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?

Dance at our fingertips

It estimated that there are 2,405,518,376 internet users worldwide and 70% of them use the internet everyday. Nowadays it is considered that "connectivity is a basic human right" (Facebook founder Zuckerburg.) Society is becoming increasingly dependent on the internet. The rapid evolution of the internet and social media has had major impacts on the dance world. Dance is no longer a thing of just being witnessed in a theatre, it is now at our fingertips.


Web 2.0 sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube have opened up a giant new platform for artists to share their skills and witness other peoples. Social Media sites have become a stage for individuals, companies, professionals and amateurs worldwide. Web 2.0 has massively increased general knowledge and awareness of dance and has reached out to viewers who may not otherwise experience the art form.

Over the past few years companies around the world have caught on to live viral streaming of classes, shows and dance events which expands audience numbers far greater than the number of seats in a theatre. It is important that the dance world keeps up to date with society but is this increasing online platform taking away some of the magic of going to a theatre to see dance?

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

Reviewing my CV

Having read many of my fellow BAPP Arts Students blog posts and comments on each others CVs and professional profiles I have looked at my own CV more critically and made some improvements. Paula made a great point that "they say that the employer is the audience to the CV." As performers we even have to perform on paper!!

I think it is very important for me to constantly improve my CV, keep it up to date and ensure it is presented in the best way possible for the jobs I am applying for at that specific time. It has been great to see other peoples CV's and read their ideas on layouts and content.

I was reading through Grace Hume's blog post and her feedback from Nora which was really helpful. I decided to take on some of these amendments on my own CV. Nora suggested the use of text colour on the CV to highlight important information. You want the key information to be easy to find on the page, the employer does not want to have to look frantically through 'waffle' to find what they need to know. Acting on this I have made my name at the top of the page slightly bigger in size and also changed it to blue. I have made key information including where I trained and who has trained me into bold. The headings to each section have been altered also into blue so it looks neater and more formatted.

In addition, after reading Lauren Hoskin's CV I decided it was a good idea to specifically list the dance genres I have trained and have experience in. My training in a variety of styles makes me a versatile dancer which could be of great interest to employers, so I think it is key that I highlight this. At the bottom of my CV I have added a Skills section.

Skills
Classical Ballet, Pointe, Pas de deux, Contemporary, Jazz, Gymnastics, Vocal (Mezzo Soprano), Acting.

Lauren's post also made me consider adding my playing age onto my CV for some jobs. For more classical ballet companies I do not think this information is that important. However, when I am auditioning for more musical theatre jobs I will add it on.

A discussion point amongst comments was whether or not it is better to put your personal profile and attributes on your CV or keep it in a cover letter. In the past I have just had it in a cover letter, however Paula mentioned that it is now expected to be on your CV. Some places specifically ask for a cover letter with your application, but open auditions often only take your CV and photos. So, I have decided that in cases where a cover letter is not requested I am going to add my attributes and short personal profile to the end of my CV.

I feel like I have really enriched my CV after looking at it from a professional point of view and taking on the ideas of others and what I have learnt from viewing their profiles.

Creating a Professional Profile

It is essential for performers to have a professional profile to present and represent themselves as an artist. The most common form of this is a Curriculum Vitae (CV).

The purpose of a CV is to inform a potential employer about what you have done as a performer up to the present date. It should highlight your professional experience, past performances, training, qualifications, how valuable you would be to the employment position and any other relevant achievements. Ultimately your CV is the paper version of the 'professional you' that represents you to employers before and after auditions. The piece of paper could determine whether you get the job or not. So it is crucial that you present yourself in the most professional and efficient way possible.

The quality and presentation of your CV can say a lot about a person. I have been reading the book 'The Dancer's Book of Ballet' written by one of my teachers Anglea Whitehill which includes a section about how a dancer should format their CV and what to include in it. "The format you choose reflects your personality". This section of the book discusses how it is best to keep your CV brief and simple. You don't want the employer to be put off by fussy fonts or graphics which could come across as unprofessional.

Most people I have spoken to about CV's have said that it is best to keep it to one page. Companies and employers receive thousands of CV's and it is unlikely that they will have the time to read through 10 pages about a dancer, when potentially it could be presented in one or two pages.
"When sending a resume, make it short and meaningful, not something that looks like a mass mailing" Carolyn Clark, artistic director, New Jersey Ballet.

My CV (attatched below) is one page. I keep it up to to date adding new informtion and experiences as they come and also replacing and removing past works which are no longer as relevant.
When I first wrote my CV aged 16 at Tring Park, I had very little professional experience to include and rave about. So I ended up originally having a semi-professional work section which included information of unpaid perfomances I had been involved in yet still highlighted my stage and performance experience and also my involvement with projects and companies. As I have began working in more professional environments I have been able to eliminate the less impressive and relevant work experience I have had and replace it with new information and work placements. However, I am still unsure as to whether some of the performances I have listed on my CV are suitable or appropriate, I would appreciate your comments on this to help me improve my professional profile,

Here I have attatched my current CV which I send off to companies when applying for auditions. In blue I have made comments about key things I think should be included and considered when writing a CV.


