Task 5A Ethics....

Here are my initial thoughts on ethics in my professional practise in regards to working in the theatre with a large cast. Most I feel are common sense and part of being professional In the work place others are set by the theatre.

• Racism and discrimination with fellow employees
• Bullying at the workplace be it mental or physical
• Age discrimination
• Professional boundaries - no teacher/student relationships
• No filming of shows/rehearsals without signing a deceleration of permission
• Mutual respect - respecting others views, opinions and religions
• Copyright laws - regarding sheet music, scores etc
• Safety - do not do something you know will put yourself or others in danger
• Stealing
• Background checks when teaching young children 
• Sexual harassment 
• Time keeping
• Honouring your contract and terms and conditions
• Responsibilities - being personally responsible for your own costumes and knowing choreography and spacing etc

Task 4C...

Being a self employed performer you are your own boss most of the time and without always having a stable job it is hard to have a mentor and someone you can look to for guidance. Personally I think my agent and my dance teacher from college would be the best people for me to turn to for guidance. I think there input would be great for my inquiry as they have been in the business a long time and both had very successful careers in the musical theatre industry.

While being on tour in china surrounded by a cast of 18 dancers and company managers, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to use my fellow colleagues and employers to develope my questions further! As everyone in the cast is of different ages, from different backgrounds and all have different experiences within our professional industry it will be interesting to see the feed back I receive from them regarding certain areas of our practise.


Here are my set of questions I have put forward to my cast members:

• Do you think it is important to continue training while you are out of work?
• How do you keep physically fit and audition ready while you are out of work?
• Do you know anyone in the industry personally or from previous contracts who has suffered from an eating disorder?
• Have you ever felt pressure to be "skinny"? 
• What advice would you give to someone starting out in the musical theatre industry to help them succeed? 
• How do you become audition ready? 
• How do you deal with rejection and negativity surrounding your career, do you find it difficult?
• Do you believe that effective networking within the industry can help your success?
• What Internet based networks do you use and find effective in helping you forward your career? Facebook,dancerspro etc?
• Do you believe it's "not what you know, it's who you know" in this industry? Does this effect your success?
• Do you agree that CPD(continued professional development) in musical theatre is important? Once we become "professional" does that mean we should stop learning and striving to be better?
• What would you say is key to a successful audition?
• As a dancer in training are you aware of what your daily calorie intake should be?

I will blog my results at a later date as as you can see I have gave them a lot to think about! 

As always I would be hugely grateful for some feedback and please feel free to answer some of my questions if you have the time :) 

Questions continued...

So after many hours of thinking debating and confusing myself with my own questions I have decided to take the plunge and decide what to base my inquiry on.....

"The key to success in musical theatre; what helps and hinders us to becoming a successful performer"

I feel this question will leave me room to really explore every aspect of my professional practise and it will incorporate many of my other themes I had in mind. With this I can explore how much CPD(continued professional practise) can benefit your career, I can look into audition techniques and how we as performers become audition ready. I can discuss the importance of networking and the use of the Internet can be a huge benefit.I can also expand into dealing with rejection. I will also look at how not being physically and mentally fit can hinder your success. What problems we face on the road to success, unemployment, eating disorders etc.

This is also very helpful to me in my current position in my career as after working in ships I am now also trying to break into the musical theatre scene.

I would love some feedback on my ideas please if you could spare a second. I would love to know what your thoughts and feelings are and if you think this is a worth while inquiry.

Thanks! :)

Investigating literature......

So I have started to investigate literature regarding my ideas for my line of inquiry. I have came across quite a few interesting articles on the Internet related to my questions and found them all very interesting. I have still not decided on exactly which line of inquiry I would like to proceed with but I'm hoping the more I read and investigate, the more it will come clear what road I would like to continue down.

Here are some of the links I have found regarding my topics of interest:

• The links below I found very interesting as they discuss the major problem of body image within professional dance. They tell of how eating disorders and body dis morphia can effect u physically and socially. Not only effecting your career and success but effecting your relationships.  I find this topic extremely interesting as in my professional career I have came across several dancers with eating disorders and find it so sad. Surely your career and success in your industry should only be about your talent, hard work and dedication not about body image and what size dress you are.

http://thehealthydancer.blogspot.com/2012/02/dancers-and-body-image.html

http://www.danceadvantage.net/body-image-perfection/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-22985310

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-17937330


Dancer body image

http://www.dancemagazine.com/issues/July-2013/Making-peace-with-my-body

• The importance of good nutrition and health as a dancer is another area of inquiry I am interested In and found these articles interesting. I was not even aware of how many calories I should be Intaking everyday and what Truly is a healthy balanced diet.  

