In an industry like the dance and entertainment industry, networking is the key to a successful and long-lasting career.
In the course of this task I had to look at the networks I'm using, how I'm using them whether good or not to its full extend, and ways to improve my networking skills.
I think one of the biggest networking groups and one that probably everybody has is Friends. Networking with your friedns is the easiest way of networking. You can be yourself, don't have to worry about appearances and there's no pressure like there is when you're talking to an agent. Personally, I think it's the easiest and best way to find out about auditions, castings, jobs, workshops, etc. There have been numerous auditions and castings I went to because one of my friends told me about it. The great thing about a group of friends is that it's a give-and-take. One time one of my friends tells me about a casting and next I'll tell her about an audition I'm going to. Back in college it was much easier to network because we used to see each other basically every day but since I graduated we all moved to different ends of the world. Since then, we moved on to using social networking more and more.
Nowadays, in the time of Facebook, Twitter and co. it's so much easier to stay in touch with your friends. To be honest, as far as the social network is concerned I've only made it to Facebook. I tried using Twitter but seeing as my phone doesn't have any internet (yeah, I'm probably one of the few people left in the world that has a phone that can only text and call people) there's not really any point in me using it. Besides, I never really got the hang of it ;). But Facebook I think is a great networking page. Not only can you use it for your personal networking but also in your Professional Practice. The good thing with Facebook is that you can join different groups that share the same interests as you, f.i. your favourite films, books, leisure activities, food, clubs, etc. Professionally, you're able to see upcoming auditions, castings, workshops, vacancies and we can share our experience and advice.
Another web 2.0 tool I use is DancersPro and Spotlight. Both of them give dancers, actors, singers the opportunity to create a profile and put all the important information about themselves on it, f.i. CV, Portfolio and Showreel. Employers are able to view all of this and to hire dancers.
Since I started out on BAPP, I started to use web 2.0 much more. Before, I didn't know that Flickr, Google+ and Blogger even existed but now, I'm getting more and more familiar with it. I'm still not using Google+ to the max because I just can't seem to figure how to get people into circles and I don't think I actually realise all the ways of networking I can do with. I guess one day I should go on an exploring mission through the deep ends of Google+. Flickr was also completely new to me. It's great because it gives me the chance to share my portfolio pictures aswell as other photos so that people (employers) can look at them, comment and maybe even give me advice on how to improve. The great thing about Blogger is that it created a group including everybody on BAPP. It gives us the chance to talk to other people with the same interests, to discuss certain topics with them, to make suggestions on how to improve and to learn new ways of thinking. Personally, I could and should be more active in commenting on other peoples blogs and ideas because that's the way to make new connections and that's the actual networking.
And, as I said at the beginning, networking is the most important part of any profession. It doesn't matter in which aspect of your life because you never know what opportunities might arise through networking.
Monday 26 November 2012
Monday 12 November 2012
Task 2d: Inquiry
I found this task quite challenging so I did put it off for quite a while. Personally, I find it hard to sit down and think about my passions and to evaluate them. But luckily I have a journal now that has helped me with this task.
The one person I really admire because she's not only an amazing singer but also a great entertainer is Adele. Yeah, I know what you're thinking .... me and 5 million other people. But I'm not an obsessive Adele-fan, I just appreciate her as an artist and feel inspired by what she's achieved in life. Another thing I like about her is that she has various styles, it's not like she's just doing pop, rock, hip hop, ballads, etc. When I listen to her album I find a song for every mood which I feel makes an artist so special. I love making choreographies to her songs or to those of Ed Sheeran who I feel is the male equivalent to her: fantastic singer, songwriter, musician and not to forget, both from the great UK ;)! Their music really inspires me and helps me discover new sides of my dancing.
Here are the links to Adele's and Ed Sheeran's homepage:
http://www.adele.tv/home/
http://edsheeran.com/?loc
Thinking about it, the main reason I would get sad or angry is, if something bad or unjust happens to somebody near and dear to me. I can't it when my family or friends get treated badly without reason or for the wrong reasons. That makes me really angry. And if then, I can't do anything to prevent that or to help them that's, I would say, is when I feel helpless and sad. But thankfully, that doesn't happen often. One of my favourite quotes in terms of feeling angry and sad is from a TV-show called "How I met your mother" where one of the characters, Barney Stinson, tends to say
The one person I admire because she's quite similar to me is my mum. We are both aries, both stubborn and are generally quite similar therefore she understands me and tries to help. I wouldn't say we have a "best friends" rather than a "mother-daughter" relationship but she always helps me put everything in perspective.
