MY PREZI

Here is the slideshow I used for my final presentation. I highly recommend using Prezi, there are so many themes to choose from, you are able to design something that is really unique to your inquiry.

I hope that by posting this up, it will help others who are in need of guidance- just like I was! It made a huge difference for me to see the format other students had used and find ways of structuring my presentation that put my point across clearly and concisely. Practising in front of friends or family is a good idea, you wouldn't believe how easy it is to lose your train of thought when you're in front of an audience.

Good Luck!

Presentation Day!

So the end of this journey has arrived, and it has seemed rather a long journey! There have been so many highs and lows during this course for me, but I can safely say that I made it over the final hurdle! 

Presenting my inquiry was nerve-racking, and I honestly wasn't sure if all the words I wanted to say were coming out of my mouth. As a dancer, performing to a huge theatre full of people you've never met seems easy, whilst  presenting in front of a small room of people you already know is incredibly challenging! 

I felt a sense of relief afterwards, and also a great sense of achievement in the room, as we continued to discuss each others inquiries. Listening to other students presentations was hugely inspiring and also interesting to see how many of our inquiry findings had overlapped or inter-connected in some way.

I wanted to attach this quote as it just highlighted to me how stuck I had become before I came back to complete this course. I was scared to change anything about my life, but couldn't understand why my career wasn't going in the direction I had hoped? I genuinely think that allowing myself to take on this challenge has opened my eyes to change and how much progress you can make by just taking a small leap of faith now and again. I hope that I will use the skills I've learnt to continue to improve, change and grow in my practice, whatever my practice may be in the future. 

Thank you to Paula, my tutor, for helping me to return to the course, and guiding me through this process with so much insight and enthusiasm! And last but never least, thank you to my wonderful husband for cheering me up when times were tough and always understanding the pressures of part-time study! x

Professional Artefact

Submission Done!

I finally pressed the 'send submission' button and it was all out of my hands! (In all honesty my housemate had to do it as I was too nervous!) It's funny how so many months, and in my case years, of attempting to achieve something can actually be almost finished! I can honestly say that I have come so far with my practice as a professional individual during this inquiry process, it feels overwhelming! I'm already beginning too think about putting together the upcoming oral presentation and particularly contemplating possible changes in my career path... This course has given me a confidence, I feel that I can go onto achieve anything I put my mind to, however big a challenge it seems to begin with. Will be posting up my artefact shortly! 

Pay The Dancers!

Today, I was made aware of this video created by commercial dancers based in Australia, that have chosen to speak out about a particular high profile instance of 'low to no pay' work in order to create awareness for the endemic that is occurring within the dance industry. 

The video has huge relevance towards my inquiry as the issue of 'low to no pay' work is often excused by high profile clients as 'good exposure' or 'experience' on a set with celebrity artists. The celebrities are very often not to blame for this, as they play little part in recruitment, however the dancers are very much exploited by the employers themselves. 

The issue of ‘Enforcement,’ means that dancers feel unable to speak up and assert themselves due to a lack of confidence in their employment rights and the fear of insecurity during short-term contracts: ‘Across the economy many workers with minimum wage problems are often too scared to assert their rights.’ (Equity, 2013)

Empowerment when it comes to saying no to ‘low to no pay’ work is only likely to be obtained by the strength of union therefore our reliance on Equity to fight with the government for better enforcement of employment rights is imperative. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfippeabpAg

Equity UK, 2013. Work Not Play: The rise in Low Pay and No Pay work in the entertainment industries. (PDF) Available at: < http://www.equity.org.uk/documents/work-not-play-brochure/ > (Accessed 15 February 2014).

HAPPY EASTER!

I am sat working on my review while eating a ton of chocolate!

Easter is brilliant, however this one is involving some heavy thinking... I am struggling with how to put together my artefact at the moment, has anyone finished theirs and have any advice?  

Finalist Workshop- Module 3

I attended a finalist workshop this week with Paula, Lizzy, Sophie and Carla (on Skype!) I thought I would quickly share some of the points that I found helpful from the session...

Appendices: Should be part of the Critical Review Document, not separate documents, and is put directly after the Bibliography. Can include a title/contents page in order to list what appendices are included. If you are struggling with too many words in the main text, try and put larger descriptive paragraphs/ full literature review within the appendices.

Word Count: If you are having difficulty being concise, don't worry! The word count is indicative anyway but its better to include everything into your first few drafts for feedback from your advisor. This feedback will help with being more specific. It is better to have less points in greater detail than hundreds of points that are unexplained.

Literature: Should be around 10-20 sources of literature within your WHOLE review. This includes any quotes/literature you use in the Intro and Evaluation sections too. In some cases, it may have been difficult to find enough literature for your topic (I'm talking about myself here!)...this doesn't matter as long as the sources you have found are substantial and highly relevant.

Artefact: If you haven't started working on your artefact or decided what you are going to create: now is the time to start brainstorming and make a decision. Remember its for your professional audience and should be 'meaty' and make an impact on the audience. Try to think about what your audience wants or needs to see. For example, if you are directing your artefact towards sixteen year olds- think about the music/ content/ images/ language they would be interested in.