Fuelling the dancer

http://www.iadms.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=2

http://www.actsafe.ca/wp-content/uploads/resources/pdf/dancernutrition.pdf

• I found these two articles interesting as they discuss the statistics of unemployed dancers and also how it is more difficult to be an unemployed dancer, but I don't think I will go down this route for my inquiry as I don't think there is a great deal to discuss.

http://www.tightsandtiaras.com/2011/05/unemployed/

http://www.ndeo.org/content.aspx?page_id=22&club_id=893257&module_id=56457

Another line of inquiry I am very interested in is the importance of continued professional
development in my professional practise. I feel this topic covers a wide span of areas within my
career to discuss...

• How being the best u can be through continued development can impact on your success?
• Staying audition ready so we can secure that next job
• Staying mentally and physically strong, dealing with rejection
• Reflecting from events and learning from them to help become a better professional

Looking on the Internet there are a lot of articles regarding CPD but none really specific to my career which makes me want to investigate it more myself to get answers and use my fellow colleagues to really get an idea of how important continued development and training Is to a professional performers career.

Task 4b... SIG group

I have joined a SIG group set up by Ellen Lee Stokes on the network linked inn! I noticed on Ellens blog she seems to be in the same area of her career as I am and our initial questions for enquiry were very similar. I am very glad I have joined this group as I feel it will be a great help to be able to talk and ask each other questions regarding our professional practise throughout the module!

Brainstorming question ideas....

Ok so after reading through the reader several times I have started to answer some of the questions. I have been trying to brainstorm some ideas for the last week, trying to find questions which relate to my profession and the stage I am currently at in my career.  I have also found looking at past blogs of people in the same position as me very insightful and interesting. It has helped me to really focus on what I find interesting, what will help me develop in my professional practise and what ideas/questions do I feel I can really focus on and research and developer further.

I am currently on tour in China with a show called Red Hot Broadway with a cast of 20 dancers so I thought about questions I could put forward to them for some feedback while I am here:

How Do We Become Audition Ready?

• The importance of perpetration and understanding before an audition - how does it affect your success?
• How do we become audition ready? Singing lessons, dance classes, character research?
• How do performers deal with nerves before an audition? Can it hinder your performance on the day?
• How do we handle the audition experience, picking up choreography, harmonise, learning lines?
• How do performers deal with rejection? I would like to dig deeper into this question to research positive and negative reactions to rejection in the industry how it can affect people mentally and physically. 

The Importance of Continued Learning and Training

• Should we ever stop learning and progressing as a professional performer? 
• Are we ever at our full potential? How many years of practise and training does it take till we can call ourselves "professional"?
• Where do we continue to learn... Dance class? Singing lessons? 
• How important is it to your career to keep training while out of work?

Looking Deeper into the Psychology of the Dance Industry

• Having to have a "dancers body" and public body image pressure how it effects dancers, eating disorders, body dismorphia etc?
• How does this effect your success in the industry? How does this effect your personal life?

Health and Nutrition 

• How do we stay fit and ready to work In between contracts?
• How important is nutrition and a balanced diet to our career?

So that's my brainstorming ideas so far, all points are very closely linked and major aspects of 

balancing life as a dancer. It will be hard to pick one avenue in which to delv deaper and research 

more but I think currently being surrounded by dancers will be a great help as I can research and ask them which areas they feel are most important to our career.

I would really love and appreciate some feedback on my questions so please feel free to comment it would be a huge help! :) 

Module 2

So the time has come to start module 2 and I have no idea where to start! It's all a bit overwhelming! I think I will have to read the reader 100 times before it starts to make a little more sense to me!!

Wish me luck!!! Xxx

My journey so far.....

So we are coming to the end of module one and before starting the epic final essay I found myself looking back on all the work I have done so far and I realised how much I have learned and developed through this course. Looking at my very first blog compared to my most recent there is a huge difference. The thought of blogging initially was a daunting thought but now it seems to have become second nature! Who would have thought it! I have also become a lot more confident with technology and far more aware of what is out there for us to use and benefit from! The Internet for me is no longer just a place to check emails and Facebook status updates, it is a huge well of  knowledge and Information just waiting to be sourced and used. It is a massive benefit and great tool to me in my professional practise when It comes to networking. It is a great place to research and learn and has helped me greatly when reflecting on events in my professional practise to give me a deeper understanding and other perspective. What would I do without the Internet and Web 2.0! I really don't think I would have the same career as I do now!

