Critical Reflection Module 2

Posted!

"The Only Way Is Ethics"

Why didn't I think of this title sooner? It's gold!

just a bit of ethics.

Ethics can be divided into different components.

• Honesty
• integrity
• transparency
• accountability
• Confidentiality
• Objective
• Respectful
• Lawful

In terms of dancing as a profession all of these apply, and should be thought about when conducting ones self in rehearsal to on stage.  These areas should be thought about when working in performing arts, in any job out of the industry, in everyday life, and indeed, when conducting any research as i will be doing very shortly!

[edit]

Questions developed.

Just expanding o my previous questions, a bit more detail and reasons behind asking them...

5a Ethics...

Ethics?

Ethics isn't a word or idea that i have worked with or thought about before.  To begin with i would say it is to do with a persons moral code of right and wrong.

To be un-ethical would be to be a cheat, to benefit or profit out of wrong doing.  To be un-ethical would be to leave somebody exposed, out of pocket or hurt, without due reason.

Ethical behaviour, to give an example, would be to give your seat up for an elderly person on the bus.  When a friend or neighbour gives you a favour, that that favour would be returned.  To turn up at work on time and to fulfil your contract.

In the workplace, be that an office, in retail, in a studio or on stage the ethics that may apply still revolve around being a "good" person, but can be more defined.  Ethics that may apply to a work place would include:

Turning up on time
Working hard/fulfilling the contract
Having the right attire
Being approachable and friendly
Being open to feedback and improvements

These are just some preliminary thoughts, I'm sure many more will come after i have posted these!

SIG.

Missed the link on the previous blog!

http://www.linkedin.com/groups/BAPP-Arts-How-survive-performance-4363779?gid=4363779&trk=hb_side_g

Very special interest group.

I was browsing through the blogs with the aim of finding a sig group to join and give some input to. I saw Hannah had created a group, and that the topic/question she is most interested in is very similar to the question I want to peruse. I joined up to linked in and attempted to comment on her thread. I found that I didn't really like the user interface for the website, and I am not entirely sure of how to use it, but with proactive, I'm sure it will be a useful source of information and a good place for our online community.

Oh, and award title?

This is a simple one.  I am trained in 3 major disciplines, Dancing, Singing and Acting.  Whatever the nature of the jobs get in the future, i will always be proud of my training and willing to work and share my skills and experiences in all 3 disciplines.  Therefore i would like my award title to be :

BA (Hons) Professional Practice in Musical Theatre 

A proud title. 

Reader 4

So after a long break and pages of notes breaking down reader 4 i have some questions that i would like to further develop and explore.  Some of the questions seem great on the surface, but when thought about deeper i would realise that the answer would week obvious and wouldn't need researching.  some of the questions are pseudo questions and need developing and others, when thought about, would have no real outcome of much solid benefit.

So far these are my ideas for questions to research.

How is dancing viewed to other professions?
Is there an optimum formula for division of time to success in performing?
How safe is a theatre or performing environment.
What is the direction of theatre and performance in modern day society?

I will brainstorm these questions further, refine them and discuss with peers.  Currently, i would really like my line of enquiry to help and benefit  professionals in the future.

CV

Well that's much better.

Word - save as pdf, google docs, upload and share :)

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1m_UfHom6fmoKjQTgcSXW-3iwjfPZL_gT4UTapu8LgJk/edit

Learning styles...

I liked reading around Honey and Mumfords model of learning styles.  For me this seemed to be an understandable and relateable model to follow.  The steps are as follows:

Having an experience

Reviewing the experience

Concluding from the experience

Planning the next steps.

Out of the bits i have written about in my journal, i want to relate this to my current broken hand.


So the first step, having an experience.  The experience here being inflicting an injury on myself.  It wasn't a particularly painful experience but concerning enough to make the trip to  A and E (15 hours later) and then have the cast put on.


Then to review what happened.  The doctor says, no getting it wet, don't get it too sweaty, no lifting heavy objects.  However, as a performer this also means, no dancing jobs, no auditions, no dance classes, no running or swimming for fitness, not lifting weights or going to the gym.  This could set me back a number of weeks in terms of my ability as a professional.


So to conclude, having a broken hand is a bad thing for a performer.  I an extremely lucky that i am not currently in a run of a show or about to start a contract.  The title of this course is "professional practice" and having a broken hand and a cast demonstrate (in my eyes) poor professional practice.  


In future, i will really think about how i conduct myself.  When cycling will i try and squeeze through that gap?  At the gym, will i lift it myself or will i ask for help form a spotter?  Winter is coming and the floor will start to become icy, am i wearing the right footwear, traveling safely, or should i even leave the house?


These sort of steps and way of thinking will help in insuring that i am a successful and reliable professional in the future.

Journal musings

So a few things i want to share from my journal...

So the main point is that i went to a casting for a small part in and advert, and was successful!  The casting was an acting screen test, and although i have had acting training i am much more comfortable and consider myself very much a dancer.

I have been to acting castings before and normally expect to hear nothing back.  So what was different this time?  I'm sure i was suitable for the role and conducted myself professionally etc, but for the first time in my professional acting career, I DID A WARM UP!

Doing a warm up must be lesson one in acting class, but loosening up the spine, working the tongue and making silly faces can be embarrassing in a room where no one else is.

I am sure that this is not the only reason i got the job, however how much more proof do you need? Warm up, no matter how silly you feel, because it pays off.  Literally!

CV - Problems!

So i'm trying to post my cv online, and i am experiencing some difficulties! 
While many people may say that what is written on the cv is more important than how it is presented, i have pride in the work i have done on the presentation of my CV.  I feel that when it lands on sombodys desk, a well laid out and easily readable CV can make the difference.

So after tweeking and updating my cv, i have tried to post it online.  When going through google documents, although the base information uploaded, the conversion just couldnt handle the tables, blocks of text and formatting that are required to give the right impression.  Equally, some people have posted their CVs as blog posts, and again, i dont want to  be represented by an unformatted, unprepared peice of text.

I will keep looking and searching for a way to post a link to my complete and ready CV.

Work images

Work images, a set on Flickr.

Seemed to get the hang of this fairly quickly, although i don't know if it would be my preferred method of sharing information, probably opting for spotlight, email and facebook above these.

Get Cracking With Bapp!

Not done a lot of recorded media before, but watching this has made me realise the habits and faults in my diction!  Although i am primarily a dancer, i need to watch for these faults in my singing and acting.

A time to dance?

No! A time to blog!

I cant belive i haven't been keeping my peers (and fans) up to date with my thoughts and realisations!
Things are moving, professionally and at uni, and there are lots of ideas floating around.  I will make it habit to jott down some ideas i have, and some pictures of my work will follow shortly.