Task 4d - Literature

I have found while researching my inquiry a piece of literature which struck my attention made me interested to look into it more. It is titled "Psychology of Dealing with the Injured Dancer" and can be found if you Click Here. 

It begins with stating a few statistics which is what first interested me into the topic. Some of which are;

• 97% of dancers suffer from injuries
• fewer than 50% of dancers injuries are treated by a physician
• 43% of dancers continued training against their physicians advice

These statistics alone show some of the characteristics which are present amongst dancers which prevent them from seeing a physician. I think it opens up some more questions as to what stops dancers from seeking and applying the help required to prevent and improve injuries and what is the psychological and physical impact of this.

Is having a injury normal in the dance world? 

Honestly, I think it is. Dancers are very determined people and often have little 'niggles' during the long hours and tough training that is required in their profession. Being a dancer myself I am guilty of just brushing off a little ache or pain for nothing and just pushing through it and thinking that as dancers we have to put up with with pain as part of our career. In many cases these pains do just fade away to nothing but in some situations they have the risk of leading to long term or even career-threatening injuries. 

So why as dancers do we allow that risk?

There are many pressures for dancers not to be injured and unless you really can't move sometimes it doesn't feel worth it to take time off for an injury. Being injured or taking time off can mean, falling back on training, missing out on a performance experience and in certain professional situations it can mean not being able to work or losing a job. Knowing myself and most other dancers, we will push through the pain in order not to lose these opportunities. From my experience the social culture of the dance world means we always question what doctors say. Being very in touch with our bodies means we can feel and understand what is going on and I often notice that people who do see someone for an injury questions their physicians judgement as there is maybe a lack of communication or understanding which put dancers off going to the doctor. Also as we push our bodies to the extremes some of the recovery exercises seem trivial in comparison to our regular training which causes a dancer to ignore the advice given.

What are the physical barriers preventing dancers seeking help?

Firstly most dancers may struggle financially and if there current work/training place does not supply medical help it means going out to pursue help for yourself which may be costly. Also dancers require special help and finding doctors with experience and an understanding in dancers and the way they use their bodies can be difficult which can be hard. These specialist doctors are hard to find and are often not found on the nhs therefore they have to be sought out and are often more expensive treatments. As most of dancers injuries are from overuse they are rarely treated as an emergency therefore they can often be on long waiting lists to get treatment which is disagreeable with a dancers schedule.

I think this article really made me think about how myself and people around me thought about injuries and it has really made me think about what I would do if coming across and injury in the future. I think as a group we are a bit stuck in our ways with the way we think about injuries but if we are made more aware of them maybe we could prevent them from becoming more threatening.

I hope this helps people

Pressures

I found this online and I found it quite interesting. It focuses on the pressures that fall upon a young dancer from a few different angles including parents, money, teachers and self pressures. Its a good read and links to a few good articles if you are interested in this for your inquiry.

http://www.shsoutherner.net/a-e/2011/12/01/teenage-dancers-endure-pressure-from-all-angles/

Rohanne x

4b - Special Interest Groups

How are people creating their SIG's? I have been looking through a few peoples blogs and I think a lot of your inquiries will cross in one way or another so it will be good to have some way of chatting! I know that Laura has invited me to a page on fb that we could all use to connect our SIG groups although currently I think so far Laura and I are the only people who like it. Click Here for a link to that page if you are interested. Also if you would like to connect with me on facebook the link to my profile is https://www.facebook.com/rohanne.compsonbradford or search for Rohanne Compson-Bradford and you'll find me.

Thanks x

Task 4a - Questions

So after having a little break from blogging lets get back into the swing of things and dive right into module two. 

It has taken me a lot of time to think about my inquiry and I am not 100% sure of the direction I am going to take it in but hopefully over this module it will become clearer. Reader 4 states that module 2 is designed to "explore a topic that will benefit your work and the work of colleagues and fellow professionals." When thinking about my topic I want to explore new aspects which I am not as familiar with that will hopefully cause me to grow as a professional and benefit me in the future as well as others around me.

