Task 2d Inquiry

What in your daily practice gets you really enthusiastic to find out more about?

I just want it all.

I want to know what to do and how to do it. I have recently been taking on more responsibility at work being in charge of an evening and running the night and I am so eager to be perfect (which is actually one of my biggest faults). 

When I see videos of great performances I can't help but just admire, pick them apart, see what moves they are doing. It excites me how good they can be. 

Who do you admire who also works with what makes you enthusiastic?

Having trained at a dance college and know how hard those 3 years are, I admire everyone that manages to complete their training. It's hard, it's not always fun. It takes a lot of hard work and determination.

I admire those individuals I see time and time again at auditions. It's so hard to continue to pick yourself up after rejection, after rejection, after rejection. It also makes me laugh that I see the same people at auditions, If I see the same people, who the hell is getting all the jobs?

What gets you angry or makes you sad?

Unprofessionalism.

It drives me crazy that I give my all and other people around me don't give half as much.

"when are you going to get a real job?''

This has got to be the most aggravating question that I receive on a daily basis, because obviously dancing isn't a 'real job'. Instantly my blood starts to boil and I try to give the whitest response back making it clear that they have annoyed me. 

Minimum Wage

I took out a bank loan which I have another 2 and a half years of paying off and my parents gave me as much as they could just to put me through dance college. I spent 3 years giving blood, sweat and tears to be where I am today, I give my all and always want to my best. To be given minimum hours and minimum pay.

Who do you admire who shares your feelings or has found a way to work around the anger/sadness?

I am lucky to have a close network of friends and a supportive family. So if I need to talk to someone and relieve some stress they would be my first port of call. 

I have members of my team that I can speak and rant to and more often than not we are feeling the same way. We now choose to look at it and ask ourselves the question: does this really effect your life? No? Then forget it! It's also important to remember not everyone can do the same things your strengths are someone else weakness and vice versa. 

What do you love about what you do?

I love that I can make myself happy and when I perform I make the audience happy. Nothing will beat that thrill of going out onto the stage and giving it my all.

The cliental I mainly perform for are generally the older generation, now they can be extremely rude or extremely lovely. Never have I had so many compliments about our team shows and how amazing we are! In this industry you do NOT get feedback, It's not very often you get told you're doing well. However working at Norton Grange these guests have mad my confidence improve dramatically. It's great!

Who do you admire who also seems to love this or is an example of what you love?

I work in a team of 7 plus my manager and a resident band. It is an amazing feeling be surrounded by so many talented people who have that will and want to perform.

What do you feel you don't understand?

Why people are so quick to judge and why do they care so much?

Their mothers should have taught them, 'if you haven't got anything nice to say don't say anything'.

In this industry people are so quick to judge, whether they be a performer them self or part of an audience. You are surrounded by a lot of negativity for no reason except people always have an opinion. You can't let yourself be bothered by the negativity but deep down it effects you.

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 questions as you?

As a team we are usually there for each other when they need that bit of extra support.

The Secret

The Secret is a powerful book. It helps with overall positivity and finding your in connections to help yourself succeed. It's a great read when you just need that little bit of reassurance. 

http://www.thesecret.tv

I find that I can motivate myself a lot easier by getting up earlier, being proactive, I am a big lover of writing a list and ticking things off one by one, being tidy, being aware of what I need to do on a daily basis. Organised and prepared are two words that I would usually us to describe myself, however throughout this first module I couldn't have been any less organised but day by day I am slowly getting on top of everything. And its by not being the things mentioned above that upset me, get me stressed easily and effect my work ethic.
This course has helped me with my day to day life already. I have started to relate this reflective practice to what I have done, to what I'm currently doing. It's so easily done and I'm starting to realise I'm reflecting without fully realising and understanding that I'm doing it. I have to reflect if I am going to improve and move on with my career.
These questions that I have had to ask myself, make me question my career and normal life in a positive way. It makes me think and be pro active with my thoughts and actions.

Task 2c Reflective Theory

Having read through Reader 2 and approached the tasks, I thought I should really think about how I learn and what approach will be best and help me to succeed as I carry on with the module.

Again my mind maps have helped me to get through this task and get to grips with understanding these concepts.

I have grown to realise that everyone does learn differently and even though there are styles as stated throughout Reader 2, every individual has their own learning style which helps them to succeed, grow and learn. I know for myself keeping everything together, using different colours, rewriting the key points, highlighting and creating my own mind map creations helps me to process different types of information. For instance when I was studying for me DDI Teaching qualifications, I mind mapped every grade and exercise, colour coded everything and covered my wardrobe in all of the pieces of paper. It was great I had to look at the information every time I went to bed, got anything out of the wardrobe, it made me look and take in small buts of information at a time.

