Busy Busy!!

For the past two weeks I have been in rehearsals and working extremely hard! I can barely find the time to fit every day things into the day therefore I'm finding it even harder to fit all my degree work in!
I am a little bit stressed by the work load at the moment but I'm trying to get everything done in time! Ahhh!!!

Inquiry - What are the differences between the ways English and American dancers are trained?

  When I was thinking about what theme made me want to know more, I couldn't quite put my finger on one thing instantly. As I thought about it more I guess something that always makes me want to know more, is technique. Maybe this is because of my constant need to be growing professionally, I get extremely bored easily and really thrive on things that I cannot do when I first start, but over time I eventually achieve. One of the main ways to better myself as a dancer is technique. I love to watch really technical dancer's, like: Rambert Dance Company

http://www.rambert.org.uk/interactive/video_and_downloads

and the dancers featured on Celine Dion's Vegas Show, A New Day

http://www.celinedion.com/anewday/english/about_dancers.html

I've noticed since working frequently with American trained dancers that they are taught very differently to the way we are in England. They are more disciplined in there training from what I have gathered through talking to professional's I have worked with. In my experience from dancers I know in England I feel we tend to focus on one subject and everyone is trained highly in that one field, either classical, or street dancing and hip hop, or jazz, not many really excel in both. Whereas what I've seen in America it seems that even the commercial dancer's have an exceptional classical technique.

I have always classed myself as a jazz dancer, as Im not classically trained and did not particually have very good technique when I started at my college and that's what I most enjoyed. However I had one teacher that always used to stress the importance of good classical technique even for jazz and musical theatre (he also taught in America alot). This really stuck with me and I continually pushed myself in Ballet to try make myself the best jazz dancer I could be. Eventually by the end of my last year I was even doing my 2 hour ballet class a day on pointe. Which may not sound much to some people, but to say I had very little classical training before I went to college it was a great achievement to me. When I then got my first job with Royal Caribbean I had a couple of professional ballet dancers in my cast which then again inspired me more. Most of the ballet dancer I knew from college disliked jazz or could not always find the ways to move there bodies as naturally in jazz as they did in ballet, but the American's in my cast were as good at jazz as they were at ballet.

I spoke to a few people in my previous casts about this and one of my Dance Captain's explained that in there jazz classes there turning routines consisted of both jazz turns and classical turns, and they would spent a whole two hour class just on turning routines, there jump combinations were also the same. Everything is done with the intension of being able to do both styles and in order to succeed as a dancer in any style you need a solid basis in Ballet. If I think back to my college classes and one of my teacher's just doing turns for a whole two hour class, it almost sounds ridiculous... I don't know how they would justify that, but apparently this is something that does happen at some studio's in America, and when I saw my dance captain do six piroutte's when she was just “messing around” in the gym I understood just how much discipline they do have. I do not know many dancer's that can do six piroutte's unless they are classically trained... So this is something that I have realised over my time working as a profession as something that always makes me think, and always makes me want to better myself professionally.

Is there a difference between teaching styles in England and America? Do we not push ourselves as hard in England to be technically strong in all fields of dance? Cuban ballet company's training and Chinese gymnast's, that we class as very intense training, Is that how we should actually be training in England? Should English dancers be training harder?

From this I see that this is something that I am interested in looking at. What the differences are between the two training styles in America and England, is it the teaching or is it the students only wanting to focus on one style? How does it effect us in the professional world when we are looking for work? I like to think about how we were trained and how we work as a profession, and the difference's. The new things we have learnt that we have only become aware of because of working with other professionals from different backgrounds.  

2c A Critical Reflection on Reflective Practice.

 As I've been looking deeper into “Reflective Practice” I have realised how key it is to the development of our profession. Without even realising you are constantly reflecting on yourself. I am going to look deeper into the successfulness of reflecting and how we use it in our practice.