I have noticed a lot of people on this course look into teaching as part of their inquiry and although I do teach and am very interested in this subject I have decided to steer my inquiry away from this and try and broaden my knowledge on other aspects of the dance world and look more into the psychology of dancers in different situations and stages in their career.

So to start that learning process I have come up with a few questions on a few different angles of my inquiry.

• What are the main pressures for a dancer?
• What are the psychological and physical effects of long term injury on a dancer?
• How do dancers cope after finishing college and are put into the professional dance world without the securities of training?
• How does being jobless/between jobs effect a dancer?
• What methods can you use in order for a dancer to cope with the strains of the industry?

I understand my questions are not fully refined and but I need peoples help and comments to allow me to expand on these and create new questions and aspects to explore.

Thank you

Task 3c

Information gathering is a vital and valuable commodity in any business or profession. As a performer information gathering is something I take part in everyday. In order to absorb the most valuable information I use a range of sources in order to gain the most knowledge I can. I have actually made a mind map on a website which I just found that has been very useful in helping me really think deeper in where I gathering information from. The website I used incase anyone is wondering is http://www.mindmup.com which was very easy to use!

Phone

Calls
This allows me to call anyone and speak to them directly to talk to them and retrieve the information I was looking for by asking questions

Text
I can gather information by being able to talk to people directly through short texts and I can look back on previous texts to retrieve information I may have forgotten. It also allows you a bit time to construct what you are going to say that talking on the phone.

Apps
There are a massive range of apps on smartphones these days and also these apps provide me access to the internet which has access to a lot of information.

The Internet

Google
As you can see internet has a massive amount of outcomes and is probably where I would go first in order to access information. These days, we have unlimited access to a range of information if you just 'google it'. It has a massive wealth of information and is the fastest and most efficient way to get a lot of information in the quickest time. You can get anything from casual blogs and forums to factual articles and academic papers so whatever you are searching for you can find.

Youtube
Here I can get a visual connection where I can watch factual videos with deep explanations in a wide range of subjects within dance to filmed performances and it can be a good source of research which looking into a company or choreographer.

Social Media
As I have discussed in previous blogs, social media is great for networking and also people can share articles or blogs which can supply you with valuable information.

Email
Email is a social way of interacting with people and you can exchange information about many things on a professional and social basis. It can be a good way of discussing with people and asking questions to people.

Casting Networks
On the internet there is access to a range of casting networks which allows me to gain information on upcoming auditions.

Writing

Planner
I keep and constant planner (or diary) which I rely on to keep me organised as without I am not always the most organised person. I can go back and look on stuff I have written in advance for that day to remind me of things i need to do.

Journal
I can find information from the journal I have written as I may have writing something that I have learned that day and if I have forgotten it, so I can go back and find it in my journal. 

Notebook
Often when attending lectures or rehearsals I take a notebook with my where I can take notes and gather information so that later I can go back and look at it and retrieve the information.

Letters
Letters are used less often these days but occasionally I still receive letters with information such as bank statements.

Social Interaction

People say that a lot of business conversations happen in coffee shops these days and I often spend a lot of time chatting to friends and colleagues in places such as coffee shops as it is a good place to sit and relax and have a good talk about things.

Newspapers, Books and Magazines

A lot of the time you can access these online but I still have a subscription to The Dancing Time which sends out a monthly copy which keeps me up to date with what is going on in the dance world. I still like getting the paper copy as sometimes I find it easier to read than reading it online.

What sources of information do you not use enough?

Personally I think I should be attending more workshops and take part in more of a variety of classes but as many of you will find I sometimes struggle to find the time and money. Although I do want to try and get to more if possible as you can a lot from these kind of experiences.

Task 3a

Currently, I don't have an agent (although I am in the process of trying to get one) therefore I have to do the majority of looking through sites at job advertisements and networking myself. Here is a list of ways I am Currently networking for my professional life;

Dancers pro/The Stage/Network Dance

Dancers Pro is the main site in which I am a member of which I receive the majority of the work I have done. It post daily paid jobs and unpaid opportunities so there is always something new coming up. Also directors or potential employers can view your profile via dancers pro and Network Dance so they can immediately see your CV.