I have always been aware of reflective practices as it's something I do in my career everyday, but I don't think I have really thought about it in detail where it came from or the ideas that reflect from it.
One of my favourite parts of reading was almost that defining moment with Donald Schon and Tharp and Reiter. It was associated with dancing and that helped me relate my own practices very easily to the subject. I tried to think of moments when I have to 'Reflection in Action' and I have to every night  when I perform.

For instance last night during our evening show the curtains opened and the team were not set ready to begin the show, male singers didn't have mics and some team members didn't have props. Therefore everyone instantly reacting and reacting to each other, having those subtle tell tale signs of 'I'm going to do this' so telling me that I need to do something else to counteract it.
Now however stressful it may have been in those first few songs of sheer panic and mind going crazy with thoughts of this person needs to this, they need to that. You can't just think about yourself in this instance you're in a team there are 6 other people on the stage having to respond to everything as it happens.

Now reading through Tharp and Reiter 2006, I could really relate. As only recently I had the challenge of teaching new team members the routines/shows we have here at Norton Grange. We had 4 shows and 10 days to make a dent in them. Teaching the new dancer her part, I know the choreography I've been doing it for over a year but when I had to tell and explain the choreography to her my mind kept going blank, I was second guessing myself, I couldn't think of the moves let alone the counts. Its a completely different concept putting what our feet are doing into words to come out of our mouths.

Task 2b Reflective Writing, My Journal Writing Experience

Task 2b Reflective Writing

What is Reflective Writing?

https://student.unsw.edu.au/reflective-writing

I like how this site again is straight to the point and not only gives you what reflective writing is but also what it isn't. I will definitely be referring back to this as I progress through this task. Its important for me to remember that when reflecting it all starts with me.

Points I have taken from this site

'How and why we think the way we do?'

'The examination of your beliefs, values, attitudes and assumptions form the foundation of your understanding'

In this task we are asked to try different ways to write our journal using different tools and frameworks. We are asked to write our journal specifically in the evening, I am interested to see how each of the suggestions help me to reflect on my experiences. There are 9 suggestions below and I am currently working my way through them. I have started using different styles to tackle writing in my journal taking it a couple of days at a time to make sure I can fully commit to each style.

What am I noticing so far?

Well writing in lists was quite easy keeping small/one or two words. Description and evaluation were different to write/read depending whether I had a day off or I was in rehearsals all day. All I can say is I am very opinionated and wow do I get moody and stressed! 

But it is interesting looking back over what I have written and thinking why did I write that, what made me feel that way, what am I going to do to ensure that I don't feel like that again, or make myself proud of what I have achieved. Having everything that I have done and that I am thinking of written down is evidence for myself of how I can change things and make everything work better for myself. 

Remembering it all starts with me

Task 2a Reflective Practice

Reflective Practice

So what is reflection?

https://www.google.co.uk/#q=what+is+reflection

When I googled reflection I understood the definitions but I wanted to find out more about reflection and how it is used in my everyday life, in my writing and how I would approach it. I've been writing a journal as part of the course since the 10th February. I found it different just writing down what I had done and how it made me feel, as this is not something I have done before. When trying to find more information I came across this site. It's straight to the point and easy to understand. A lot of help!

http://isthismystory.com/learning/how-do-i-write-a-good-personal-reflection/

Reflective Practice Vs My Journal

At first I found it quite boring writing down in my journal, I couldn't get into the natural swing of writing. I now notice looking back over what I have written over the past 2 months and my writing style changes throughout, some entries are very short just a few points mentioned, on occasion I would have to write for a few days at a time and the opposite some entries look like I didn't want to stop talking. Having now made a fair few entries I feel like I've got the hang of it. 

I have taken the approach of keeping all my work for this BAPP Course in one big workbook, so that way when I'm working I have always got everything on me, it's all in one place and I can keep referring back to different things.

My journal is still going strong

Organisation is key!

A Day Off

Yesterday was a much needed day off!

I live and work in the same building so sometimes it's hard to get away and really escape to a different environment. I used my day to really relax. I gave myself a lie in, got up and went for a walk around 11 and I finally got back into my room at half past 5. It's safe to say I got out of the hotel and made the most of my day. 

I know for me personally I need those days off, allowing myself to forget about work, the day to day jobs and staying away from anything that you have to sit and concentrate for. 

It's been a lovely day, great company and good food. Excellent!