Firstly I would like to start with a look at how I reflect myself. The best ways I've come across to best explain the ways we reflect are:

“Reflection – in – action”

                                        “Reflection – on -action” Donald Schon

 Donald Schon's (1987) thoughts and ideas on reflection really started to develop my thinking. As a dancer I find that I constantly reflect while dancing. It is almost impossible not too as you are constantly switching your weight and balance. It's almost something we do sub consciously after years in practice. If you are falling off balance or something isn't quite working properly we think immediately what were doing wrong and how we can fix it, whether it's an arm movement, tensing our muscle's harder or pulling up on our leg. Anything that corrects or enhances our dancing. Being aware of this constant reflecting is something that can really enhance our practice. Being able to recognise our mistake's and correct then instantly are invaluable to a dancer.

 However to become a truly great dancer it is suggested by people such as “Donald Schon” that you are also able to “reflect – on – action”. This will then make you aware of any problem's you didn't notice when in practice, sometimes things feel right but might not look right from an audience prospective. Recording your dancing or having someone else taking notes on you can let you look back and reflect on your skill. This helps to improve yourself and anything you might not have realised at the time. If you reflect back on yourself then you can change your mistake's for next time. We should always be aware of reflecting on action as this is a way to be constantly improving yourself.

 When I looked at the way Kolb had created a learning cycle, I discovered the way the thought's of working were processed, although I couldn't quite decide where exactly I fit in. I felt I entered the cycle at, “Concrete Experience” as I definitely learn best from DOING. However I also know that as a dancer, not a choreographer I am being taught something, therefore that also put's me under “Active Experimentation”. After this I felt a little confused, wondering could you even fit into two categories? I decided I needed a better understand of the learning cycle and got advised to look at fellow practitioner's research to help me. A few people made me aware of a more in detail look at the cycle which broke it done more and in fact made me realise that indeed you could be a mixture of two different ones not necessarily one particular. He shows us that everyone has a different way of learning and we all have our all learning style's which become obvious when we look as an individual at where we fit into the cycle.

 Sometimes I learn a complete routine from someone and go away to do it by myself and realise I don't even take anything away from that experience and actually I don't completely know what I'm doing. I've found that the only way I know I've truly got the steps is by doing the step physically.

When other people are around its so easy to subconsciously watch the person next to you and even end up following them. This is no help to you when your trying to learn the steps or combination but is helpful once you have finished the initial learning process and are onto the next reflective section of correcting the overall look and the whole cast looking the same and working as one together. Kolb (1984:41) “knowledge results from the combination of grasping experience and transforming it”. I think how I took this is to grasp the experience and transform it into how you can figure it out and make it work best for you, we done all work the same.

 I think a journal is a great way to reflect. If you write down your feelings then relate them to how you think you performed, you can learn a lot from yourself. Not only can you become aware to the physical changes you want to make but you can consider the emotional side to your performance. Are you looking tired or sluggish? Does your performance look laboured? Or, on the opposite scale, do you have lots of energy? Is your performing skills bigger and better than usual and what factor's do you think have lead to this? Lot's of reasons can relate to this. Maybe you hadn't got enough sleep, or not eaten properly. Maybe you are having a personal issue, like an argument or bad news. Writing down all your emotional feelings can give you a great insight to what other factor's may come into play to create your overall performance. I have used journals before for a couple of years to aid my profession and to continue learning about myself and my skills. Although I didn't know to the full extent how to write a professional journal, I just wrote facts on my technique. Now reflecting on my previous journals I can see that looking into a more emotional aspects will also benefit me.

After reading previous writings on journals such as by “Reid and Moon” I have really become more aware to how detailed and intense journal writing can be to really get the most out of self reflecting. I also discovered another slightly deeper look into what Reid and Moon were suggesting by another thinker called, Gibbs. He uses the same basis but puts it into a diagram of thinking. He set's it all out on the table and joins the lines between what your thinking to why you are thinking that.

 However I do feel that too much reflective practice can also have a negative effect on certain situation's. When auditioning we can reflect on the process intensely and really run ourselves down. We can judge people's reaction's wrong or take people's word's critically and end up thinking we did a really bad job. Taking other people's reaction's the wrong way and letting it affect us mentality can sometimes cloud our judgement of our performance. We may have done everything perfect and to

the best of our ability but we are just not what they are looking for on this casting. I had a conversation with a fellow dancer about his recent experience of working on the other side on the audition panel.

