Is it dancing or just tricks?

One of the subjects that has always piqued my interest is the evolution of dance styles and what people perceive as being a dancer. At dance college, we all came from different dance backgrounds ISTD, IDTA, Disco Freestyle, Street and all had different levels of ability. But who determines who the best dancer is? 

This brings me to the BBC's newest talent programme, The Greatest Dancer. Dancers of all ages, styles, abilities perform in front of a studio audience and if they achieve 75% of the audience vote they are through to the next round. 

But what does a dancer have to do to receive a vote from an audience of mostly non-dancers?
By watching the programme, music choice does play a big part as well as doing something 'mainstream'! A group of dancing dads doing street dance got through instead of an experienced classical ballet dancer who had been performing for 15 years. The routines that are more aesthetically pleasing are considered better. At the point of judging who would come back as the final 9 dancers, one judge Oti Mabuse said " Is it dancing or just tricks?" when discussing a freestyle disco auditionee. 

Has dance become more about tricks? Is that now what an audience would expect to see? For many years I have found this quite frustrating, I personally trained in ballet, modern and tap, I could do a cartwheel and went to gymnastics at the age of 19 to master a walkover, but I'll admit I could not perform to the level now seen on TV. 



I worry that as a dance teacher, my students might get bored of the ISTD syllabus work and may prefer to replicate 'Dance Moms'. Continued Personal Development is integral to being a teacher, but does that now mean I have to learn to teach Acrobatics or Tumbling? 

However, if I was to ask a freestyle dance teacher their views, I'm sure they would see this as a positive and likely a boost to their business. 

While this isn't necessarily what I will propose as an inquiry topic, I wanted to note my thoughts and display how my thinking has started to change through this process. Having an unbiased view allows you to see things from more angles and to consider that sometimes your own opinions may obscure all the facts.

What are your thoughts? Is it all about Fouette turns and Illusions? 

Images Found at -

Image 1 -Shyla - https://tellymix.co.uk/gallery/390586-the-greatest-dancer-spoilers-first-look-at-this-weeks-latest-auditions.html

Image 2 - Yassaui Mergaliyev - (Photo: Tom Dymond/BBC/PA Wire)

Read more @: https://inews.co.uk/culture/television/greatest-dancer-debuts-against-the-voice-but-twitter-reaction-is-cool-as-great-dancer-misses-out/

Finding Focus

After our Skype call on Saturday, I was determined to make this week count. And in a flash its nearly over. Having read through the handbook for Module 2, I have spent some time mulling over possible Inquiry subjects and reflecting on how the last term went. 

As a dance teacher, looking to transition into primary education I am initially drawn to developing an injury plan that will support me in my next step. Expanding my current knowledge of teaching styles, understanding on motivation and explore discussions on discipline. However, I fear there may be many Ethical Considerations as I will possibly want to observe lessons and watch other teachers styles etc and this may be difficult with minors. I may also adjust how I teach to see if it has an effect on my students, which may be Ethically incorrect. I am still interested in a literature review of these subjects but may have to discuss a possible inquiry with my supervisor.

I am also interested in the career guidance and progression available to dancers, I have a network of dance associates from the past and present so am already thinking of ways I could interview them. However, I'm not sure how much 'Theory ' is on this subject and if I may be making it difficult for myself.

I feel that some of the discourses I mapped out in Module 1 are very big questions, such as body image and suitability of material and music found in the media for young audiences, I will wait to hear my feedback and then maybe break these down and make them more relevant to me and see if anything emerges that is Inquiry worthy.

I have set myself little goals this term, such as keeping on top of my reflection journal, making sure I manage my time efficiently and starting to get things down on paper sooner rather than later giving me more time to see what I might be missing. I'm also looking forward to re-connecting with everyone through our blogs, in order to share thoughts and ideas.

In order to Find My Focus in general, I am a list writer, specifically with coloured pens and timelines. 

How do you Find Your Focus?

Ethics - Explicit Vs Implicit

On Monday night I joined a group discussion with a module 1 focus on Consideration of Ethics. I feel that this process so far has broadened my understanding of Ethics, not just the rights and wrongs that make up our own moral compass but also how to think of the ethical impact of what I do and how I present myself.