Taking part in the course has also helped to mature me and bring a sense of self discipline and organisation into my hectic lifestyle. It has made me slow down, stop and reflect, take time to process information and learn, analyse and question things I once just took at face value. It has brought discipline back to me as no one is pushing you to learn it is all down to you. I discovered quite quickly from starting this course that you definitely get out what you put in. This has given me confidence in myself to realise there is no wrong or right, it is your individual learning process and what you think and learn may not necessarily be anything like how someone else in the course perceives it.

My main points of learning throughout module one:

• Use the Internet wisely and you can learn and develop greatly as a professional practitioner
• Web 2.0 is a great tool in my industry to help with networking etc
• Self discipline and organisation skills
• You get out what you put in
• Be confident in your learning process
• There is no wrong or right
• Analyse and develop answers for yourself, never take things at face value

Please feel free to comment I'd love to hear about what others feel they have learned so far!

Task 3c... my most important sources of information.

So after reading through reader 3 and discussing 'The Networked Professional' it really got me thinking of how I networked in my industry and my sources of information that help me most in developing my career. After making a bullet point list of all my sources of Information I use frequently, I have narrowed it down to five I feel I benefit from the most - my professional network, the Internet, my agent, class and going to the theatre/media.

My professional network - After reader 3 I have come to realise how important my professional network is to me and how often it helps me. Close friends of mine in the same industry are always there to help, give advice or support me when I need it as they know what you are going through. This relates to the theory in the reader "communities of practise". We are a close community of performers all with the same goal in mind, we are a great source of information for each other, wether it be teaching your friend the audition dance as you were in the group before her, or in return your friend letting you know of an audition she found out about you were not aware of. Either way I find my professional network my best and most reliable source of information. And as the reader tell us, it is all to do with 'cooperation' it's all about the give and take.

Internet - Without the Internet I honestly do not know what I would do! I use the Internet daily in my professional practise! I use emails to write and receive information from potential employers or casting directors. I use web sites such as The Stage, Dancerspro and Dance cast to search for information on auditions daily that may be suited to me. I can keep up to date with what's on stage and learn more about my Industry past and present from online magazines such as what's on stage and the stage. I also use the Internet daily to promote myself in my career, I update my spotlight cv. Which is  easily viewable to casting directors, I upload showreel's and voice reels to Utube which I can then forward to potential employers for their viewing. The list of possibilities the Internet provides us with is endless. Using its informant to learn or using it to promote yourself, either way it has been a huge benefit to me in my career and now something I could not live without in my daily professional practise! I really enjoyed reading Kym Waltons blog when she writes about the Internet as one of her information sources. She discusses how ten years ago her answers would be different but due to the overwhelming accessibility to the Internet it has impacted her information sources - "how many times would I have said 10 years ago, I must go and google that?" (Kym WAlton) I hugely agree with her statement. I also found Katie Hurleys's blog very interesting when she discusses the use of Internet as an information source but with reference to social networking sites. Katie discusses how social networking can be to your detriment if you have a wild social life and they see it on your facebook for wxample it could put employers off working with you. I agree with this and believe you must be extremely careful if you are using social networking as an information source for your professional practise.

Class - Is a great way to gain information, you keep fit and in top form while also socialising and networking! Being in class and working with other industry professionals is a great way to expand your professional network and gain knowledge from listening and learning to other people's experiences. From asking your teacher questions, or just striking up a conversation with the girl next to you, these are all great ways to gain Information and knowledge. Another great advantage to taking class are the notice boards outside of class. They are always full with up coming audition information, job opportunities in your area etc which in the past have helped me. Taking class is a great tool for a networking professional in my industry, it is a great place to seek out information and knowledge and learn as much as you can!

Agent - My agent is a hugely valuable source of information to me as she is a well established agent in my industry, with a wealth of knowledge and experience and lots of contact information for very important casting  directors. Without my agent I wouldn't get to attend half of the auditions I do as its because of her I know about them and get invited to them. Not only does she provide me with information on auditions, but helps and supports me with any questions or queries I have about the Industry. With her help, knowledge and Information she provides I feel I am progressing in my career.

Theatre -  I believe the theatre is a great way to gain information and learn. While you get to sit there and watch something you enjoy I believe it inspires you and motivates you by reminding you of what you love and why you do it. While you take in the show you are hearing and learning the soundtrack, you are getting to know the characters in that particular show and you are learning what style of choreography and dance is required. You learn what may suit you for audition purposes in the future and after watching the show you can go away and build upon that character and learn more. I believe going to the theatre, watching plays, concerns or even gigs etc is all very important in my industry as it keeps you up to date with what's going on, what is required of you if you want to audition, what the latest dance, acting or singing style is etc. The theatre is a great source of information with an overwhelming amount for you to learn with each visit.