“Jenny was fantastic, one of the most gifted dancer's I've seen in a long time. Unforunately we need a brunette dancer that's 5'9” to fit in with the people we already have cast.” Billy

 There is nothing that the dancer could of done to get this job, so reflecting on there performance would have been pointless and unhelpful. Therefore we can reflect wrongly. This is the time when another person can be helpful and more insightful into our performance.

 I have also become aware to the world of Web 2.0 I created a blog and have found it very useful with reflecting not only on my own practice but also on other's too. It has been a great tool to practice reflecting. Being able to communicate with other people and look at there ways of doing similar tasks within the same profession. It's a great way to learn and take experiences from them and apply it to your own work to help improve yourself. Creating a collection of professional photo's and having helpful suggestions on your work sparks thought's you might not have thought of previous but would improve your work.

 As this essay suggests, reflection plays a big part in our profession and the ways in which we improve ourselves. I feel that I have gained more knowledge and become more aware of the effectiveness of this skill.

References:

SCHÖN, D. A. 1987. Educating the reflective practitioner : toward a new design for teaching and learning in the professions, San Francisco, Jossey‐Bass.

KOLB, D. A. 1984. Experiential learning, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Moon, J. 1999. Learning journals: A Handbook for academics, students and professional development (London: Kogan Page)

More research on Reflective Practice

As I've been researching more into Reflective Practice I am still trying to understand which most suits the way I reflect. Although I often reflect, never before has it been is so much detail and perhaps sometimes I haven't even know I was reflecting.

Kolbs learning cycle got me thinking as I wasn't quite sure where I entered on his Learning Cycle. As I've thought more about it and researched I feel I enter the cycle at “Concrete Experience” as I definitely learn best from DOING. However I do know that as a Dancer, not a choreographer, I am being taught something, so that also put's me under “Active Experimentation”.

Sometimes I learn a whole routine from someone and I go away to do it by myself and realise I didn't take anything away from that experience by watching and copying and actually I don't completely know what I'm doing now I'm on my own. I've found the only two ways I know I've got the routine is by physically doing it alone and running through it in my head. Sometimes that means physically away from other people so I can't sneak a peak at them and copy.

The other way, is also to be alone and completely focused on the image of myself doing the routine in my head. It sounds a little strange but when other people are around it's so easy to subconsciously watch the person next to you and even end up following them, but there's obviously no one else in your head to follow.

When I was at college I could sometimes feel myself doing this as you constantly dance in front of mirrors and instead of completely focusing on knowing the steps, it's very easy to watch everyone else. I'm sure I wasn't the only person doing this! I remember the reactions from my year when the teachers would say, “Were going to close the curtains now so you can't watch yourself”.

When I first started working I could feel the choreographer's getting a bit annoyed with me as everyone else would be up physically practicing and I would sit alone and visually run through the steps in my head. Sometimes I find it helps as it gives you the thought process of what comes next, so if the steps are new and fresh and not yet muscle memory straight away you can think of what comes next.

However saying all this, it still makes me wonder where exactly DO I fit into Kolb's learning cycle.... any suggestions would be appreciated! =)

Next I moved onto researching Donald Schon, which I must say, is probably my favourite way to understand and process the thoughts of reflective practice. It is put so simply, to reflect – in -practice, and reflect – on – practice. We ideally need to do both to really get the most out of ourselves. As a dancer being able to reflect in action is almost something we do subconsciously I feel, as we've been trained to be able to correct ourselves since we learnt our first steps. It is a wonderful skill to have and effectively speaking we should potentially be able to correct anything and make ourselves perform perfectly! In an ideal world!! But I think this is what all dancers are striving towards..

Reflection on action is also something we should be highly aware of as well because this is the way to be constantly improving yourself. If you have a recording of your dancing you can see the overall LOOK of the piece, as you might have FELT that everything was right but often it can look different.

I came across some interesting points also by Robert Kottcamp. However I feel some of his theories applied more to other profession's rather than my own.

He suggests reflection in action is harder to achieve that reflection on action. I do agree with this statement as I definitely feel it's harder to reflect in action because you have to think quickly and you don't really get to sort out your thoughts, it's almost like one chance to correct or not. So it's definitely harder to achieve but not impossible for a dancer, which got my thinking, is it substantly harder for other's in different professions? Is it harder for a writer to reflect whilst his writing a novel before he goes back to read his work? Is it impossible? Or is it harder for an artist to reflect whilst painting or drawing?