We first discussed how ethics apply to our day to day practice. As a teacher for the ISTD I have been educated in their code of conduct and have studied different areas of safeguarding and best practice. These are the things that I explicitly do, make sure I am teaching competently, I am professional, I think about the safety of my students be it prevention from injury or ensuring they are released to parents correctly or not left unattended. But there are many things that I do that are implicit. Considerations I make that are not specifically outlined in a code of conduct. 

For example, I teach ballet to students aged 15-17, I am aware this can be a very self-conscience period in a young students life, for this reason, I will think twice before publicly ordering a student to remove a big baggy jumper. I will ask them on a 1-2-1 basis if there is a reason they are wearing a jumper and gauge my response by their answer. I understand that uniform is very important especially in ballet, but another consideration is why are my students here? Are they planning to become professional dancers, or are they simply there for fun and recreation, this answer changes my approach as a teacher, level of discipline used and motivational techniques.

There are many examples of how my inner compass guides how I fill in the gaps ethically that are not outlined in a code of conduct but after our group discussion, I am now excited to explore where these morals come from.

I think my personal dance history has guided my ethical considerations.  I was a chubby kid and remember being made to wear a neon lycra crop top and cycling shorts for a dance performance. I was only about 8 years old but felt so self-conscience, I couldn't smile or perform and spent the whole dance trying to pull down my crop top. This feeling has always stayed with me so as a dance teacher I always promised myself and my students that I would never insist they wear something that made them feel physically embarrassed. I have many tragic costume memories, guess which one is me in the below picture. Another reason why I feel strongly about making my students feel happy and positive about how they look!!!

You guessed it the Jester! I think the laugh was on me.

Throughout dance college, I witnessed many acts of unfairness, while this was maybe preparing full-time dance students for the realities of the professional performance world, favouritism was prevalent. Students were picked for solos based on personal relationships with teachers, this has made me aware of my own relationships with students and how having ' favourites' can be damaging to a students confidence. 
I really am an advocate of treat others how you wish (or wished) to be treated.

I feel our personal ethical standpoint is ever changing with the things we experience. I am now a mum of 2 and this has had a big influence on my ethical considerations. I am more protective over my students as I see them now as someone else's babies no matter how big they are, and I am more aware of how my actions can be perceived by a young mind and what impact my words can have on them. 

I have really enjoyed delving into my own experiences to help ascertain where my ethical behaviours root from. I have previously been considering the bigger ethical picture, the things that are a discourse between the professionals in my practice but are not necessarily things I have control over. However I was pleased to discover that there are dance ethicists out there, they recognise that there is not enough unity amongst dance teaching professions and a need for continuous professional development.

Such academics are Julia Buckroyd and Sho Botham, their work has been very inciteful and helped my understanding of ethics in relation to dance teaching. Follow the link below for a selection of articles available to download. 

Ethical issues in the Training and Development of Dance Teachers in the Private Sector

And again from the top.....

Adeola's reply to my essay draft was "Great start, keep going"
 "Keep going?" I thought. I knew it wasn't a perfect finished article but I wasn't sure how I was going to add to it without unravelling what I had already done...

After our group discussion on Tuesday, I was reminded to look at my work through the lens of my own practice. So instead of looking at my essay as a student, thinking I need to add more cites or theory, I will look at it as a dance teacher. As if I am creating a routine or teaching a syllabus exercise, thinking of my work as a performance. Asking myself, have I added all the details, the correct technique, is it polished, is it ready to be performed in front of an audience or examiner.

When teaching I usually concentrate on the main body of the piece first, ensuring my students are familiar with the music, timing and style. Then I spend time on the beginning and end of the dance, making sure they have an impact and set the scene.

I feel this is currently where my essay is at. I have a full routine but it still needs cleaning.

Sharing my work and getting my fellow teachers to watch and give me their opinion helps me validate my work. I then run the dance many times, either without music step by step to correct technique and arm lines etc and then with music but with a focus on performance. Reminding my students to give it their all in rehearsals and not just hope it will be alright on the night and leave it to the last minute. And always making sure there is always time for one last practice, and then another one, because one more time never means just one more......