TASK 3B

Please find bellow the link to my critical reflection on reader 3 The Networked Professional!

TASK 3B my critical reflection on The Networked Professional

Have a look and please feel free to comment im always happy to hear other peoples thoughts on the readers, especially this one as it was a mamoth task!!

Task 3A My Range and Value of Current Networks

As a performer there are many ways in which we can use and create networking to help us in our professional practise. Here are some examples of networking I use frequently and find very valuable to my career.

Agents

I find my Agent a very valuable and important source of networking in my industry. As my agent has a wide source of clientele and casting directors contact information she is a great way to be seen for jobs that I would not necessarily be able to apply for myself! The more your agent manages to provide you with Auditions the more your face is seen and networked among important casting directors the higher your chances are at securing a job in the future! Therefore I think it is very important to have a good relationship with your agent and work together to promote yourself in the best possible way within the industry.

Taking Class

As a dancer taking class is very important while out of employment to keep you on top form, but it is also a great networking tool! While at class wither it be at pineapple in london or my local dance class in Glasgow, you are socialising and mingling with other Industry professionals! Talking to others in your profession is a great way to hear of auditions or an up and coming show you did not know about. Nine times out of ten when leaving class I have gone out with the knowledge of a new audition I did not realise was happening either through another professional in class or from the notice boards in the studio.

WebSites

I think my main and most valuable tool for networking is through websites. Websites such as Spotlight, The Stage, Dancerspro and Dance Cast are all very important means of information and communication for performers. The Stage provides us with information on musicals and new shows arising keeping us in 'the know' and also giving us ideas of auditions which may arise. Spotlight is hugely important for networking as it allows casting directors and industry professionals to view our online C.V. And head shots and allows them to approach us if necessary. It also provides us with A lot of industry information keeping us up to date in theatre land!

Social Networking

Social networking if used appropriately can be a great tool to help in our professional practise. Things such as Facebook and twitter can be a great way to promote yourself  by uploading professional pictures, contact information, previous employment information etc but this must be done on a professional level. In this industry if you are going to use Facebook as a networking tool I feel it is important to separate your professional from your personal. Make a separate facebook or twitter account for employers to view as I am sure they are not interested in reading our status updates of what we had for dinner or how hungover we are from the weekend!

Previous Employers

It is very important when in a job to have a very good work ethic, always be on time, be polite and do what is asked of you as in this industry if you piss an employer off you never quite know the extent of the outcome it could cause. You don't know what contacts your boss may have and it could lead to you being bad mouthed within the industry maki g it hard for you to secure a Job in the future. I also think it is important to stay friendly and in touch with people you have previously worked with, wither it be the casting director or the stage manager, your choreographer or dance partner, you never  know when you will bump into them again and need their help in the future! Keeping this network of connections is very important and building on them as you continue through your career.

Friends

Friends within your professional Industry are a great source of networking, and good friends are always willing to help as long as you help them in return also. It's all a out give and take and helping each other out in what is usually quite a brutal and unfriendly Industry. I am lucky to have good friends who I can call and ask to borrow sheet music from, ask if they know of any auditions I've missed out on, or getting the low down on an audition she went to today and I have tomorrow! It is very important to keep a good strong relationship with your friends in the Industry as not only are they a great networking tool they are a very important support network when this Industry sometimes gets hard and upsetting they know what you are going through.

We are so lucky in this day and age to have such incredible sources of information and networking  opportunities at our finger tips all at the click of a button. I honestly don't know how I would hear of so many auditions or gain the jobs I have in the pervious years without the help of social networking and web sites and for that I am hugely grateful. Still, I believe in the importance of personal communication and relationships and would much rather be someone's true friend than a Facebook friend. I would much rather meet a casting director face to face for a meeting than countless emails and Skype chats.

Task 2D Inquiry

Task 2D asks us to look inward at different ideas of reflection that relate to me and what goes on generally in my professional practise. I am going to approach this task by answering the questions suggested to us.

What in your daily practise gets you really enthusiastic to find out more about? Who do you admire who also works with what makes you enthusiastic?

• What gets me enthusiastic in my daily practise are my weekly dance lessons and singing lessons.  I love continuously learning, progressing and improving my professional practise. I think it is so important to never stop and become complacent but always push yourself  to get better and go further. I really look forward to going to my evening dance lessons knowing at the end of a hard ballet or contemporary class for example I will come out feeling positive, stronger and better in my practise. I love choosing a song that at the time is hard and out of my reach and working on these in my singing lessons. Taking frequent lessons and feel the song getting easier and easier until I have finally nailed it! Working hard at my lessons to then See feel and hear improvements in my professional practise, that is what gets me really enthusiastic  and pushes me to want to learn more!