I often forget how lucky I am to perform everyday doing something that I love and living in a beautiful place like this definitely makes my days off that bit better.

BRING ON SUMMER!

Task 1d 2d Images

This for me is one of the easier tasks, in this day and age there are so many different ways of getting yourself seen and known for something that you want people to remember you by. Web 2.0 is a constant reminder of this. Facebook, Instagram, Flickr are commonly and widely used by people all over the world, they are able to watch, comment and get in contact with you personally on your posts.  This has a positive and negative impact on your life and career.

This task has really made me think about how I present myself and I have asked myself a few questions

Do I want Professional or Personal?

Is it important for me to keep my personal life separate from my work?

Should I have separate accounts on social media so that I am able to keep my personal life private and my work space professional?

How do I want to present yourself?

How do I approach negativity professionally?

Being professional is very important to me, I feel like it has been drilled into me since I was a child and it can often be very hard when others don't agree or don't want to share the same approach to work as me. When googling the word professional both adjectives below apply to me personally. First being that I belong to the Performing Arts profession and second that performing is my one main paid occupation.

To approach this task I am unsure on whether to separate personal from professional. When I started reading and working on this task I would have said to make sure there is a clear divide but having looked closer at the topic, is it more important to be yourself? What are potential employers looking for? Obviously they want someone who looks and works professionally, but also a real person, someone who can work in a team. So this got me thinking that having everything under one roof shows and presents the real me.

Throughout my career so far I have had my headshots and body shots taken every other year and I have photos from productions that I have taken part in. I make sure that all of these are visible on my Instagram and Facebook as you never know who will see them and could be potential new employers. Below are photos from Photographer Helen Overmire and some production shots during It's A Swing Thing at Warner Leisure Hotels.

I try to keep everything unto date on my Instagram feel free to have a look

@dominiqueydavies

Professional Dancer

Task 1c Audio Visual

This task is designed to develop a skill in technology and to help me look at and realise my real thoughts on the programme.

I have been struggling on how to approach this task as it is not an easy thing for me to sit and film myself talking, it has definitely helped looking at other peoples blogs from the course on how they have chosen to approach this.

So for now. . . 

Since the start of February when I started this course I have moved to The Isle of Wight for work, had 2 weeks of long day rehearsals teaching the new team members our 4 shows, our hotel opened and we continued rehearsals (this was the start of the even longer days of rehearsing, daytime activities and evening shows), we are now finally starting to find some normality where we are not doing such long days which helps when it comes to finally sitting down and getting to attack this BAPP Course. 

This photo is what my bed constantly looks like to remind myself that I have work to do

It's been very hard so far juggling work and trying to find time to dedicate to the course. Every time I think I'm doing well and getting back on track something else happens at work and I have to give more time to that. So I'm feeling extremely unorganised and that is so unlike me, as I am the type of girl who lives for organising her filofax to ensure I never miss a thing!

My life currently revolves around making lists and writing all over my rota to make sure I keep on top of everything. 

With the course itself its ok, I am struggling but I think thats because I'm not giving myself long enough to get into the flow of things. Everything is very bitty and I have to keep coming back to it and picking up where I left off. So I need to come up with a way of making more time to allow myself to enjoy and learn from what I am doing. I wanted to do this course to expand my knowledge of the industry and give myself more options within my career as I get older and can no longer perform. So far it has opened my eyes and made me think about things that I already knew but never really got around to doing or understanding. I am looking forward to learning and growing throughout this course.

Task 1b Professional Communication Technologies

Professional Communication Technologies

The title of this task scared me. I immediately printed off and looked over reader 1, flicked through the pages and thought great I'm in trouble. I knew it would take me a while to understand and get through it but I had myself a free afternoon from work so I made myself sit down with a highlighter and I worked my way through it. It took time but I did it. Even after doing that I still wasn't 100% sure, so I read through it again taking out the parts I had highlighted and made a spider diagram trying to link the different parts and get a better understanding. I think I'm finally getting there.

What are Web 1.0 and Web 2.0?

Web 1.0 - A creator and a Reader, one way communication e.g. newspaper or television

Web 2.0 - Usually allows the users to interact with each other, make formal and informal connections and share e.g. social networking such as Facebook, twitter, blogs

Web 2.0 can then be broken down into 3 other categories

Architectures of Participation, Remixable Data and Transformation and Harnessing Collective Intelligence

Using Web 2.0

Before starting this course I had never thought or heard of the term Web 2.0 and now that I have and I've been reading up on it and aiming to understand it,  It's hard not to think about how much my life revolves around the subject. In this day and age this kind of technology is used constantly by people of all ages and for a variety of reasons. Myself personally it started out as just using social media for talking to friends, having a way to share photos and see what my friends were doing, then as a way to keep in touch as I started to travel and meet people all over the world. Once attending dance college it was a way of connecting, making contacts within the industry, learning about my potential employers and being able to follow their work. So for me personally there are many positives for using Web 2.0 but what about the negatives?

