Keeping in touch

Thought I would check back in with a bit of an update as to what I have been up to and where my thoughts lie at the moment...

Thank you to those who commented on my previous blog post, it was rally great to hear your ideas and comments on the topics.  It was also really useful to hear your opinions when choosing my enquiry topic.

I have finally decided to go down the route of the benefits of children being exposed to dance from a young age, looking specifically into how dance companies reach out to younger people and the positive influence this has.

I have been talking to Lottie through Facebook and exchanging ideas and discussing topics related to our  enquiry subjects. This has been extremely beneficial for me and I look forward to speaking with her more about this. We have recently been discussing our opinion on how students should be rewarded for their progress and how the method of praise influences the class as a whole. For example certain methods of rewarding can actually have a negative impact on those who aren't receiving it. Would be really interesting to hear anyone else's thoughts on this. I am aware that there are quite a few people on this course who also teach and it would be great to hear from you what ways you recognise and acknowledge students achievements.

I hope to be in contact with a few more of you to discuss ideas and aid each other in our research and find ways our topics may coincide with each other. Please don't hesitate to get in touch, would love to chat! This is my facebook profile if you want to add me and message me on there

https://www.facebook.com/rebecca.jones.3386

As well as looking into what websites, forums, articles etc have to say about my particular topic I have also started to discuss with people in my company their views and experiences. I have begun this by starting conversations about how each dancer got started with dancing and how they were introduced to it. I am trying to find out the different ways people were originally inspired to start dancing.

Looking forward into my enquiry I am considering who I may wish to try and contact in the professional industry to gain a deeper insight into how dance companies are reaching out to young audiences and also the positive affects this has on the children and also the company.

Look forward to hearing people's thoughts and comments on all this!

Rebecca x

4a- A mass of questions

After reading Reader 4 and having a think about potential professional inquiry topics I feel rather overwhelmed. I went from a complete mind blank to now having too many questions to know what to do with! So here is my attempt to put my thoughts into a somewhat organised mess...

I began by thinking about what determines what sort of dancer you become? Not so much in terms of genre and style particularly but more so your character and personality. Throughout my training I was always told about the importance of being an "intelligent dancer" which would make you more employable. What are the characteristics that make up an "intelligent dancer"? How do we become "intelligent dancers" and how this impacts our lifestyle and career both inside and outside the studio and theatre.


This further sparked my thoughts on what characteristics and life skills dance teaches us. This touching article came up on my Facebook earlier this year and really highlights the benefits of children being introduced to dance

https://www.facebook.com/118334351513277/photos/a.245714668775244.77845.118334351513277/1238641732815861/?type=3

What are the benefits of children doing dance from an early age?
Should dance be made more accessible for children through schools?

One thing being a dancer has certainly taught me is independence. In such a competitive work field you have to learn to support yourself. A lot of things I have tackled in my career so far I have learnt as I went along which made me wonder if dancers in training are prepared adequately enough for the professional world. Should there be more career guidance and education in dance schools? A lot of obstacles I have encountered as a dancer I feel I could have been more prepared for had I received more support and direction in the transition from student to professional.

I am very keen to examine what social skills dance teaches us and how these skills can be translated into other fields. However, also what social struggles dance can cause? Leaving home at a young age for dance school, missing out on 'normal' social activities for rehearsals and training, moving across the globe for a job, touring lifestyle... these are all things we happily do for our profession but what are the social and personal effects of our dancer lifestyle? More specifically (I can see from fellow students blog posts it is a popular one)  how can dance effect a persons mental health. What are the psychological effects of a dancer's life?

At Atlantic City Ballet I have been involved in outreach and promotional events for the company. This is an area that really interests me and an aspect of work I would love to be more involved in and potentially work  in after a performing career. For ACB, community events and publicity are helping us to generate a bigger audience for performances and create more awareness of the company in the area. How can a company successfully generate a bigger audience and public profile?