I really admire my dance and singing teachers For this. I believe having a good teacher is very important to learning and progression. My teachers are always so enthusiastic, energetic and encouraging in class. They know what I'm capable of and what my limits are and they push me to constantly get the best out of me in the correct way. They are encouraging yet honest. They criticise and correct in a positive encouraging manner. I really admire the patience and time teachers have and the genuine want in them to see you improve. I am very grateful for all the dance,singing and drama  teachers I have had over my years of professional training as they are the people who have encouraged and nurtured my passion for musical theatre.

What gets you angry or makes you sad? Who do you admire who shares your feelings or has found away to work around the sadness or anger?

• What gets me really upset and angry in my professional practise is the pressure for dancers and performers to be "perfect". The vanity of my industry sometimes disgusts me especially the pressure to b "skinny". I see more and more at every audition very skinny unhealthy looking girls. They look so frail and lack energy. I have been surrounded by it on every contract I have worked on so far. There is always one or two girls in the team body image obsessed. Every moment of the day checking how many calories are in their cereal bar, counting everything   they eat and panicking when they eat 'too much' they must rush to the gym and do 1000 sit ups   or even worse throw up.  It is so upsetting to watch these girls live this way when they are perfect just the way they are. It is such a horrible body image obsessed industry, we are starting to forget why we actually do what we do. Performing is about passion,performance, talent, not about size zero perfect and pretty! 

The people I admire who share my feelings on this situation are the celebrities who promote embracing yourself for who you are, no to size zero campaigns and are happy to be photographed with no makeup on. I admire them as they have the power to influence young girls who look up to them and admire them in magazines and they are promoting the right message! An example of this is beyonce, she is constantly discussing embracing your curves and also discusses air brushing and how no one is perfect. Here is a link to a small clip I read with beyonce's views 

Bootylicious us better than size zero!
I feel this could be a very interesting line of enquiry I would like to peruse in the future!

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? 

What I love about my job is the fact it is my passion,my hobby,it's what makes me happy,it's what I'm good at and I get payed to do it!! Not many people can say they truly love their job and its their passion. Not many people get up in the morning excited about going to perform two shows in a day and getting payed for it! Every time I have a successful audition and gain a new contract I am so thankfully and think myself so lucky to be able to call it my job. I admire everyone in the same industry as me as although we are very lucky to be able to do what we do it is not easy at all as we face a lot of rejects and criticism. Daily you go through the process of looking up auditions, attending auditions with hundreds of other girls all fighting for only 4 jobs available, then facing the rejection when you are simply told "your not what we are looking for,sorry!". What do you feel you don't understand? Who do you admire who does seem to understand it or who has found a way of making not understanding it interesting or beautiful, or has asked the same question as you? Following on from my previous paragraph when I talked of rejection at auditions, what I don't understand in my profession is the question you always leave asking yourself..."why did she get the job and not me" and what exactly do they mean when they say "sorry your just not what we are looking for!" Then what exactly are you looking for?! If only we could see into the casting directors heads or they had time to explain to you exactly why, after getting to the final you are not what they are looking for but the other girl with brown hair is. These things we just have to smile and accept and try and find ways to understand ourselves by reflection and self analyses. In these situations I admire my agent. When I call her after being cut at an audition, or I am not called in for an audition I really wanted she provides me with feedback or just a reassurance that something else will come up. She assures me of others going through the same situation and that things will definitely get better and I have to keep fighting.

Task 2C

I think I have finally completed task 2c after menu attempts and re writes!
Please find my link to task 2C here and feel free to leave any comments! Thanks x

Task 2c My Critical Reflection on Reflective Practise

What idea do I like and why?? Unpicking the layers of understanding...

I like the idea of muscle memory. That after several times doing a routine dancers start to rely mainly on their body remembering the routine and not their mind. The mind tends to switch off and the body in turn takes over. We put all our trust into our muscles remembering the dance steps as our mind drifts elsewhere.

Why do I like this idea?

I like this idea as I find it fascinating that the body can remember what it has done previously. As a dancer I take it very much for granted but when I stop to think about it I do find it fascinating. My mum will ask me after every contract "but how do you remember all those routines?!" And that I cannot explain to her in words. All I can say in response is "I just do!" My body just knows what is coming next which as a dancer is a a great tool to have!

I also like this idea as once you can rely on your body to remember the routine you can really start to enjoy what you are doing and feel what you are doing. From experience I know that when I go on stage and over think every step, every count, every piece of music, that is when I make mistakes! But when I shut off my mind and let my body take over then I can really enjoy what I am doing and feel and perform every move I make instead of over thinking and panicking which ruins my performance.