I will apply this idea in the next few weeks, sharing my work will help me see it through fresh eyes. Looking at my essay as a whole piece instead of in sections of different lenses and areas of learning, I will check its fluid and is clear. I plan to do this in shorter sessions on a more regular basis so that I can see it from different angles opposed to giving myself a whole day to make changes nearer the deadline meaning I won't have time to analyse my work.

With the countdown officially on, I am surprised at how excited I am to submit my work. I honestly thought by now I would pulling all-nighters and freaking out!!

Below are a few notes I took while on the call, it was great to speak to everyone and I look forward to the module one discussion on Ethics soon. 

·        

      The theory of embodiment?

Industry Minds – Podcast - Recommended listening. 

Think about where philosophical theories come from.

Are mind and body separate? Right and Left brained people, is it such a thing?

How does it affect my practice?

Diagram

·        Communication without words? How else might we visualize our practice?

Don’t let submission criteria hold you back. Links can be used.

Find what you feel comfortable doing?

Make a start, and ideas will develop from there.

Mood board? Images to represent things?

Something that offers representation. How are you identifying yourself?  

Words are more accessible, or more valuable but come back to what your practice is. 

How might you develop a better sense of ownership, by representing it in different ways?

Keep the process of exploring going. Will there be a shift to see things more clearly?

·        How do you conclude your work?

Link to the introduction, make it go full circle.

Use the essay body to digest what you have learnt. Use conclusion to show there has been a learning process. A Transformation. Using a cycle, revisiting and redrafting.

How would you approach things in your practice?

We Are Family

I was very pleased with the feedback from my essay draft, which was reassuring as I had no idea if I was on the right path. Thankfully I got some positive notes to ensure I include page numbers on quotes and to re structure a few sections, but to now concentrate on my diagram.

I have an idea to create an investigation board using images and labels tying it all together which different coloured thread to highlight the connections. I had never realised how connected some elements of my practice are. This made me want to write a little blog about my influences and my artistic linage.  

In one of our first group Skype calls Adesola mentioned the sad passing of her teacher Arthur Mitchell, and how we are in affect his pupils too as Adesola is passing on the knowledge she learnt from him to us.

This got me exploring my practice family tree. And how this can influence us and link us all together.

One of my greatest influences has been Liz Burville, an amazing dance teacher, choreographer, producer and ISTD examiner. She first taught me at dance college, and helped me understand my potential in Modern Dance, pushing me to achieve 97/100 in my Intermediate modern exam. Years later I went to train with Liz for my DDI teaching qualification, she not only offered me a teaching job to pay my tuition but also acted as my agent securing me cabaret work. Sadly Liz passed away earlier this year, but she will always influence how I teach dance. Her teachings will live on through my students. 

Looking into her dance history, Liz was a noted performer who was a student of Doreen Bird, this is where I start my dance family tree. Doreen Bird was an esteemed member of the ISTD who co-authored the original syllabus that I teach today. While Doreen Bird, is the founder of the Renowned Bird College of Music, Dance and Theatre Performance, and I was not a student at this college I feel her teachings may have been passed down to me.

Another one of my influences is Leanne Coverly the principal of Langley School of Dance where I teach. She has built a fantastic dance school, and has a real passion for teaching. She is always bringing new ideas to her teaching and sharing them with her staff, arranging training days and social events to help us build a strong network. 

Leanne was originally taught as a child by Liz Burville, and then later went to The Centre PAC to become an ISTD teacher being taught by Karen King. 

Karen King is a very influential practitioner delivering teacher training and working with the ISTD to further their syllabus. She was also taught directly by Doreen Bird, so again while I was not a student at The Centre her work directly influences what and how I teach.

I currently have a large map of my influences, key artists and theorists and ethical considerations on paper but am really looking forward to creating a 3D map to really bring the links to life.

Campus Session - 29/10/18

A week has flown by since my first campus session, but I can still remember my feeling of excitement and apprehension trying to find the session room in the maze that is Middlesex University. I had ensured I wrote a few questions that I had been meaning to ask but other than that I had no idea what the session may entail. I was just excited to meet my fellow learners and make the whole experience seem REAL!