How a dance company can inspire and involve others and reach out to the community?
When promoting a company you must look at who you are targeting, who you are performing for. This got me thinking about how dance affects an audience in different ways. I touched earlier on how dance can affect children. But there has been a lot of speculation over the use of dance therapy and how dance can benefit the elderly and the disabled.

Would love to hear other peoples opinions and thoughts on these topics, look forward to discussing them!

Rebecca x

Embarking on Module 2

The other week I joined a group skype call about starting the next module. It was good to be back in touch with Adesola, Paula and some of the other students to discuss our thoughts and feedback from Module 1 and how we felt about beginning Module 2.

We had a useful discussion sharing what we each felt worked well in the previous module which we can take forward and continue into the next module. We also highlighted what didn't work so well previously and how we can alter these aspects and take on our module feedback from our tutors to improve and prevent issues recurring in future tasks.

For me personally I am going to establish now from the start what my final hand in is meant to be so I can work backwards and have a clearer mind-set of the end product when working through the modules tasks. As opposed to last module where I was a little lost and some of my tasks lacked clarity and relevance because I was not completely clear on what I was meant to be doing. I am also going to try and be more active on the online student groups and communities by communicating more with others on the course so we can exchange and discuss ideas and gather a variety of viewpoints on topics.

I think an important thing to remember is that we are not redoing the last module but we should use what we learnt from it to move forward into Module 2.

Looking forward to connecting with you others on the course again!

Choreography in Words

Atlantic City Ballet has just finished a performance of Carmen which was a great production to be a part of. I loved the rehearsal process and the show and really learnt a lot from the experience.

The BAPP course and tasks really encouraged me to articulate the experience in my journal. Not only did I note down personal feelings and events in my journal but I also used it as a learning tool. I used my notebook to write down the choreography as I learnt it. Writing it down helped me to digest and learn the movement and also think more specifically about what I was dancing and how it should be performed. Putting the choreography into words made me think more precisely about the choreography and be more specific with arm lines, positions, head placement etc. For some scenes I created stage maps marking with an X where I was supposed to be positioned and arrows to show my direction of travel to make sure I was in the right place, in the right scene, at the right time and moving in the right direction! Also, as I was writing it down it generated questions I needed to ask and parts of the choreography I needed to clarify to ensure I was performing it correctly. I am a very precise person so to me it is essential that I know exactly what I am meant to be doing, this is particularly important when I am performing in corps de ballet sections. If a Corps de ballet is not exactly the same on stage the performance looks sloppy and unrehearsed.

As a 'newbie' to the company over here I still feel a lot of pressure to prove myself. By journalising the choreography it has really helped me to pick up the choreography quicker and remember it more accurately. In the past I have struggled with picking choreography up quickly but having notes I can go over in my own time has been a really useful tool for me. In addition, I wrote down corrections we were given in later rehearsals so I could reflect on them and remember them for the performance.

I would highly recommend other dancers writing down choreography as it really helps you to think about the movements you are performing. I certainly shall be doing it for my future performances, especially as we have Swan Lake coming up!

Me and my friend and fellow trainee backstage in Carmen performance

Is the quantity of dancers in a class affecting the quality of training?

I have been doing a lot of thinking about the importance of dancers having the right teacher and learning environment whilst they are training. My thinking was sparked by reading about educationist John Dewey's reflection of "the quality of the education" being "linked to the level of engagement with, and consciousness of the experience." For many, dance training starts young and the teachers we have play a major part in our enjoyment, engagement and development as a dancer. A teacher who encourages and engages their students creates a much more positive atmosphere to learn. A positive atmosphere encourages a positive attitude which in time creates positive results.