By unpicking the layers of why I like the idea of muscle memory I have discovered I find it fascinating because it makes me feel instead of think! I no longer as a dancer take muscle memory for granted, I understand it has a major impact on my performance which is hugely important in my profession.

"On-line" and "off-line" reflection...... The views of Robert Kottcamp.

Kottcamp views reflection-in-action as 'on-line' and reflection-on-action as 'off-line'. He Ali outs forward the statement that reflection-in-action is harder to achieve and as a dancer I very much agree with him. In my professional practise I use reflection-in-action frequently and although reflecting in the midst of action is not difficult to me I believe it is the harder of the two. 'On-line' is more difficult to achieve as the practitioner must continue with performing the action they are undertaking while at the same time analyse,observe and evaluate their work from an external point of view e.g as a dancer the point if view of the audience - has the action I've taken been noticed? Does it still look correct?

On the other hand an academic practitioner for example someone from a mathematical background would use 'off-line' reflection. Having time to go home perhaps and review, analyse and plan their action for the future which to me sounds a lot less stressful and much simpler!

Getting my head around reader 2.... My initial thoughts!

When first looking over reader 2 I was speechless, I thought to myself I will never understand this! But I persevered, took some notes, read and re read certain areas and slowly I think some of it is starting to digest! (I hope) I have started to understand and appreciate that we can use reflection as a tool in our daily lives to help us learn and develop and become a better practitioner. By having an experience and reflecting upon it we can develop new ideas. I have also come to realise that I have already been using reflection unconsciously  and quite frequently in my professional practise every day!

Here are my initial thoughts and feelings on several different practitioners views of reflection:

Dewey - John Dewey believed there were different levels of experience from which we can learn. Dewey talks of ''reflective thought" being engaged and aware of our experiences so we can reflect upon them and find meaning from them for ourselves. Dewey has made me realise that I have to take more time out to reflect and review on my daily experiences if I want to learn more and develop in my professional practise. I have a habit of cramming too much in to my days leaving me no time for myself never mind to reflect! By starting my journal it has given me that time out to write and think and get more out of my days. Especially days i may see as being a waste of time or boring or i think nothing happened, by writing down the events and my thoughts and feelings I have managed to pull positive learning points from each if them.

Kolb - David Kolb looks at experience and learning through the idea of a learning cycle. I really liked the idea of a cycle as I felt it was an easy and straight forward way to understand experience. His cycle has four entry points concrete experience (doing/having an experience) Reflective Observation (reviewing/reflecting on the experience Abstract Conceptualisation(concluding/learning from the experience) and Active Experimentation 
(planning/trying out what  you have learned) He understands that we are all different and learn in different ways so the point in which we enter the cycle will be individual and we will all have our own personal learning style.I think from reviewing Kolbs learning cycle and understanding at which point you personally enter the cycle is a great tool for reflecting and understanding how to approach your experiences.

In the reader we are asked "At which point in Kolbs cycle do you feel you enter?" By reflecting on how we learned to start our blogs.  I feel I used a couple of points in Kolbs learning cycle but believe I entered the cycle at Abstract Conceptualisation - I used the reader to help me set up my blog initially and also looked upon videos on YouTube for first setting up my gmail account.  I then progressed on to Active Experimentation - using trial and error and going back to change areas several times until I was completely satisfied with my set up.

From reviewing Kolbs learning style I believe that with every different experience we have our point in which we enter the learning cycle (our learning style) will change as we do not always approach  everything in our lives the same way!

Gardner - Howard Gardner discusses the idea of multiple intelligences. I like Gardners idea as he highlights the point we are not all the same. We are all individuals and we all engage with understanding and learning in a different ways. I believe personally As a dancer i am a VKA learner ( Visual,Auditory and Kinaesthetic. I mainly learn from visual movement, listening to lyrics or counts to learn choreography and by trial and error with my body. I will throw myself in to moves while learning a dance to see if I can do them or my body is capable of them, I guess that can also be linked again with Kolbs active experimentation point in the cycle.