So I definitely see how reflection in action is harder to achieve for many professions but I feel it's very different for dancer as it's such a physical sport that your brain almost reacts automatically so its much easier to train your body to reflection in action. For instance, if your about to fall you don't have to be reflecting in action to stop yourself from hitting the floor, your reflexes will kick in and you'll maybe put a hand down or break the fall somehow. That's not reflection that reaction... is there a difference?  

BAPP YouTube Video

This is a link to my BAPP YouTube video. Let me know what you think...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWmf2PkntxU

BAPP power point presentation

bapp getting started

See more presentations by MelissaG19 | Upload your own PowerPoint presentations


I have made this power point which I wanted to turn into a video format to put onto YouTube but am still in the process on doing so... 

My journal

As I try think of something good to reflect on in my journal, I realise I don't really have anything particually useful to write about. I've have been in between job's for a while due to a slight injury I picked up on my last contract. So while being at home, I haven't been doing apart from resting and getting myself in good condition to start all over again. 
However I went to see a physio last week and decided I would reflect upon this in my journal. I tried to base my thinking on the Reid and Moon framework I've read, which looks more in depth that I think I ever have when writing a journal. 


I always get slightly worried about seeing Physio's, because they tend to find problem's which you didn't even realise you had!! I had been putting it off for a while as I had been resting and not feeling any pain in my back, so didn't quite see the point in going anymore. However I had been getting severe headache's and I thought it might be due to tension in my back therefore I thought i'd benefit from seeing the physio now, with the headache's and also a quick check up on my back.


When i got to the Physio I realised I was still a bit nervous of what she might say, but as I spoke with her I seemed to relax as she agreed the headache's could be from my back tension! I was very surprised by some of the thing's she told me and also a little confused at times so I had to really listen to what she was saying and I realised I was constantly thinking of how I could be doing things differently to prevent the same thing happening again in the future. As soon as I got home, I made a little list in my journal of thing's she'd said and the stretches she'd suggested then a few thought's on how I had felt. I left it there with the intention of coming back to write a detailed journal entry on it later, and I was so glad I had wrote down what I was thinking at the time because you kind of forget those entitle feeling's you have and then realise you have completely different one's later.
Reading the list of feeling's I'd wrote made me realise how much I was reflecting on how to make a change for next time. Learning from what I had done right and what I would do differently next time to maybe prevent another injury.


I really tired to use the Reid and Moon framework when reflecting in my journal, but I felt a bit restricted because all I was writing about was a physio appointment. I think when I start rehearsal's again I will continue using these idea's when reflecting on my day and my work. I realised while writing this post, that it doesn't matter that this first time writing a journal entry on the Reid and Moon framework wasn't the best or as good as I had hoped, because it's an ongoing process and I am going to be writing many more which I hope will be much better, and I hope it is something that I can develop effectively to help me in my profession.

Journal Writing.

As I've read through other people's blog's I was quite surprised at how many people have never wrote a journal. I have always wrote a journal on and off, probably since high school so I don't feel too worried about the first task on our Reflection section. However their are very different type's of journal's I've kept before, some have just been random thought's on the day or feeling's, probably more like a diary than a journal, and other's have been for work purposes. 


Since starting as a professional, I found it extremely helpful to keep a journal. When I first started working for Royal Caribbean I was 19 and thrown into a completely different situation than I'd ever been in before. I flew out to Miami on my own, I didn't know anyone, and the workload was pretty full on! I was quite intimidated because everyone was quite experienced, so I found it helpful to keep a diary of how I felt, and what I was experiencing. It's great for when I look back as see how terrified I was to fly on my own, and meet new people and it's something that I look at now and laugh at. I also found it helpful to journal on work. I would write how I felt and reflect upon how I thought the day had gone. I found it so helpful. If your struggling with something and frustrated you can just write it all down and forget about it for a while, then when you've worked on it and have it sorted you can come back and see that you've achieved something. Which is a great feeling.