On one of my best friends from dance college and flatmate is probably the most driven dancer I know. She loves it so much and everytime I felt down in college or was depressed after an audition she used to pick me up and remind of how much I love to dance and the joy it brings me. I admire how she always keeps looking forward and how she puches herself so hard which ultimately makes me want to keep up with her and therefore makes me a better dancer.
I ams ure every dancer on the planet has been in the same situation before, the "What went wrong? Why didn't they pick me?"- situation. On the bright site, it's a problem of a whole profession group and not one of an individual. Though I do have to admit that it's getting easier the more auditions I do and I am keeping my hopes up that at one point I'll just move from asking the big "What; Why; How"-questions and just move and focus on things ahead. THAT would make life so much easier!!!
- What in your daily practise gets you really enthusiastic to find out more about? Who do you admire who also works with what makes you enthusiastic?
The one person I really admire because she's not only an amazing singer but also a great entertainer is Adele. Yeah, I know what you're thinking .... me and 5 million other people. But I'm not an obsessive Adele-fan, I just appreciate her as an artist and feel inspired by what she's achieved in life. Another thing I like about her is that she has various styles, it's not like she's just doing pop, rock, hip hop, ballads, etc. When I listen to her album I find a song for every mood which I feel makes an artist so special. I love making choreographies to her songs or to those of Ed Sheeran who I feel is the male equivalent to her: fantastic singer, songwriter, musician and not to forget, both from the great UK ;)! Their music really inspires me and helps me discover new sides of my dancing.
Here are the links to Adele's and Ed Sheeran's homepage:
http://www.adele.tv/home/
http://edsheeran.com/?loc
- What gets you angry or makes you sad? Who do you admire who shares your feelings or has found a way to work around the sadness or anger?
Thinking about it, the main reason I would get sad or angry is, if something bad or unjust happens to somebody near and dear to me. I can't it when my family or friends get treated badly without reason or for the wrong reasons. That makes me really angry. And if then, I can't do anything to prevent that or to help them that's, I would say, is when I feel helpless and sad. But thankfully, that doesn't happen often. One of my favourite quotes in terms of feeling angry and sad is from a TV-show called "How I met your mother" where one of the characters, Barney Stinson, tends to say
"When I'm sad, I just stop feeling sad and start feeling awesome!"
... WELL, if it just were that easy!!
The one person I admire because she's quite similar to me is my mum. We are both aries, both stubborn and are generally quite similar therefore she understands me and tries to help. I wouldn't say we have a "best friends" rather than a "mother-daughter" relationship but she always helps me put everything in perspective.
- What do you love about what you do? Who do you admire who also seems to love this or is an example of what you love?
On one of my best friends from dance college and flatmate is probably the most driven dancer I know. She loves it so much and everytime I felt down in college or was depressed after an audition she used to pick me up and remind of how much I love to dance and the joy it brings me. I admire how she always keeps looking forward and how she puches herself so hard which ultimately makes me want to keep up with her and therefore makes me a better dancer.
- What do you feel you don't understand? 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?
I ams ure every dancer on the planet has been in the same situation before, the "What went wrong? Why didn't they pick me?"- situation. On the bright site, it's a problem of a whole profession group and not one of an individual. Though I do have to admit that it's getting easier the more auditions I do and I am keeping my hopes up that at one point I'll just move from asking the big "What; Why; How"-questions and just move and focus on things ahead. THAT would make life so much easier!!!
Thursday 8 November 2012
Task 2c: Reflective Theory
I have thought about reflection and if I actually reflected in my everyday life, and, if I do, how it effects my life, thoughts and personal development.
Thinking about it now, after reading about reflective theory and keeping in mind everything I read about it, I am certain that each and every one of us is reflecting on a daily basis in various ways.
Personally, I am more of a pessimist. So, if I've for instance taken an exam or after a performance, I would usually reflected on it and think "I could have done this better", "I should have known the answer to that question", " I could have done better turns", etc. I don't think that's very good cause I can't change what I did and it just makes me feel bad. After reading "Reader 2", I'm trying to get something positive out of it. I maybe still think "I could have done it better" but at the same time I'm trying to learn from my experience!