Schon - I found Donald Schons idea if reflection-in-action and reflection-on-action very interesting. His theory of reflection-in-action I can very much relate to as I do this a lot in my professional practise. As a dancer we all know things can go wrong while on stage and we are very disciplined that the 'show must go on'. we do not have time to stop and think and we cannot let the audience know something has gone wrong. For example if you are about to go into a dance break and you notice one of the dancers has just ran off due to a costume malfunction you automatically re space and re adjust the number on the spot to fill the empty space. Another example would be when you are left on stage without a partner or made to cover someone who is injured on the spot, as a trained dancer you do not run off to think about what you are going to do to fill the counts, you must think on the spot - this to me is reflection-in-action! Reflection-on-action is an idea most used by academics who have the time to go home and conceptualise and look back at what they have done or need to do. This all links in nicely with Dewys theory that time has a big impact on how we reflect on experience, wither we engage in the 'present' or the 'future'. As a dancer I engage in the 'present'. Polanyi - I love the quote from Michael Polanyi when he wrote "I shall reconsider human knowledge by starting from the fact that we can know more than we can tell". There are so many occasions in life where we know what we mean but just can't explain it! I can't explain how my body knows and remembers how to run, skip or leapt just does. I believe knowledge cannot always be spoken or written. Knowledge to me can also be a feeling, a sense, something your body remembers and knows - muscle memory as a dancer is a great example of that. Ok so that was my breakdown of reader 2 so far, next I will tackle Kottcamps views and slowly start to piece all I have learned from this reader together in the next task to write my critical reflection!! Wish me luck! Please as always feel free to comment!! :)

Task 2b continued...

To conclude my journal writing experience so far I would say the methods which suited me best personally where description and evaluation. I enjoyed both these writing styles while writing my reflective journal as they felt very natural and open and honest to me. Giving me the freedom to think more and learn from my thoughts.  I think with these two methods combined I have found a winning writing style for me.....eventually!

Task 2b my journal writing experience so far...

Ok so as I said in the previous blog when I first read that we had to start keeping a journal I was a little scared. Naturally i am a big thinker actually an over thinker really, sometimes I find it difficult to shut my brain off with all the 'what ifs?' and worrying! But to have to put these thoughts out on paper and reflect on them to try and make so e sense of them was a difficult task at first. So to begin I decided to do as suggested and take a different approach and method each day to my writing. Here is how I got on...

Description - I felt this method was very helpful especially when starting out for the first time journal writing. Describing what happened and where and when really helped me to get my thoughts out initially and to get started writing but, but that was about as far as it went. Once I started writing I felt I wanted to write more, explain more and in more details so that when I look and reflect backin the  future it makes sense. But with this method I felt held back and unable to progress my thinking further.

Initial reflection - this method came very natural to me and describing my mood and feelings on events from that day really helped me open up and be more aware. I became more aware of how I did actually feel about certain events which took place as I was made to ask myself what mood has this put me in? What emotions has it stirred up? The only thing lacking in this method is description of event and time which I feel is needed when looking back at a piece of your written work in the future.

List - writing lists is another natural method for me as it seems everyday I am writing lists! To do lists, shopping lists, work lists etc but for a reflective journal personally I didn't find it useful for me. I ended up with a long list of bullet pointed words! Words for feelings,emotions,places and times which just now makes perfect sense to me but looking back it won't . What did work though was        making an extended list of things I achieved things I want to achieve and things I'm glad I did and    learned from. But all in all I don't think list making in this sense is for me.

Evaluation - I loved this method! I felt I could really explore my day and dig into my thoughts a lot more. By asking myself what went well today? What worked and what did not? I felt it was a great way to reflect and grow personally at the end of the day. As they say, you learn from your mistakes and writing in this style really helped me do so. It also helped me to b proud of what I achieved in that day by really thinking and discussing what went well that day and why. I believe I will use this method again.

Graphs,Charts and Diagram - I did not feel this method worked for me. Like list making I was left with a lot of words on my page which when I looked back on did not help me to reflect on my day. I was more concerned about making my chart neat and pretty than my actual thoughts!

What If? - what if really got me thinking creatively which felt nice to use my imagination again, but it also felt very unrealistic. I was imagining sinariose and creating situations which did not happen and which I would like to happen. Writing about feelings and emotions I might feel but not what I did feel. Reflecting on things which did not happen personally did not feel write for me. On a positive note though, after experimenting with this method it has encouraged me to write lists of what my goals and  dreams are and things I want to achieve wether it be on a daily,monthly or yearly basis! This method has helped me to be one more positive in my career.

Another View - this method of journal writing I found almost impossible to start! I am a huge over thinker in life with a lot of feelings and emotions and to try and see these thoughts and feelings through the view of another object in the room at the time I found very difficult to comprehend. This method did not work for my personally as when looking back at what I had wrote while practising this writing style I felt awkward and untrue to myself.

Have I finally figured flicker out??

I hope by clicking on this it will take you to my photos.... Fingers crossed!!

http://flic.kr/s/aHsjEibyY3 

Task 2a starting my reflective journal....