With cuts to the arts funding, dance schools and companies are being forced to be more proactive in generating their own funds and means. I have observed that this has had an affect on the number of students many dance schools are taking on; more students -> more fees -> more money. But as the quantity of dancers in a studio increases is the quality of training decreasing? It is impossible for a teacher to be able to watch all the students at once and there is only so much time in a class to spend on personal corrections. The more dancers you put in a studio the less personal the training becomes. I was talking to my current teacher about this and he said the perfect class size for him to teach is 4-5 dancers. This allows him to have the time and ability to be able to watch us collectively and also give personal mentoring and feedback. It is good to have enough dancers in the studio for motivation, healthy competition, support and observation. But, too many dancers can be overwhelming and cause people to become shadows and key corrections may be missed, overlooked or not focused on enough.

Basic technique is crucial in all dance genres, and it is essential that a dancer has a clear understanding of how movements should be performed and how they get their body to do this correctly. Poor attention to detail and no thorough explanation and corrections from the teacher can result in a dancer obtaining bad habits which become an issue to correct later on down the line. Personally, I am currently having a hard time at the moment trying to overcome habits I have picked up from previous training as a result of not being made aware of my mistakes. If my errors had been bought to my attention earlier on the issues I am currently having may not be as big a problem. In previous training I felt very overlooked and overshadowed by other dancers due to favouritism and as a result I wasn't necessarily given equal opportunity to develop and thrive in the environment. Pointe Magazine's article on "Conquering favouritism" draws attention to how "being overlooked can mean being left behind". If a student receives little encouragement and acknowledgment in the classroom it can lead them to think they are not worthy of attention. It is essential that a training dancer is in an environment where they are receiving feedback and feel that they are improving and progressing. If you don't feel that your teacher is interested in you the "lack of support is emotionally draining." But, "a teacher's pet pupils get more than an ego boost" they are most often the ones who get given "roles that challenge their technique and let them shine in performance." A lack of opportunity can jeopardise a dancer's potential and stunt progression. For example I was given very scarce pas de deux experience at school because I was not selected for partnering parts and as a result I feel less confident in choreography requiring these skills
as I have little experience with it.

Would love to hear other peoples views and thoughts on this topic :)

(http://pointemagazine.com/inside-pt/issuesdecember-2012january-2013your-training-conquering-favoritism/)

Journal Writing

For the past few weeks I have been keeping a daily journal reflecting on my day to day life. I have attempted to keep journals in the past but have never been able to stick to it, but the BAPP Arts course tasks has helped me to view journal writing in a different way. I started out writing a day to day account of what I had done each day but this soon got very boring. It was as though I was writing a calender of events that had already happened, so I have been looking into different journal writing styles and ideas. Here are a few ideas I tried and am still experimenting with;


- Choosing a word to summarise and conclude the day I had had. For example one day I chose the word "grateful". I had just done a performance and had the post show adrenaline and excitement. I reflected on how "grateful" I was for the opportunities I am given, the supportive family and friends I have and how thankful I am to be pursuing my dream.  

- Using Images- After reading through Paula's slideshow on using visual arts in a journal I tried the idea of "visual language". I am big fan of Instagram and check it regularly, I am constantly liking photos I see many of which can be connected to my life, many including quotes. I tried choosing an image a day that I had 'liked' and wrote about its meaning to me. For example an account I follow posted a simple black and white image of a quote saying "today is the beginning of anything you want". I took this and wrote in my journal about how "I shouldn't be discouraged my limitations" and how "I want to start viewing each day as an opportunity to do new things or do the same day to day things with a different spirt" and not "feel trapped into doing things how they have always been done."

-Doodling- another idea I grabbed from Paula's blog post. When struggling to find something interesting and inspiring to write about in my journal I took my pen and attempted to draw my day. The map of my day looked like a mess of squiggles at the end and I didn't personally find it a useful journal writing prompt but it did inspire me to maybe use the idea in the future as a choreography prompt. I had the idea of mapping out an event with a doodle and using the line my pen took to inspire certain movements.

