Responses to my Questionnaire

I currently started my new job and was fortunate enough to be working with new dancers and performers I asked if they wouldn't mind filling out my questionnaire. It's taken me a while to get it all together to look at results but here is what I have found so far. I am still going through it trying to sift out information that is going to help benefit me throughout module 3 and help benefit my own career. 

Are you a professional Dancer?

This is a copy for my questionnaire that I have been asking dancers to fill out. 

If you are a professional dancer and feel like you could help by filling one out or offering any thoughts or feedback please feel free to contact me via email: dd696@live.mdx.ac.uk

Dominique Davies

BA Hons Professional Practice of in Arts (Dance)

Questionnaire For Dancers

Q1: As a dancer/performer are you

-       Employed

-       Self employed

-       Dependant on type of work

-       Other

Q2: On average how long do you contracts last for?

-       One off Contract

-       A couple of Days

-       A couple of Weeks

-       Long Term

-       Other, Please Specify

Q3: How do you keep fit when you are not working?

-       Gym

-       Personal Trainer

-       Dance Classes

-       Other, Please Specify

Q4: Do you feel maintaining physical fitness impact on your performance at auditions?

-       Yes

-       No

-       Please Specify

Q5: Do you feel maintaining your physical fitness impacts on your ability to dance and your ability to maintain a positive mind set to wards performing?

Physical ability

Mental and physical ability

Please comment in relation to your response:

Q6: What impact does being in and out of work have on your body and mind?

As a dancer I am always employed

As a dancer I have irregular work

Please provide comment in relation to your response:

Q7: When you are not working what do you do?

-       Part time work

-       Full time non performing job

-       Self Employed one off jobs

Please Specify:

Q8: Do you have a set workout that keeps you in Peak Physical Condition?

-       Yes

-       No

-       Other, Please Specify:

Q9: How do you look after mind set, what keeps you positive? How to you try to maintain a positive mind set?

Please provide comment in relation to your response:

 Q10: What advice would you give to anyone else in the same profession in relation to looking after their mind and body to help them gain a successful career?

Please provide comment in relation to your response:

New Job

The start of 2018 I left my job working for Warner Leisure Hotels as a dancer so I can develop my career further. I was offered a job working for Haven's Theatre Company as a dancer. For the last 5 weeks I have been rehearsing and preparing to move to my new home until November. I am extremely excited for this opportunity, so far the choreography and show content has been amazing. 

This week I have moved house to a new part of the country, unpacked my life for the third time this year already, met so many new people and now we are trying on costumes and starting to tech and run the shows. I have one more week of rehearsal and preparation before the park opens on the 9th March. 

I am lucky that this new experience should help benefit my inquiry by meeting so many more new people within the industry. 

Wish me Luck!

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!