End of Term

Hello!

As it's nearing the end of term I am just making some final edits to my essay and artefact, and I have been thinking about what this whole inquiry process has taught me over the past term as I begin planning my presentation. I have created a power point presentation explaining my whole inquiry process and I also intend to show my artefact video during my presentation. I have been re reading my feedback exchange form and all of my supervisors comments over and over again to ensure I have understood all of the notes. I am now beginning to think about what to write in my final feedback response form.

I hope everyones work is going well and I am excited to see some of the presentations in the new year!

Millie x

Halfway hand in and Presentation

Hello!

I have been excited to hand in my work so far to get some feedback from my tutor, I have completed my feedback exchange form and have taken the opportunity to ask questions with regards to my work. I would encourage any module one, two and three students to take the time to think about the questions they want to ask and to make the most of the feedback exchange form. As the end of term draws near I have been thinking about creating a powerpoint for my final presentation, I can then include pictures and videos within my presentation. I am excited to share my inquiry process with other members of the BAPP community and to see others presentations!

Is anyone else in module three using a powerpoint during their presentation? Would love to hear some of your ideas and thoughts!

I hope everyones inquiry's are going well.

Millie x

The History of body image within Dance

Recently I have been thinking about the themes that have emerged within my research and one that I have found very interesting is the history of body image within dance. This relates to my inquiry and my practice as it has unfolded reasons as to why there are still pressures put on dancers and how they should look.

After a lot of research I have found that one reason the stereotypical dancers body is so dominant with regards to how people see dancers is because of the late George Balanchine. 

George Balanchine was a legendary choreographer with the New York City Ballet and during the 1950’s Balanchine popularised the aesthetically stereotypical body type.  Balanchine’s dancers had to be tall, thin and willowy, many people believe that his obsession with the aesthetical lines and the ‘perfect’ body has caused many of the current pressures that dancers are put under to look a certain way. This research in to Balanchine has given my inquiry more depth and new questions have emerged.

George Balanchine and his company dancers.https://balletwithbecca.weebly.com/home/unpopular-opinion-balanchine-ruined-ballet

I hope this encourages you to have a thorough look in to the history of your inquiry topics as you may find more questions!

Millie x

Thinking back...

Throughout module 3 I have been thinking back to things that I learnt in module 1, 2 and 3. I have been re- reading sections of all 3 handbooks and thinking about how certain points connect to my inquiry now. I believe that including certain bits of knowledge learnt from all 3 modules has been an important part of my inquiry journey as I have been able to think about how my inquiry and my professional practice has grown and changed during this course.

I would really recommend that everyone has a look back through all three handbooks to see what information could be relevant to what your inquiry is now. Please feel free to comment any other tips you may have with regards to enhancing your inquiry!

Millie x

The Power of Choreography

I have recently been using spider diagrams to think of different ways to present my practice based artefact, in the past I would usually create a powerpoint video with pictures and my voice speaking over the top. However, I believe that the power of choreography can be so strong, I am thinking about creating a video using different clips of myself doing my own choreography to represent the journey of my inquiry.

I still intend to use these main points to focus on however I will be using my body and various locations to explain my journey.

Introduction- How and why

Literature review- Perspectives

Overview of the inquiry- Data collection

Analysis- Themes

Reflection- My journey

I hope this helps anyone thinking about their artefact! Feel free to comment your ideas below, am interested to see what others are thinking about doing to present their inquiry!

Millie x

Social Conformity

Inquiry- 'How and why are there pressures put on the way dancers should look?'

Recently I have been looking out for themes which may emerge throughout my data and one has really caught my eye. It is the presence of social conformity: the tendency to act or think like members of a group. 

I first noticed this during my literature research, 'it's a trend to be thin', that dancers are following the stereotype that society has created. I have read a few articles which have stated similar things with regards to this, that we as a society have created this stereotype for dancers and athletes.

An example of social conformity would be, if I was at school with a group of 5 friends and 3 of them did not get dessert at lunch and one did I would probably not get one too. This is something that we all do unintentionally in order to fit in with the crowd to avoid judgement for being different. Thinking back to my performing arts training I can think of numerous occasions where I unintentionally followed the crowd.

During some of my interviews this theme kept cropping up, that we are influenced by what others look like, if one student came back after the holidays looking more toned/thin others would feel the need to do the same. This has a domino effect. Dancers competing with each other with regards to how little they can eat, this unspoken competitiveness relates to social conformity.

This research in to social conformity has really helped to develop my inquiry, sometimes its nice to branch out to different topics which are still somewhat related to the inquiry.

I hope this helps anyone searching for their themes within their data analysis, don't be afraid to expand your inquiry and your knowledge if something catches your eye, as long as you always bring it back to your inquiry.

Millie x