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!!
Monday, April 29, 2013
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
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.
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.
Thursday, March 28, 2013
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?
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.
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
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?
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
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
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
Sunday, March 17, 2013
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.
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!
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!! :)
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!! :)
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