It was great to meet Adesola and Maria in person, and I was joined by Liza, Lee and Beverley. We starting by introducing ourselves and our practice. I went first and reeled off my life story, throwing out acronyms of ISTD and DDI assuming that what I was saying made sense. After my 4 minute epilogue Adesola commented "It was a nice story, but was it a description of my practice?" The group took notes on what I had said and fed it back to me. Lee who is a graphic designer ascertained from my speech that I ' taught some street dance and enjoyed turning non dancers into performers'  This feedback clicked with me instantly and has given me much more focus for the introduction of my Essay. I need to imagine I'm explaining what I physically do to someone that knows nothing about the arts and performance world. Here are a few notes I made for myself to consider when introducing myself.

Think more as an artist what you bring to things. 

How I use the mind of a dancer to do things. 

How I use my approach ; what is my approach?

Tagline vs the way that we do it.

The way I teach, what ethics I use, what theoretic paradigms I use. 

Teaching approaches ;considerations. 

Be specific, what my practice means to me.

How you see your self connected to the things around you. Ethical considerations.

What I do - Inspire dancers age 3 - 17, at weekly dance classes in genres of Ballet, Tap, Modern and Street Dance through displaying my passion and love for dance and seeking opportunities to expand knowledge, educate and improve current dance skills of students through set graded work established by a well recognised Dance Society. Promote enjoyment of dance. Choreograph for all dance styles ensuring students can relate to the material and can explore their range of techniques used in my teaching. Seek popular music and trends. Work with fellow practitioners to synchronise and enhance teaching methods and skills.  

Opposed to - I am a dance teacher with the ISTD, I started dancing at age 5 and danced professionally abroad. On returning to the UK I took my DDI and now teach syllabus work to children age 3-17.

The main thing to consider was not being defined by a label or tagline, explain what goes into that label.

We then transferred these thoughts to the subject of research.

Here are my notes from the discussion -

What is research?

The thing it's about and the way that it’s been done. 

A way we do something colour’s what it is. - What angle we begin our Research will have an impact on what we find.

Qualitative – understanding every level vs Quantity – looking at many items  

Research can be approached from different angles and achieve different results each time.

You will always find what you’re looking for. In research and life, find ways to find what you don’t know what you’re looking for. Don’t stop if you think you’ve found an answer. 

We then wrote a statement on our thoughts - 

 Personally, I have subjects in mind when researching, things I want to explore, however I often go into these topics with an idea of where my views stand. When researching ethics, I started with a question I already had a view on, but this then lead to further writings. It lead me to PhD papers I really enjoyed reading or could relate to that I wouldn't have found in my initial google search. 

This then lead us to discuss algorithms and while you may think you are finding new unrelated literature you very well may be boxed in by technology.  

Below are some ideas on how to look outside the box - 

Use bibliographies to source information - are the same authors reoccurring?

Different search engines - not just Google

Look into what people are saying from different fields, outside of your practice.

We also spent time trying to define the meaning of Ethical Considerations, not just seeing them as a subject of Good Vs Bad, but how we need to consider the impact reading someone else's work can have on us or us sharing our work can have on others.

There are certain ALERT WORDS that should be considered.

REAL - what is real to me might not be real for someone else, it;s a case of beliefs and feelings. 

MEANINGFUL - We all have a different idea of what is meaningful for us. When writing you had a meaningful experience, can you use a different term or define why it was meaningful to you?

My campus session ended with us making videos in pairs with the information we had collected in discussing research. Mine and Liza's video is on Adesola's blog and I have to give full creative credit to Liza, she is a whizz with a movie maker. The 2 hour trip was definitely worth it and I learnt a lot discussing ideas with Lee, Beverley and Liza. I also feel like I have expanded my professional network and also discovered that there is a Costa Coffee on Campus, but they don't serve Flat Whites???

A Question Of Ethics

I have really enjoyed spending time broadening my knowledge of Ethics. The dictionary defines Ethics as - 'moral principles that govern a person's behaviour or the conducting of an activity.' (Anon, 2018) Initially this makes me think of the safeguarding and health and safety considerations that apply to my practice, Dance Teaching. The things that are very much recognised as bad on pretty much anyone's moral compass. For this reason there are now laws in place to ensure the line is never crossed. 