Writing Style: Write in the past tense when discussing your inquiry, it is research you have already completed and analysed. This may seem obvious but wasn't to me! Also, be assertive within your writing, show your interest and enthusiasm for your topic. Separate big blocks of writing out into paragraphs as much as possible, and only separate and indent quotes that are longer than a sentence.

Analysis: Make your point and back it up. Use expert knowledge and quotes to do this. These ideas may be a work in progress- there is not always a simple conclusion to every point you make, this doesn't matter.

Hope this helps in some way! Paula has also posted information from the session on her blog too.

x

The Literature Review...

Spence, S, 2011. Low pay/no pay week: Equity’s Stephen Spence (online) The Stage. 

Available at: <http://blogs.thestage.co.uk/newsblog/2011/07/low-pay-no-pay-equity/> 

(Accessed March 21 2014)

This article was written in 2011 by Stephen Spence, Equity’s Assistant General Secretary, for a special ‘low pay/no pay’ issue of The Stage magazine. The online article aims to inform the reader of the complicated issues surrounding ‘remuneration’ in the arts, and how Equity, the trade union for performers, is trying to bring greater ‘clarity’ to the situation. Due to his position in the union, Spence is indeed very biased towards the rights of performers, although his points are well rounded and have much evidence supporting them.

The main issue involved with ‘low to no pay’ work is complex. It involves the concept of what defines a ‘worker’? If you are defined as a ‘worker’ then you are entitled to the National Minimum Wage (NMW), however ‘non workers’ or ‘volunteers,’ are not entitled to the NMW:

“workers, voluntary workers and non-workers can look remarkably similar from a legal point of view. It’s the details of how the arrangement was made and of what a person is actually doing that determines their status, and whether the NMW should be paid.”

Spence underlines here that each situation is different, and the legislation covering the type of employment you find in the entertainment industry is vague, meaning that each case has to be looked at separately. He comments on the fact that HMRC has very little ‘sector specific’ guidance for employees in entertainment industry roles, and that The Low Pay Commission has advised the government of the need for more specific industry standards regarding this, to little avail.

Towards the end of the article, Spence discusses the idea that Equity is a trade union, not a regulating body for the entire industry. There are some areas of the industry that are more ‘unionised’ than others meaning Equity’s presence is felt more strongly. This is not the case for the commercial dance sector of the industry, as there are very few Equity contracts available:

“Until Equity can unionise an area, low-paid work is offered and many union members join the ranks of the working poor, trying to keep bread on the table and milk in the fridge on bargain-basement wages.”

This may explain why fewer commercial dancers are members of Equity, even though they support the values the union upholds. Low paid work is inevitable in an area of the industry that is yet to be ‘tackled’ and during the current recession, employers in our domain are less and less likely to become unionised when they can employ workers for ‘low to no pay’ and get away with it. This really poses the question: ‘how does this sit with civil rights or even human rights?’ and ‘how does that advance ethics in our industries?’ It appears to be ‘up to us’ as dancers to demonstrate the real need for ‘union’ and promote a higher ethical standard in our workplace.

Ideas for my Artefact!

Having looked through the Chapter on ‘Professional Artefacts’ in Reader 7, I now have a clearer vision of what a professional artefact is, and how I would like to present this as part of my Inquiry.

Alan recommended during the first Campus session I attended, that my artefact should be created with a professional audience in mind. My audience is therefore, all professional dancers working in commercial dance; on stage, screen, television, music videos and tours.  I feel that the findings from my inquiry would be of most benefit to those dancers that are new to the industry, having just graduated from professional training, however this does not mean it will not contain useful and career-building information for those dancers that are more experienced.

I would like to present my artefact in a way that will grab the attention of all commercial dancers, and provide a comprehensive learning tool for them. There are various examples of ways to present an artefact shown in the Reader, including text, images or audiovisual. I have investigated other Module 3 blogs and found that audiovisual is the form that stands out the most for me, as it can involve a combination of media to showcase my findings. I would hope to include text, film and audio samples: I often create short films and show reels, so this is a medium I am familiar with and enjoy working with.

Being able to post a short video of my findings online will be a great way to inform those in my professional circles and also those that have taken part in my inquiry. Being as social media savvy as we are today- an online video gives a great platform for it to be shared, emailed, and posted onto my blog and YouTube channel. It would be my ultimate aim for the video to be presented to those dancers in their final year of professional training, in order to widen their perspectives and provide up to date information on my inquiry topic.

Inspirational Monday

“I believe that we learn by practice. Whether it means to learn to dance by practicing dancing or to learn to live by practicing living, the principles are the same. In each, it is the performance of a dedicated precise set of acts, physical or intellectual, from which comes shape of achievement, a sense of one's being, a satisfaction of spirit. One becomes, in some area, an athlete of God. Practice means to perform, over and over again in the face of all obstacles, some act of vision, of faith, of desire. Practice is a means of inviting the perfection desired.” 