- Corrections and rehearsals- I have been keeping a separate journal for specific dance corrections and rehearsal notes. In this book I log specific corrections I get in class or specific notes I get in rehearsals. Writing down these points helps me to remember them and think about them in more detail. Then when I come to class and rehearsals these specific points are more vivid in my mind and I think more about them whilst dancing which speeds up my improvement and understanding of how movements should be performed.

I really encourages those others of you keeping a journal to try out different methods and styles of writing it! Would love to hear any other ideas people have had on how to go about writing journals as opposed to just writing a account of a day?!

Capturing Dance

40 million photos are taken on Instagram everyday and 8,500 likes and 1,000 comments are given every second. Instagram is my favourite social media site I have a profile on. I love the idea of having a space I can post and document my favourite photos, capturing special moments in my life. I have a large number of dance related posts on my profile and I use Instagram as a place to express my achievements and success in my professional life. Below I have screenshotted some dance posts on my Instagram (my profile is private so the links would not take you to the photos).

This is me dancing in the Snow Scene of Nutcracker with Atlantic City Ballet. It was taken by one of the company dancers.

This is a 'selfie' taken by me and my room mate backstage before the waltz of the flowers dance in Nutcracker. In a skype discussion with Paula we were talking about my professional online image, when we googled me this photo came up in the search. We discussed the importance of having positive images like this online and how it reflects my personality and positive attitude.

This is one of my professional CV shots taken by Brian O'Caroll. I posted this photo on Instagram to announce my departure from England to America to start my journey with Atlantic City Ballet.

This image was taken by a teacher from a nursery I visited at Christmas for a Nutcracker outreach event. I was dressed as the Sugar Plum Fairy and taught the nursery children a few ballet moves and talked to them about being a ballerina. I posted this photo because it was a very special moment and it also reflects my view on the importance of inspiring others and encouraging an appreciation for dance and the arts.

I also interviewed one of my best friends Kaine Ward who was Billy Elliott on the West End and also appeared in the live show rounds of Sky's 'Got To Dance.' He has a very popular Instagram page with nearly 12,000 followers. The dance posts he puts on Instagram get a lot of attention and he even has fan pages. We talked about how he uses his online presence to promote himself as a dancer. He has his professional contact email in his biography section of the page so people have a direct link to contact him and also links to his other social media sites. He uses hashtags on his photos to target certain audiences and also tags well known dancers and people so that when he meets them in person they have already seen him online. He talked about the private messages section of the site and how he receives a lot of comments through that. This has been useful for professional contacts he has talked with but he also receives a lot of strange messages too!!

"getting it right is getting on with it.."

So after having a bit of a panic this weekend regarding where I am up to on my BAPP course and how I am going to manage my time I have taken a deep breath and decided to sort it out logically!

After having another read of both Paula and Adesola's blogs I found some useful points. It has helped me to view the course from a different perspective and have a much more positive outlook about what I am doing. I have really struggled with some tasks because I have been worried about not doing the right thing or not having the right answers. But, I have come to learn that there are no definite answers and no real 'right' or 'wrong' responses to tasks. The course is a process and more an exploration of ideas and questions as opposed to finding absolute results and answers... it has just taken me a little while to realise this!!

Paula wrote a post about 'Project Management' which broke down the management process and I used this to overcome the issues I was having;

Initiation-  I have written down what I am trying to achieve. This being; successfully making my way through the course and enjoying the learning journey. I am trying to refrain from looking at the course as a set of specific tasks I must complete in a certain way but more as a process of learning and exploring ideas that arise and how they relate to my professional practice.

Planning- I have observed the resources available to me (the readers, handbook, tutor's blogs, blogs of other students) I have written out my tasks into a timetable so that I have a clear time management plan as to what sections I should be on at what point in time. Hopefully this will reduce the risk of a last minute panic or running out of time. I also think that I need to look more specifically at what specific time I have available to do each task within my busy schedule.