When researching the negative effects of social media many websites used the same main points: a false sense of connection, cyber bulling, decreased productivity and privacy.

The problem for many is that it is so easily accessible with smart phones constantly in hand, tablets, laptops, the amazing free wifi that we all long for as soon as we venture out. It is hard to distance yourself to let yourself get jobs done, work completed. Even now I've been at work this morning, I'm back in work later tonight, I've got my mac in front of me with 9 different pages open, phone by my side buzzing every few minutes, TV on in the background. It left me thinking is access to everything a negative? I came across this page with what I thought was a great title and this quote and I liked how simply it was put.

http://www.seochat.com/c/a/social/social-media-and-society-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly

 “It’s not about ‘don’t spend time on Facebook’, but just be aware of what it might be doing to you”, Professor Keith Wilcox, Columbia University. 

- See more at: http://www.insideman.co.za/7-negative-effects-of-social-media/#sthash.IKnl3D5K.dpuf

So maybe there is an in between, as long as you have an understanding of where you stand as an individual and you are happy, does it really matter?

Task 1a Professional Profile

This task is aimed to develop my online profile,

My name is Dominique Davies, I am a 24 year old Professional Dancer. Like most young girls I started dancing from the age of 3, I trained in my hometown of Stafford studying Ballet, Tap and Modern at my local dance school under the NATD syllabus.
At the age of 18 I moved to Essex to attend Performers College where I studied all styles of dance, singing, acting and musical theatre. My 3 years at college helped me attain a Trinity College Diploma and I also managed to gain my ISTD DDI teaching qualifications in Ballet, Tap and Modern.
Since leaving college I have attended many auditions and worked for choreographers such as Emma Rogers and Brain Rogers and I have had the pleasure to be part of Paul Hammond Feel The Magic, Plan B Productions and most recently Warner Leisure Hotels, who I currently work for based on The Isle of Wight.
I am now looking to further my career and expand my knowledge about the industry and I believe that this BAPP course will help me do that.

I believe that a wide and diverse Curriculum Vitae can be very important to advancing your career, it's very easy to write down everything you have done and achieved but it's not so easy to make yourself stand out and make that piece of paper become a person. The majority of the time you would first attract an employer through your CV and only then would they meet you for an interview, so I strongly believe it is important to make a good first impression. To do this I have worked on my style of writing, presentation skills and creating unique touches that make you stand out from others on the same career path to give me the advantage with my first steps on the employment ladder.

I first developed my CV in high school, as a student I was encouraged to write my CV to give myself the best start at attaining a job. At 16 I got my first job, over the years my CV started to grow and develop it's self but it was up to me to ensure I kept my CV up to date for potential work. It was only when I started auditioning for amateur dramatic work and applying for dance colleges that I had to develop a CV for my performing work. At dance college we were given templates on how to write a CV and the information that needed to be on it, therefore being able to present yourself in the best way possible and providing all details to increase the chance of being offered a job, throughout my time at college I was given many opportunities that would later help to expand my career and my Performing CV.

I now have 2 CV's both for different types of work, it is then easier to present yourself appropriately for your future employer. However some of my work crosses over onto both CV's. Both are shown below.

CV

Performing CV

Day 1

To Do List:

Print Modules and Handbooks - Done
Read Modules and Handbooks - Done
Research and read other BAPP Blogs - Done and on going
Start my BAPP Blog -

This course encourages you to write down your thoughts and feelings and how do I currently feel?
Relieved! Because I am finally getting round to starting my BAPP Blog and approaching the tasks. My brain is completely fried, I am physically and mentally exhausted but it's now my day off and I'm ready to relax.

Since starting the course I have moved back to The Isle of Wight and started back at work for Warner Leisure Hotels. I have been here 18 days and it has been non stop! For the last 2 weeks we have been rehearsing ready to open our 4 shows. Friday 24th was opening night and the team smashed it! Which makes all the hard work over the last few weeks worth it! Rehearsals are still on going and we have a lot of work to do but we are all lucky to be part of a strong and supportive team to help each other get through it.

Starting and setting up this blog was challenging enough but I am looking forward to learning and developing my career and future career paths through this BAPP Course.

This is the start of my new adventure. . . .