Peer/Colleagues

Word of mouth is one of the most valuable ways you can get information within the dance world whether its on future auditions or possible job openings. Also people you have trained or worked with know your abilities therefore can advise you on jobs they think you would be suitable for.

Facebook/Twitter

We have discovered earlier on in the module how valuable web 2.0 can be and these social networking sites can be invaluable for networking. Sometimes I see friend on facebook share auditions and also following or like pages of companies can make you aware of job positions they are posting.

To further my networking field I am looking to get onto Spotlight and get an agent. Firstly my hesitation for getting onto Spotlight was because someone told me once that you should go on until your CV has lots of experience on it as directions are most likely to see your profile in the first 3 months of you being on the site. Now, I don't know if this is true but it has put me off from immediately signing up as I want my CV to look really good if possible. Also I am currently in the process of emailing agents with my CV and showreel as unfortunately my school didn't help us set up getting an agent and to be honest I didn't realise how vital there are in furthering your career until I graduated. But so far I have had no luck with any yet but still many haven't replied to me yet so hopefully I can get one soon.

My ideal network would be somewhere where there was a massive directory of auditions and job post which also have a good filter for which I could find jobs which I was interested in. I would also like it to have a way in which all the people that were on it could be seen equally by directors so the people with the most experience aren't at the top of the list but all mixed up so that everyone get a fair chance of getting looked at.

Task 2c - part 1

Beginning this course 'reflective practice' and 'critical reflection' are not things that I had considered or applied during my professional and personal day to day life. But since reading more about it a discovering its benefits through this course I have really begun to understand and personally develop the concepts.

Reflection to me feels very integrated within my professional practice even if I hadn't initially realised it I have always been using it. Now I am able to acknowledge this I can use and develop it more and help it progress me as a professional. If I were to describe reflection in a sentence I would say it is an evaluating process of which you look back on what you have done and explore the good and not so good aspects of it and what you would change. Being a dancer you are frequently looking back on movements, sequences or performances you have done and self criticising in order to improve as dance being a very competitive profession you are always striving to improve so reflection is very relevant. Now using tools such as my journal I can successfully reflect on myself and retain all the information as I have it written down which allows me to apply my personal reflections and critiques and learn from my experiences.

As I read through the reader I discovered how important reflection is in our professional practice. Boyd and Fales (1983) claim that critical reflection is the core difference between whether the person repeats the same experience several times, and become highly proficient at the behaviour or learns from the experience, therefore showing cognitive change. With that in mind reflective learning can be thought as as a transformational way of learning which is allows you to adapt and experiment in order to improve.

David Kolb's 'Experimental Learning Theory' is what I related to most and found easy to understand through the concept of the table which has been produced of his "Learning Cycle" as shown. The table helped me to visualise the process of learning and understand the process which is advised for optimum learning. As you can see the cycle is recurring which shows how you can be learning and experiment over and over which i very relevant, especially in dance, when styles, steps and technique is always evolving. Also the Reader goes into detail about how everyone begins to learn at different stages of the cycle; 

"Some people start to learn when they are involved in a concrete experience, (doing something), some people can do something but start to learn about it when they are watching the people around them doing it (Reflective 
observation), some people need to “work it out in their head first” (Abstract 
conceptualisation) and some people start to learn when they start trying out ideas 
(active experimentation)."

Reader 2

This intrigued me to think about where about in the cycle I began the learning process and I believe I start at "Active Experimentation". Personally when I am learning a sequence in a dance class I am immediately thinking "right, how should I do this move?" or "can I put my own style into this" so straight away while having the experience I am experimenting mentally and physically with the movement and learning more about the way I dance.

Here is a continuation on my example of learning a sequence and its written out beside as the picture is quite small...

Active Experimentation: As I am learning the sequence I am thinking about how the movement goes and trying different ways to interpret my style.

Concrete Experience: I go on to performing the sequence within the class.

Reflective Observation: I think about how that felt during the sequence and how I think it looked in the mirror.

Abstract Conceptualisation: I learn from the experience and think about different way I wish to experiment with.

...and then the cycle repeats