Monitoring- I have considered the difficulties I am encountering (time difference, rehearsal and training schedule, performances, not having others around me needing to do work). I have thought about how I am going to stay focused. I have come to the conclusion that in my case time management is key to this and also staying in regular contact with my tutors and the others on the course. Communication is key and hearing from others in the same situation will help with motivation and staying in focus. Acting on this I am going to enage more with the online BAPP community through blog comments and trying to make it to skype calls. Adesola put it perfectly saying "Don't be a stalker, be a talker."

Closing- I am going to continue to track my progress and make note of problems and difficulties that arise so that I can overcome them calmly and logically rather than just stressing out!

Planning is essential it seems and I have recognised that I need to be more aware of it's importance. Planning is a part of everyday life and looking at my lifestyle I can see how good planning is effective and also how bad planning has a big effect. For example; well scheduled and correctly posted rehearsal and performance schedules make a dance company a much less stressful environment. Whereas, poorly put together schedules and lack of communication between departments can result in difficulties and problems that could be avoided through planning and management.

"Fluttering Feet and Fingers that Tweet" Professional Communication on Twitter

175 million tweets are sent everyday and an interesting read of New York Times article 'Ballet Stars Now Tweet As Well As Flutter' opened my mind to how "Twitter is making ballet dancers human'.

The article highlights how "dancers are expected to speak with their bodies" but by sharing tweets about their life beyond what the audience sees on stage is "starting to change the public face of ballet."

There are a lot of major company dancers with twitter pages, some of whom have private accounts but many post publicly. By reading the tweets of and following such dancers it allows audiences to get to know the dancers beyond the characters they portray on stage. It allows the dancers to develop an independent fan base and share news and feelings with followers. This can cause conflict with company directors as their dancers are the face of the company so they do not want them tweeting information that may harm the company's reputation and image. When Sergei Polunin abruptly left The Royal Ballet his twitter page became a big discussion point for fans as it was the only point of contact people had with him when he disappeared off the radar. His "outrageous" tweets about alcohol and drugs shocked fans and followers. Many dancers have a line in their bio section of the profile stating that the views and opinions expressed on their Twitter are their own. Katherine E. Brown (City Ballet's executive director) said "We rely on them to use their good judgement and discretion".

I have had Twitter for a number of years now and at first I really didn't understand it, but now I check my twitter numerous times a day. Admittedly I would deem my twitter page to be my least professional social media profile. I feel it reflects more my personality and light hearted humour about day to day life as opposed to serious tweets about my professional life. However, I do not have many professional contacts following me on the site right now but in the future if I do I may want to consider more carefully what I am tweeting.

I follow companies and dancers I am interested in whom post information on upcoming performances and news in the company a well as backstage gossip. There are also accounts which post audition information and links to workshops and opportunities for dancers. In addition, there are dance profiles which post links to articles or critiques on performances which are interesting reads and help me to keep up to date with what is going on in the dance world. However, there is a character limit to tweets which limits how much you can say in each tweet. Therefore most pages with post links to their websites for more information or to the full post on their Facebook pages, so it is not completely necessary or beneficial to follow them on more than one social media site.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/29/arts/dance/29ballet.html?_r=4

Who are you sharing with?

I have been doing some thinking and research into the privacy of Facebook profiles. At school we were given regular internet safety and awareness talks to inform us about the potential dangers of social media and the web. But, is everyone aware of who exactly they are sharing their posts and photos with?

There are many privacy settings available for users to make use of on Facebook, but some unless you actively know about them and change them they are not in action. Due to the number of professional contacts I have on Facebook I am very careful about what appears on my profile. Also, It is now extremely common that potential employers may look up candidates on social media to get an idea of your character and professionalism. For these reasons the majority of my account is viewable only by people I am directly friends with. However, I have my profile photo and professional dance photos public on my account so people can search for me and request to connect with me. I have some friends who have chosen to use a different name for their social media profiles for professional reasons and some with separate acocunts for 'professional' and 'personal' profiles.