Name and contact details at the top of the page. My name is in bold so it stands out and is very clear that it is... well me! I also have my headshot in the right hand corner of the page next to my name (the format of the blog wouldn't let me position it here)

Rebecca Jones
Mobile Number:  +44 XXXXXXXXXX
Email: rjonesXXX@XXXXXXX.co.uk
Email addresses should be professional and an account that you regularly check so that you are easy to get in contact with. We all had those embarrassing email addresses that we created when we were like 10 but it is vital that your email address isn't something stupid or immature as this will say a lot about you as a person.
Age: 19      DOB: DD//MM//YYYY    Height: 1.57m     Weight XXI am considering putting my nationality on here now that I am in America and auditioning over here.

Currently a Trainee with Atlantic City Ballet

Professional Training                                 

Tring Park School For The Performing Arts- Professional Dance Course, September 2012- 2015.

The Royal Ballet School Senior Associate, 2011-2012.

Northern Ballet Summer Intensive with Yoko Ichino, August 2014.

Private tuition with Tomomi Sato (former principal at Scottish Ballet).

I have decided to present my performance experience in a table because I feel it looks clear, neat and is easy to read. It is in date order and gives the essential information.

Performance Experience

Date	Title of show	Venue	Role	Director/Choreogrpher
December 2015	Atlantic City Ballet’s ‘Nutcracker’	Claridge Hotel- Celebrity Theatre & Stockton University	Corps de Ballet	Phyllis Papa
November 2015	Atlantic City Ballet’s ‘It’s a Shore Holiday’	Claridge Hotel- Celebrity Theatre	Corps de Ballet	Phyllis Papa
October 2015	Atlantic City Ballet’s ‘Dracula’	Claridge Hotel- Celebrity Theatre	Corps de Ballet	Phyllis Papa
August 2015	Moxie Contemporary Ballet ‘Summer Works’	Lincoln Hall, Portland (USA)	Various Selected dancer for Drew Jacoby	Gina Candland Drew Jacoby Doug Baum Katie Scherman
Spring 2015	Encore Dance Company	Various, UK Lilian Baylis Studio	Various Roles	Antony Dowson Jodie Blemings Sam McAvoy
March 2015	‘Tracing Tendencies’ Choreography Show 2014	Markova Theatre	In 4 pieces Choreographer of 1 Piece	Lois Wong Scott Miller
March 2015	Constella Ballet and Orchestra ‘A Soldiers Tale’	The Bloomsbury Theatre	Understudy of ‘Princess’	Alfred Taylor Gaunt Ella Marchment
July 2014	The Magic Mirror	Aylesbury Waterside	Ensemble Dancer	Edward Applewhite Antony Dowson
August 2013	National Youth Ballet	Various, UK	Washerwoman in ‘Toad’ Gypsy in ‘Polovtsian Dances’ Awarded Scholarship	Jill Tookey
October 2011	English Youth Ballet’s ‘Nutcracker’	Kings’ Theatre, Southsea	Clara	Janet Lewis
April 2009	London Children’s Ballet ‘Snow White’	Peacock Theatre, Sadler’s Wells	Kings’ Courtier Party Girl	Lucille Briance

Qualifications

I have edited this section a number of times over the past few years and have limited it to key qualifications I feel are particularly relevant to the jobs I am applying for.

Trinity National Diploma In Professional Dance	Distinction
RAD Advanced 2 Ballet	Distinction
ISTD Intermediate Modern	Distinction
Dance A level, English A Level	A* B
Drama GCSE	A
10 GCSE’s	A*-A Grades

There is often some debate over whether academic qualifications should be included on a dance CV and I have seen that fellow BAPP students have written about this. Personally I have put my GCSE qualifications on here because I am proud of the achievement and depicts me as an intelligent dancer. It shows employers that in addition to my dancing I also have good academic qualifications and a conscientious work ethic. I feel that these skills enhance my emotional and physical approach to dance as I believe it is important to understand dance roles and works within context, whether that is the choreographer's style, the historical setting of the work or it's relation to other works and performances.

References available on request

When I send my CV I also send a cover letter which I write individually to each company talking specifically about my interest in them and how I feel I would be suited to their work. This makes a personal connection with the company and also shows that I have taken the time to research and think about why this is a job I would like to apply for. I also attatch my dance photos and depending on the application requirements my video link. I would like to do a blog post soon about dance photos and headshots as this is often what companies and employers see and get an impression from before they actually see the dancer in action and it is what is left as a reminder of who you are after an audition when decisions are being made.

I would really appreciate your comments on my CV and any improvements you think I could make or your views on some of the things I have mentioned.