So after completing task 1 and when I went on to read task 2 I must admit I freaked a little! I found it all very confusing at first read of the mammoth reader and the thought of keeping a journal scared me a little. Where do you start? What's right and wrong? Is there a right and wrong way?! I've decided I guess there is no wrong way, the whole experience and learning process behind it is personal and you work in a way which suits you. So for the past week I have tried the different methods suggested in the reader to see which one suits me best,which style I feel comfortable writing in and will helpme develop   further with my reflective thinking.

I will break down each method I tried in my next blog and explain personally what I felt worked for me and what did not.

Task 1c. starting out in BAPP

Talk 1b... My initial thoughts on Web 2.0

When Web 2.0 was first mentioned in the course handbook I had no idea what it meant, it was a brand new concept to me as I admit I am not the biggest computer genius out there!

After reading the "Professional Communication Technologise" reader I have came to realise that although I thought I had no clue what Web 2.0 was it turns out it is a huge part of my day to day life! Every time I log into Facebook, google to find auditions, upload a showreel to YouTube or research a song for my rep I am using Web 2.0 and I have to admit it has been a huge help to me with my career. For example without the help of YouTube and email I would not have been able to upload my showreel and send the URL address to countless amounts of agencies and employers while trying to obtain a job and further my career.

Another great advantage to social media is the networking opportunities. With Facebook for example I can "friend" casting directors and agencies etc which then allows me the freedom to search their page for auditions, and other useful information. Facebook has also been a huge advantage to me while working abroad on ships helping me stay connected with friends and family but also keeping me in the musical theatre networking loop so I don't loose track of what's going on while I am away.

I believe Web 2.0 can be successfully used to enhance and develop learning of new Technologise  which will in turn help us to become a better practitioner if we use the tools provided correctly and to our advantage. I think social media can be good for research and learning, it allows active participation and encourages creativity. This is backed up when we read Lorenz's txt where he talks of the advantages of Web 2.0 "you are not limited to receiving information - you can comment, collaborate and create your own content" This can also lead in to Bruns theory of "Produsage" where we are both producer and consumer of content.

However like everything else along with its advantages come disadvantages. I agree with Lorenzo when he talks of being "Net Savy"  and when he says "students need to understand that their freedom to publish whatever they want online comes with responsibility" I agree with this hugely with things such as Facebook if your employers or potential employers are able to access your Facebook, the information written on their can reflect badly on you if you are not professional,careful and selective about what is publicly written.

I also pose the question, is social media taking over our lives?  Although it is great to catch up with friends over a computer quickly, is it creating a new generation of people who are lazy and have lost the art of social communication, person to person meetings. I know personally I would rather meet up with my friend in Starbucks and discuss her boyfriend troubles rather then constantly send private mail messages back and forward over Facebook. I fear sometimes we are loosing real relationships and our personal identity over social media.

Also when being "net savvy" and using Web 2.0 we must realise when doing research not all information provided is positive and correct. We have the semantic web where all information is authorised and checked but we also have the social web like Wikipedia which is shared information from different sources and it may not always be correct or helpful to us.

In conclusion I think Web 2.0 is brilliant and I could not be without it now as I do use it daily for work,developing my career,networking and socialising etc but asking as we are "net savvy" and do not loose ourselves completely behind a computer screen we will continue to benefit from it greatly.

Task 1d.....Flickr trouble!!

Ok so I have been fighting with Flickr for the past hour trying to get it up and running! So far not so good I'm afraid. As I am currently in Italy when I try to register it is all in Italian and I DON'T KNOW WHAT IT IS SAYING TO ME! So for now I have posted a few URL links you can click on to see my Instagram photos from my past contracts.

One day I will figure you out Flickr..... Wish me luck!!

http://instagr.am/p/WRi42dIIwW/

http://instagr.am/p/WRq8toII35/

http://instagr.am/p/WRqyOHoI3q/

http://instagr.am/p/WRq6lgII33/

http://instagr.am/p/WRquC6II3l/

Task 1a....... THE VERY FIRST BLOG!!

Well here it is my very first blog!! I think after many hours of trial and error I may just have the hang of this thing! Blogging is a whole new concept to me and something I have never done or thought of doing before but I feel it will be a great way for me to break down and analyse my professional practise more on an everyday basis. I also think it will be a great way to explore more deeply my opinions and the opinions of others by reading and exploring other students blogs.

I have put up a basic 'about me' section just now and I will follow this blog with my c.v. And a selection of pictures from past contracts so you can get to know me a little more.

Not only am I hoping to achieve my degree at the end of this course but I feel it will also help me to become more confident and efficient with technology. Usually I am a huge technophobe and any sort of technology I touch seems to break! So hopefully this will all change and I will start to use technology to benefit me in my professional practise.