But Ethics isn't so black and white, often Ethics are a personal opinion or depend on a persons own moral values. Hence why guidelines, codes of conducts and laws are put in place. 

Ethical theory serves as the foundation for ethical solutions to the difficult situations people encounter in life. In fact, for centuries, philosophers have come up with theoretical ways of telling right from wrong and for giving guidelines about how to live and act ethically.( Panza and Potthast, 2010)

There are many Ethical Theories but I feel the below are most relevant to my practice - 

Virtue ethics states that character matters above all else. Living an ethical life, or acting rightly, requires developing and demonstrating the virtues of courage, compassion, wisdom, and temperance. It also requires the avoidance of vices like greed, jealousy, and selfishness.

Contract theory proposes thinking about ethics in terms of agreements between people. Doing the right thing means abiding by the agreements that the members of a rational society would choose. So for contract theorists, ethics isn’t necessarily about character, consequences, or principles.

Care ethics focuses ethical attention on relationships before other factors. As a result, acting rightly involves building, strengthening, and maintaining strong relationships. Acting rightly thus displays care for others and for the relationships of which they are a part. To care ethicists, relationships are fundamental to ethical thinking. (Panza and Potthast, 2010)

As a teacher I have developed and demonstrate compassion and wisdom towards my students as in Virtue Ethics. I also fit into the Contract Theory, teaching under a dance society I uphold their ethical values and code of conduct. I also have a duty of care towards my students ethically, ensuring I build and maintain strong and trustworthy relationships.

Above I have mentioned Code of Conduct, as a teacher for the ISTD I adhere to their code and principals, to maintain the reputation of the society, demonstrate personal best practice and teaching and act with integrity, courtesy and consideration. The code highlights 11 principals of practice, they are all equally as important but I feel some lead to more common discourse among dance teachers.

• Acknowledge their own professional limitations at any point at time, and not agree to do work in which they are not competent but engage in continual professional development to maintain and improve their professional competence.
• Use best endeavours to ensure that all teaching staff are of an appropriate level of competence. All members should encourage constructive communication between teachers and students and foster professional attitudes to work and Dance, acknowledge physical variety and limitations in a positive manner and seek to resolve problems by effective communication with students. (ISTD, 2016)

Have you ever experienced anything that may question the practice principals above? 

Dance teaching hasn't always been so well monitored, and there are many questions surrounding the methods used. Within the media dance teachers are often portrayed as pushy and as bullies. For example - Abby Lee Miller on Dance Moms, uses humiliation, favouritism, and threats to supposedly better her students.  The second episode of season 1 was even entitled ' Wildly Inappropriate'  However this would not be acceptable in any dance school I have worked in.

At vocational college dancers are exposed to more extreme methods of 'motivation' such as weekly weigh ins, punishments of extra physical workouts and verbal warnings of showcase numbers being pulled if not perfected.

I remember at college being made to dance 1 by 1 the opening of the showcase in front of everyone to prove we had the timing correct, this was a form of humiliation. I have been pushed into the splits and been left with pulled muscles from rigorous 'Bikini Body' workouts.

Are these methods acceptable? Should more be done to regulate dance training in a college setting? Often 'guest teachers' are professionals who have not gone through the in depth training required to teach and may not adhere to the same codes of conduct, leading them to teach how they were taught. 

Do you feel that 'tough love' made you the performer you are today? 

There is now so much support and material available to educate and inform Dance Teachers on how to provide best practice, but is there enough governing bodies to ensure this is being adhered to? Or do you think it is becoming too rigid? 

Bibliography 

Anon (2018) [online] https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/ethics [accessed October 2018]

ISTD Codes of Professional Standards and Practice (2015) [online] available at https://www.istd.org/site-search/?keywords=Code+of+Professional+Conduct+and+Practice+for+Teachers+of+Dance [accessed October 2018]
Panza, C Potthast, A (2010) Ethics for Dummies [online] available at https://www.dummies.com/education/philosophy/a-snapshot-of-key-ethical-theories/  [accessed October 2018]


References
Dance Moms (13th July 2011) [TV Programme] Network Lifetime

Image
Pixabay (2018) [online] available at https://pixabay.com/en/business-idea-style-concept-goals-1753098/