I don't think previously before this course I had thought about a journal in so much depth but now i find it so intriguing to think about everything more as i reflect. At the moment I don't have much to reflect on since I'm not in work at the moment, but i am really looking forward to starting rehearsal's and keeping an in-depth journal! 

My thought's on the Pro's and Con's on Web 2.0

Although I wasn't able to attend the first campus session, I still feel that I was a part of it. The main reason for this is being able to read other people's blog's that were able to attend. This is quite a big deal for me, as I work out of the country most of the year and know I will be relying heavily on reading other people's blogs and chatting to people with different Web 2.0 method's to still feel like I have knowledge being taken from of the campus session's. 
This is obviously one of the big pro's that Web 2.0 offers, being able to connect with people from different part's of the world at any time. Whether it's employer's, college's or even just friend's, you are never "unreachable". 


Sites such as YouTube, and Flickr are such great ways to advertise yourself. It offer's other ways for employer's to see you, and view more than you might get to show them in an audition alone. In previous audition's i've attending they have only asked us to do one particular style of dance, only showing off what you need to and what they require on the day. Quite often I have been later contacted and asked if I can tap dance, or whether I have gymnastic skills, or whether I can sing. Being able to have the ability to send an employer straight to a site that can show them exactly what they want to see in the matter of minute's is unbelievable. I know when I first started, I would of probably said, "sure, I can post a showreel to you"!!! How long would that take?!


However there are certain con's aswel. People contacting you that aren't professionals. People that just want to look and read about you. I have a close friend that had one person that would constantly comment on her photo's, not helpful comments either, all the time. After a while it became apparent that they weren't using the site for the purpose it was set up for. Which can reflect bad on the person trying to promote themselves through no fault of there own.
This same thing can happen also on social networking sites, like Facebook,  with people being able to comment on your photo's, your post's and write on your wall. If an employer was visiting your site and saw or read something they didn't particually like they could discard you because of it. This could then lead to you getting a certain reputation. Everyone know's that a major way to be successful in any career can often be through people talking about you and your reputation. All casting director's talk and know each other either directly or through friends, so if one doesn't like you, your reputation can quickly get ruined. Imagine if this all happened because someone saw something on a social network about you that they didn't like???
Of course this is just a look at the worst thing's that could happen and it's quite frightening, but it is the extreme.


I love being able to communicate with people via the net and especially using my blog. It's a great way for people to read exactly what your thinking and offer you advice, or criticism or just help you learn. I learn better from experience and not from just been told thing's, so to physically write something, and read what other people have wrote on the same subject works well for me. 


I say yes to Web 2.0!!! As long as you're smart about it... Adesola suggested to me that it could be a good idea to keep a personal site and a professional site. At first I wasn't quite sure why this was such a good idea, but now I have looked into it more, I think this is a brillant idea. Then your professional site is more controlled by just you. You create what everyone see's... 


I still feel like I have more to learn on Web 2.0, but I feel that I am working on it everyday and therefore understanding it more each day.

Flickr Photo's

Today I added a few picture's to Flickr and set up my account. It's strange because a few week's ago, one of my friend's actually created a Flickr account himself! I wish I had paid more attention and realised what a great idea it was.
Please feel free to comment on my photo's as most of them are just work in progress and not professional photo's, so I would love to hear what people like best and any idea's anyone has!!! 


I have currently had my hair cut to a bob, so need some new headshot's! That's why you will only see one picture of me with short hair. I haven't got new photo's done yet as I only just cut it so im still deciding whether I'm going to keep it. Obviously I don't want to spend alot of money on great new headshot's if im just going to grow my hair back and look like my old headshot's!! 




The link is http://www.flickr.com/photos/melissagreenhough/




After initially only adding a few dance photo's, I was wondering what else represent's me. After all if people or employer's view our photo's on Flickr, do we want them only to see what we can do professionally? I feel the kind of photo's we upload can also say alot about us too. If people have lots of picture's with their friends up, or animal's, you can then understand a bit of thei. personality too.




One big part of my job and one of the main reason's I love to work for Royal Caribbean is the fact that I also get to travel all over the world whilst dancing. Although my shows always come first, I do like to go exploring too when I have any time off!!! =)
I made a photo album for my own personal use a while ago of every country i've been too... or almost every country and I thought it would give an insight to my personality and love to travel to someone I have never even met. 