― Martha Graham


http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/47790.Martha_Graham

Calling All Dancers!!

This post is directed to all those on the BAPP course that have worked within the commercial dance industry- this means dancers working on stage, screen, television, music videos and tours.

Please, please, please take five minutes to complete this short questionnaire: 

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/WDZBXXC

I promise it won't take too long!

It would be much appreciated, if you could also forward the link to anyone you know of that works as a professional commercial dancer.

THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Danielle xxx

Reviewing Feedback from Inquiry Plan

Having looked through the feedback I have received, and a quick conversation on the phone, I feel almost exactly as I did before starting to write my Inquiry Plan: a complete jumble of thoughts and ideas that need to be re-worked, investigated and organized!

Firstly, I should say that I am fairly pleased with my plan, and reassuringly seem to be going along the right path, however I have realized that I will need to find much more literature than first anticipated to complete Module 3 successfully. It has been advised that we should have an estimate of 10-20 sources of literature in the final critical review, so I better get cracking!

Looking Outside The Box!

Having chosen such a specific subject matter: ‘Commercial Dancers in the UK,’ I was looking too directly at this and not allowing my mind to explore other aspects that will relate to my inquiry. For example, I can begin to look at literature that focuses on:

-       How the recession in the UK has affected the arts community?

-       Why being a member of a union is particularly beneficial?

-       Other successful entrepreneurs within the entertainment industry.

-       Successful self-employed business plans.

-       Related campaigns: Intern Aware, Dancers United UK etc.

I understand that the literature I am looking for now should be more theoretical, rather than contextual, and should help to support the evidence and/or themes I may find from undertaking my research.

Tools of Inquiry

I discussed in my inquiry plan, conducting four separate interviews, each with a professional commercial dancer. I did not however, go into any detail as to how the interview participants would be selected! Having realised this, I would now like to explore the idea of interviewing two dancers that are at an early stage in their career (possibly having just left college) and four dancers that are in a more advanced stage of their career. This will allow me some comparison as to the differing opinions of those with more/less experience. I feel this will add more depth to my inquiry and allow me to gain more valuable data- especially in relation to one of my inquiry questions, which focuses on how the current situation can be improved for younger dancers.

The questionnaire I have constructed using Survey Monkey, needs a little work, as it has been highlighted to me that each question should aim to gather data that will answer my Inquiry questions. Some of the questions I have included are limited, for example, they are closed questions only allowing a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer. I will need to add a comment box to allow the participant to further discuss/reflect on their answer, giving me the researcher more insight into their thoughts.

Harvard Referencing

Wow this can really be confusing! I need to do some more research into how I can use this system successfully in my critical review. Some of the advice I received was:

Keep using ideas as quotes AND paraphrases – showing your understanding of citation as a method of showing sources and sharing within the text

For example

The negative statistics continue throughout the article: “Since November 2012, almost half said they had worked for no pay, while a further 51.9% were not reimbursed for expenses.”

Could be

Negative statistics continue throughout the article stating that around half of the participants to the survey were not paid (AUTHOR or if editorial organization so Guardian, DATE, PAGE number) and then the rest we go to the Bibliography.

This is something I have not yet discovered on my academic journey and so really just adds another level to my writing skills. I will look into how I can incorporate this when writing my final review.

Danielle xx

Love & Learning!

So here we are at Module Three, I am so relieved I made it! Just thought I would blog about the Campus Session I went to on Thursday! Seeing as it was Valentine's day this week, and everyone's feeling the LOVE- that was the theme of the day! 

First of all, we took the general idea of LOVE- what a an epic word! Who even knows what it means nowadays, there are so many ways of looking at it, its almost impossible to define in any way at all. It means something different to everybody! I have love for so many things, in so many different ways. It is a very beautiful, mysterious thing; everyone wants to love and be loved!

So back to the point.. We then brainstormed using this huge indescribable word as the centre point and branch off with as many ideas as possible... gestures of love, a place of love, love for you're job or you're partner, love in different cultures... the list was endless!

We then had a look at the page and tried to focus onto one or two main concepts of love. Something that interested us the most as a group, something we wanted to investigate further. We took the idea of Obsession, and entered the word into google to see what we found. Paula helped show us that the first hits on google weren't necessarily the best or most related searches. We went through and looked at the second, third page and found some much more interesting sources. We then tried to enter into Summon... entering different keywords to get the most relevant information was really useful and helped me to understand how I can get the most out of Summon when looking for sources for my literature review.

The session today helped to focus my thoughts and helped me to understand how you can take what seems like a huge idea or task and begin to concentrate and direct you're thoughts toward somewhere more specific. Using my study time wisely is so important and I feel that I have discovered new tools and ways of helping me to contain my thought process and gain a wider perspective on the topic at hand!!

Much Love xxxxx

New Years Resolution!

http://www.positivityblog.com/index.php/2009/04/23/how-to-stop-procrastinating-7-timeless-tips/