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
Hi Rebecca, I feel your struggle of not having a clue and then having so many ideas it's a case of trying to focus and channel them all, as they all have so much scope and possibility.
ReplyDeleteI really like the idea of how dance can be helpful for the elderly and disabled, have a look at this article. I found it amazing! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UqtB6QU4AY
Hello! Thank you for your comment! Glad I'm not alone!!
DeleteReally enjoyed that clip and it's so nice to see what a positive influence dance is having on thos with Parkinson's. I particularly picked up on musician Jon Petter saying "whatever your age, whoever you are you have a right to an artistic engagement and cultural life. So programmes such as this give people that opportunity".
I think it would be really interesting to research further looking into scientific and medical resources to see if and what effects programmes like this have on patients.
Hi rebecca,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading this as I also have similar thoughts to you. For example I am also very interested in personality and dancers. I also really like your question about what characteristics and life skills dance teaches us as I kept referring to this in module one. I strongly believe dance teaches you more than just to dance.
Your question about what benefits are there for children doing dance from an early age has grab my attention. I will be really interested to read what you find out about this should you choose to take it further. I reckon there must be way more positives than negatives.
In addition I am also looking into dance in high schools as I feel that there isn't enough to prepare students if they want to take dance seriously at school and further. Why aren't schools prepared?
I would love to discuss things more with you.
Hi, thanks for your comments! Maybe we could have a Skype chat or discussion on somewhere else to discuss our similar ideas and explore some of these topics?
DeleteI would really like that it would be really interesting to discuss your points of view. When is a good time to talk for you?
DeleteHi Rebecca!
ReplyDeleteI found your comments about being better prepared for the professional world in training very interesting. It's something I have reflected on during this course as something I struggle with is the balance between teaching and performing and all the in between work it takes to keep a float as a performer. Perhaps during training there should be more of a focus on what struggles you will face once you graduate. Would love to know your thoughts!
Hi Chloe! I found your comment really interesting because I have also been thinking about the lack of information I was given during training about 'professional life'. I feel like there is a huge emphasis on getting a performance job, however little advice is given about how to cope when you're between jobs and auditioning and using your words how to 'keep afloat'. At my school the emphasis was purely given to classical ballet and auditioning for classical ballet companies and little advice was given to those who were interested in pursuing other areas of performance. Even things like registering as self-employed and filing my tax returns were alien to me as a 19 year old graduate! I think this is a very interestering topic and would be great to hear other's opinions because most of us have trained in different places!! Would love to know more of your ideas and to also hear Rebecca's :)
DeleteHi, thanks both of you for your comments, great that we seem to have similar ideas!
ReplyDeleteI found that in my final year only specific students were given specific help and assistance in finding a job and so I ended up taking the 'learn as I go' method of auditioning. This resulted in me being less confident and feeling rather unprepared and uneasy auditioning. As opposed to having known a little more of what to expect and what I personally should be going for had I received more guidance and support.
Interesting what you aid Maddie about only being assisted in one area of the professional scene. It seems ridiculous that many schools with an amazing faculty of staff who have had great careers and have so much knowledge but are not using their industry contacts and connections to help graduating dancers.
It is also inevitable as a dancer that there will be periods of unemployment and I feel many dancers end up feeling a bit stuck when out of work as there is very little support and guidance given as to how to deal with these times.
Out of the 'dance world' context I think the education system in general needs to evolve and progress in teaching students valuable life skills such as taxes, employment contracts, insurance etc. as it is all stuff we will need to know and encounter.
Would be interesting to hear your thoughts Chloe on how it is from a teachers point of view.
:)
Good conversations Rebecca! - like the idea of social skills - outreach to the public - how does that affect your professional practice as a dancer - is this important to your work? - time to look to the literature and have a conversation book a tutorial to sounds these out in terms of size and scope for the inquiry. I also just put a blog up as well for explanation of planning stage for Module 2... you have made a good start.
ReplyDeleteHello, thank you for your comment! Would be great to organise a Skype call will you this week to discuss my idea further and the next stages :)
ReplyDelete