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