I found it a little unsettling that people were able to tag me in photos and posts that would appear on my profile without my consent in advance which could potentially harm my online reputation. Therefore, I now receive a notification about tag requests which I have to accept before it appears on my profile. I am now completely responsible for what is on my Facebook page.

Every day 2.7 billion likes are given ad 300 million new photos are uploaded onto Facebook. I have been looking into what happens to the rights of our photos when we post them.

“…once something is posted or uploaded onto Facebook it becomes Facebook’s property. So if the original photographer uploaded the photo first onto Facebook and then others have taken it from there and uploaded it to their pages or profiles, this is legal and within policy, there’s nothing I can do about it unfortunately even if they are taking credit for the photos.” (https://www.plagiarismtoday.com/2015/05/13/does-facebook-really-own-your-photos/)

Everytime I log onto facebook I am bombarded by viral posts friends are sharing. But when the original post was made was that person aware of how many people would end up seeing it? It takes a matter of seconds to create posts and share posts and potentially your posts can be shared and reposted without your knowledge or consent.

Deep in the terms and conditions of facebook this issue is highlighted but we are all guilty of skipping reading small print! Should facebook make its users more aware of the possible dangers of sharing things they may not want the world to see?



(Statitics taken from http://www.thecultureist.com/2013/05/09/how-many-people-use-the-internet-more-than-2-billion-infographic/ )

Using Facebook as a dancer

One of the most famous social media Web 2.0 sites is Facebook. 500 million people log in to the site everyday and it is estimated that Facebook users spend a combined time of 10.5 billion minuets a day which equals the same as 20,000 years!

I have had a Facebook profile for a number of years and don't actually check it as regularly as I used to anymore. I would however, consider it the most professional of my social media profiles and I am very considerate about what I am posting and who is going to see it.

Facebook has allowed me to connect and stay in contact with a large amount of people and has also helped me in a number of ways as a dancer. I am friends with people I went to school with, danced and trained with, teachers and directors I have worked with, parents of students I teach and also 'normal' friends and family who are not directly linked to the dance world. By being connected to these people it allows me to keep up with what they are up to via their posts and also hear about dance events and opportunities they are involved in. I am able to 'like' and encourage their achievements and developments despite not being in personal contact with my friend.

On my profile I post main events that occur in my life e.g. my graduation from Tring, my move to America and performances I am in. I also share dance photos along with these posts. This allows people interested in what I am doing to see my progress as a dancer. Also, it helps to promote myself to industry professionals I am associated with.

I also use Facebook to read and share dance posts; videos, inspirations, articles of particular interest. I follow lots of dance pages, professional dancers and companies pages and I am also friends with professional dancers (a little fan girly a know haha.) This allows me to see their posts and what they are sharing which helps me to keep up to date with news in the dance world and events and opportunities I might be able to get involved in. I am also following audition pages to help keep in the loop about upcoming auditions in different countries. Admittedly I do not check these pages as much as I should but having rediscovered them whilst writing this post I am going to start checking them more regularly again!

Facebook groups have also been a useful tool for me as a dancer. 'One Million Ballet Dancers' is a public group I am part of where people post dance related articles and information about auditions and workshops. Also, in my final year at Tring we formed a graduate company called 'Encore' which toured around England performing. We had a company facebook group which included all the company members. We used this page to post schedules, rehearsal details, costume calls, key dates and announcements and also video footage of choreography and reherasals. People were able to post questions and make arrangements easily which was much more reliable than hoping everyone checked a noticeboard at school!

Being able to create events on facebook has revolutionised marketing and promotoing! I have been invited to so many performances, dance events and workshops via facebook (even weddings!!) It is a fantastic way for people to spread the word about events and increase awareness about them, particularly new and upcoming performances and companies.

So these are a few ways Facebook has helped me as a dancer, particularly for communication purposes. Would love to hear ways others have used the site professionally? Or dance pages and groups you have found useful?