Task 2D

Hello! It has been a while, but life has gotten in the way but I have now found some free time so I am going to write to my hearts content as I feel I am WAYYYYYY behind!


What in your daily practice gets you really enthusiastic to find out more about? Who do you admire and who also works with what makes you enthusiastic?
In all honesty, I find I get really enthusiastic about music. I can listen to a certain piece of music, and I see myself performing steps or I can see a group dance and where the patterning should be on certain counts. I use Shazam a lot on my phone, if I hear a piece and think to myself 'oooo that would make a good dance solo/group etc' and need to know who it is by so then I can look them up at a later stage and see what else they may have recorded. I also spend a lot of time looking on Youtube on 'So you think you can dance' and now also 'Dance Moms' and see what songs they are choreographing to. I think one of my favourite pieces of music from 'Dance Moms' is this piece which Maddie and Chloe dance to called 'Confessions' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mf4eFNXkTCU  My dance teacher at my local school I went to, before embarking on dance college, still makes me admire her even now. Just watching her choreograph a class, or picking music for a show or competition, is incredible. She can choose a piece of music and it will be perfect for the dancer or group, and her choreography imitates that also. I am so pleased that I had the opportunity to dance for her, and she is someone that not only I look up to, I inspire to be like her. Here is one of her pieces that she did 2 years ago. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjRr62vh5BU

What get you angry/sad? Who do you admire who shares your feelings or has found a way to work around the sadness/anger?
I have read a few blogs now to see what everyone has written on this task (a sneaky bit of concrete experience!!!) and there is a similar theme to this question which I do agree with. What makes me angry/sad is the way this industry has become. I am not the tallest person in the world (coming in at a petite 5"2!) but I have always been determined to prove what I'm worth. I think that got drummed into me when I was slightly younger, in my last years of dance school where I was auditioning for colleges. My dance teachers would always say 'steph you are short, make yourself known and GET TO THE FRONT!' And I kept that throughout my college years and when I was auditioning. I knew some point down the line I would teach, as I have always enjoyed it in the past, but as I left college I had dreams in my head that I would do a cruise or something that would allow me to travel the world! But that was short-lived, as some days I would get right down to the end, and then no one would contact me, or I would get into the room and be cut after 8 counts. I knew what I was letting myself in for doing this career, and you have to learn to be strong and not take these fallbacks personally. At the end of the day, that casting director/employer is looking for a certain type of person, some days you'll fit the typecast, some days you won't. But I am fortunate that I have a job now that doesn't require me to be a certain height, or hair colour, or have a particular skill. The person I admire the most in this certain situation is my best friend and old housemate. She was in the same category as me regards to height wise, and we used to spend a lot of time together wondering what we would do after college. But she is such a determined woman, and will seek out her dream job, and that is what she is doing now. She is on her fourth cruise now and is living her dream, and I couldn't be more proud of her.

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?
The thing I love the most about this job is when I see a student progress not only in their technique but also their confidence. It is such an amazing feeling which bounces off the whole class. The person who I admire that also I feel loves their job for the same reason I do is not only 1 person but I think every teacher in whatever industry. They do that job for the same reason I do it, because it is their passion and they love to see their student achieve and reach for their true potential.

How do you decide the appropriate ethical response in a given situation? To what extent are disciplinary responses different to that you might expect more generally in society? (Eg. What level of physical contact would you deem appropriate/inappropriate from another professional that you would find unacceptable more generally and why?)
I like this question as everyone can have a different answer as they have a different perspective on it. For example, in my opinion, I think that in our profession, we are very confident with our bodies and wouldn't find it a problem to get changed in front of each other. However, in another group of friends disassociated with the profession, they would find this situation a little awkward. In regards to discipline, in dance it is very different to say in a normal school class. In a couple of schools that I teach at, we don't have the best facilities, so sometimes in order to show the students how to feel a certain position so they can use their muscle memory to remember it, I have to move them physically with my hands. In a normal school this wouldn't happen, but as my kind of teaching is more physical, that is my reasoning towards it. In any given situation, I have to respond with professionalism and tact, which is probably similar to a school teacher. As we are both employed by someone else, it is not only our names/reputation's on the line, it is the company/school's as well. Sometimes it isn't the answer that the recipient is looking for, but unfortunately you cannot please everyone.




Steph xx

Task 2C - Reflective Theory

Hello,

I've been pondering over this Task for a number of days now, reading and rereading Reader 2, and also other peoples blogs to see what ideas they have come up with, and also trying to think to myself, do I really know what reflective practice is?

I do think I have a better grasp on the concept of reflective thinking, as I am trying to see what I do in regards to it in my everyday life. Being a teacher of such a skilled disciplined genre, I see now not only how I see reflection, but also how much students that I teach see it and also other teachers around me. 

When I was younger, at school we were educated on VAK (Visual, Auditory, Kinaesthetic learning) Gardner, 1983. I think initially, my thoughts were that because I danced and did something physical, that automatically made me a kinaesthetic learner. However, reading Reader 2 and especially Kolb's 'learning cycle, it teaches me that what I originally thought I used to do in regards to reflective practice I don't actually do, but I do a lot more. For this Blog for example, I was using concrete experience as I was looking at other peoples blogs for inspiration. If I myself am dancing, or am learning a new dance, I use reflective observation as I used to find it easier if someone did it first and I copied, or active experimentation - I tried to achieve what my teacher wanted and she would reply with a yes or no answer :)

Now, years on from dancing, as a dance teacher, I think I use both reflective observation, abstract conceptualisation and also active experimentation However it does depend on the type of students I am teaching, one school I teach at on a Saturday they are slightly older, so active experimentation is great, as I can say 'lets try this' and they go for it. However some on my classes earlier on in the week they rely on reflective observation due to the fact also that they don't have mirrors and so cannot correct themselves by looking but by feeling. 
Schon's idea of reflection IN action (RIA) and reflection ON action (ROA) is displayed in my everyday teaching as well. If I am choreographing for either my self or others, i tend to use RIA as I like to make the steps up 'on the spot' and then change if it doesn't look right as I see it. To me, the steps may look good in my head as I'm making it up at home, but not to other dancers who are not the same build, height or the same technically as me. I think I have some students who use ROA as they like to know what music I am using, so then they can practice steps they have learnt, and also gives them great opportunity to improvise and make their own ideas to share with me. I really encourage student participation, I want 'my' dance to rather be 'our' dance and I think as some of my schools that I teach at haven't has the chance to do this it makes them more focused and engaged with the class.
Tharp's idea of muscle memory I really enjoyed reading. 'The second time though, however, or trying to explain the steps and patterns to the dancers, she will hesitate, second guess herself, question her muscles, and forget.' I enjoyed this part as I feel very similar to her. As she has been employed to 'Walk into the room and come up with the goods'. Muscle memory I feel is quite difficult to achieve, especially for a young dancer. A school I teach at do not have the luxury of mirrors, and therefore, are having to rely on my imagery that I use to describe how they should feel when in a certain position and also muscle memory. 


Im going to end this blog post with a quote from Tufnell and Crickmay (2004) 
'Without a sense of the body, of sensation and feeling, we lose connection to what is around and within us, to the immediate and present moments of our lives.'


Steph xxx