not ‘dance’ based they still come in to my life as a professional dancer and are part of my job.

I have found a lot of the techniques really useful and interesting to do even if I may not use them again.

Description

I did use this initially but combined with Initial Reflection. I find that using description on it’s own does not really help with reflection as I was just stating what was happening in the day with no emotion attached to it. However, I do feel that description is necessary when combined with other techniques so when I look back on the event I know what happened so can link it with the feeling.

Initial Reflection

Again I initially did this combined with Description. Similarly, I find that just using initial reflection meant that when I looked back on what I wrote I could not connect it with anything, I was just writing about how I could have improved the situation that I did not explain so it did not really make sense when making an overall reflection.

List

I found that this did not help me at all. I found I had too much to put in to just a list so I was making lists inside lists inside lists which was getting too confusing. I would however add lists in when writing in notes from rehearsals, as this is how I write them down when being told my corrections. Writing them out again in my journal I feel helps a lot with remembering them and putting them in to place.

Evaluation

I liked using this technique as I really felt in enabled me to reflect on what had happened. This gave me a focus rather than just trying to reflect I could clearly say what I think went well or didn’t, why I felt that and how I could improve my actions the next time a similar situation arose.

Graphs/Charts

I am not quite sure what to make of this one. I tried to use like a flow chart of what happened in the day with the times so I could see how much time I had spent doing what so I could see what I should have done instead. Using this method will help with my time management but I would like to try using spider diagrams or bar charts/line graphs to see how my feelings or mood changes though a day or a particular event. I really feel that keeping track of how I am feeling will help my professional practice as I will come across as a happier and more confident person to my colleague.

Another View

I loved writing this one, defiantly the most fun one to try. I did it from the point of view of my name tag which we have to wear everywhere we go on the ship so it was so interesting how something else would see exactly what you are doing but looking at it from a different perspective. I also had a prime opportunity to use writing from another persons perspective of a specific situation. There were some issues regarding the cast and we went to talk to the dance captain about it so it would have been interesting to look at her perspective of the meeting. However, unfortunately I missed the opportunity to write about it as I should have written the same day. I would like to experiment using this technique at some point, especially if a similar situation arises. I really like this technique but would not use it every day, just when I feel I need to look at something from a different perspective.

I have found this task really interesting overall, it has given me a lot to think about how I can evaluate myself and any given situation in a different way to put a different light on things. I am going to continue to experiment with all of the techniques when I feel they are suitable for the situation. However, I am going to use a mixture of description, initial reflection and evaluation on a daily basis. This will help me when looking over previous logs as I will know what was going on, how I felt about it and how I proposed to move forward then compare with the current situation to see if I put my own advice in to play.