Professional Communications Technology

After reading through our reader on Professional Communication Technologies, I now realise exactly why I wanted to do this course in the first place.
Although I feel I understood all the things that Web 2.0 could offer me, I don't feel like I have really used them to my advantage despite working professionally. I have my CV, and I have a showreel. But I feel so many more opportunities could of arisen if I had really developed all of the uses available via Web 2.0.

Working abroad I've often felt like i haven't been able to get in contact with prospective employer's, or if I haven't been able to attend the audition, I haven't really got enough sources available to advertise me as much as I would of liked. Creating all the available technologies, like a Blog, and a portfolio on Flickr and getting feedback from people via a Blog, or Facebook seems such a simple way to constantly be improving yourself that you might necessarily not of even put much thought into before.
Previously I have watched my friend's showreel's or past work they have done that they have uploaded onto YouTube, and I have told them what I felt work and what I thought we're the most impressive parts, but am I more bias because I have a personal connection to them? For example, I may think that something doesn't work very well but because they're a personal friend I may not be as frank as to say I don't like it. Or on the other hand, I may think it's better than it is because i know the person and like the person.

However i am still working on developing my skills with Web 2.0 and have to create and upload photo's onto Flickr. I am now in the process of selecting some photo's that show off different aspects of me as a dancer... so look out for them soon! =)

Melissa Greenhough CV

Melissa Greenhough

Hair : Brown / Short                                              Dress Size: 6 / 8

Eye Colour:                                                           Blue Shoe Size: 3

Height: 5’2” / 157cm                                             Vocal Range: Mezzo Soprano

Chest: 32in                                                            Date of Birth: 08/07/1988

Waist: 21in                                                            Hips: 34in

Training

The Hammond School 2004 – 2007 National Diploma in Professional Dance

Circus Maniacs School August 2008

Carnegie Gymnastic 1998 – 2005

Armley Dance Studios 1997 – 2004

Great Britain Gymnastic Squad 1999 – 2001. Picked for ‘The Elite Squad’.

Trained in: Jazz, Ballet, Tap, Contemporary, Spanish, Acting, Pilates and Singing.

Additional Skills: Gymnastics including tumbling and floor work. Various performance apparatus including; aerial hoop, single and double point trapeze, rope and Spanish web. Castanets, Rollerblading.

Qualifications

National Diploma in Professional Dance

I.D.T.A Ballet, Tap, Modern up to Advanced 1

SDS Spanish up to and including Grade 5

RAD Ballet up to Advanced 1

Performance Experience

Legend Of The Seas Productions Shows – Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines November 2009 – August 2010 (Asia)

Radiance Of The Seas Production Shows - Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines April 2009 - October 2009 (Alaska)

Monarch Of The Seas Production Shows - Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines October 2008 - March 2009 (Bahamas)

Freedom of the Seas Production Shows – Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines November 2007 - June 2008 (Caribbean)

Encore 2005/06/07 - The Hammond School - Theatre Clwyd, Wales

Taudevin Dance Company 2006/2007 – European Tour, Germany and the Isle of Man

‘Smith’s’ Private Xmas Party 2006 starring alongside Will Young, Westlife, Girls Aloud, Mcfly and Chico.

Jack and the Beanstalk - 2000 John Spillers Company - Wakefield Theatre Royal

Snow White - 1999 John Spillers Company - Wakefield Theatre Royal

Cinderella - 1998 John Spillers Company - Wakefield Theatre Royal

Choreographers worked with: Alison Hughes, David Needham, Sherry Zunker ( River North), Tracey Baxter, Maria Tucker, Katie Hurray, Danny Crossley, Robert Kelly, Amy Butterfield, Jane Elliott, Paul Madden, and Ken Oldfield.

Vocal Coaches: Andrew Keir, Karen Mackay, Mike Bramall, Karen West

Workshop with Former Dance Captain of 42^nd Street, Germany, Alison Hughes

References

Sarah Durrant or Alison Hughes

C/o The Hammond School,

Mannings Lane, Chester.

CH2 4ES 01244 305350

First Post

Sat on the train to London reading my new degree material, working out how to use my new Blog.