And I have definitely said that a couple of times before although I do believe, even if people don't say it they still do because that's the way we all learn. Sadly, most times I learned from my mistakes which wasn't very pleasant at the time but it definitely helped my for my future.
It was interesting to see how many different ways and theories of reflection.
The one I found most appealing was Kolb's learning cycle.
David Kolb created this on-going cycle where one point is leading into the next. We are all in this cycle, the only difference is the point at which we start to learn. Personally, my learning style is "Reflective Observation". I think it's due to my long experience in dance and having to pick up choreographies and corrections that I have to watch somebody else do it first to be able to learn from it.
This also applies to Donald Schön's idea of reflection-in-action and reflection-on-action, I am using more the last one. I find easier to go back to an event and think about so that I can get some distance, which helps put everything into perspective. Although as a dancer, I am also used to reflection-in-action. Being on stage, you never know what can happen. Since it's a group of individuals performing at the same time, you have to be able to adapt to the situation in that very moment.
Having my experience with both types of reflection, I do agree with Kottcamp when he suggests that reflection-in-action is harder to achieve "... because the actor must simultaneously perform, oberve and analyze the action ..." but I disagree that it's the "more powerful for improvement of practice". On the contrary, I would say reflection-on-action is the more powerful and lasting because it gives the individual more time to reflect and to learn.
As dancers, we probably wouldn't say that reflection-in-action is harder because we are more likely to reflect 'on-line'. Being focused on the choreography, steps, music, performance, etc. is part of the job which we wouldn't be able to do if weren't 'on-line' reflecting. Whereas in everyday life I am using 'off-line' reflection. After every show I would reflected on my performance and try to think of ways to improve it.
I am very intrigued my the idea of tacit knowledge and Osterman's and Moon's idea of trying to find ways to articulate it. Any form of art is a tacit knowledge and each one of them, be it dance, photography, poetry, etc. have a deeper meaning in them and I think it would be important to access that meaning, so that people who have difficulties expressing themselves with words would still be understood.
And I think that journals are an important tool to express yourself, to try understand what is happening in the world and around you, to reflect and to LEARN. At the end of the day, there are many purposes of a journal as Jennifer A. Moon says but like David Boud states "... journal writing is intimately associated with learning, no matter what else it may aim to do."
Here is the link to the whole essay online:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tk4qSEYWaeJFgzT89UM6-XtztkPc6r7hG7VyR6383PM/edit
Thinking about it now, after reading about reflective theory and keeping in mind everything I read about it, I am certain that each and every one of us is reflecting on a daily basis in various ways.
Personally, I am more of a pessimist. So, if I've for instance taken an exam or after a performance, I would usually reflected on it and think "I could have done this better", "I should have known the answer to that question", " I could have done better turns", etc. I don't think that's very good cause I can't change what I did and it just makes me feel bad. After reading "Reader 2", I'm trying to get something positive out of it. I maybe still think "I could have done it better" but at the same time I'm trying to learn from my experience!
And I have definitely said that a couple of times before although I do believe, even if people don't say it they still do because that's the way we all learn. Sadly, most times I learned from my mistakes which wasn't very pleasant at the time but it definitely helped my for my future.
It was interesting to see how many different ways and theories of reflection.
The one I found most appealing was Kolb's learning cycle.
This also applies to Donald Schön's idea of reflection-in-action and reflection-on-action, I am using more the last one. I find easier to go back to an event and think about so that I can get some distance, which helps put everything into perspective. Although as a dancer, I am also used to reflection-in-action. Being on stage, you never know what can happen. Since it's a group of individuals performing at the same time, you have to be able to adapt to the situation in that very moment.
Having my experience with both types of reflection, I do agree with Kottcamp when he suggests that reflection-in-action is harder to achieve "... because the actor must simultaneously perform, oberve and analyze the action ..." but I disagree that it's the "more powerful for improvement of practice". On the contrary, I would say reflection-on-action is the more powerful and lasting because it gives the individual more time to reflect and to learn.
As dancers, we probably wouldn't say that reflection-in-action is harder because we are more likely to reflect 'on-line'. Being focused on the choreography, steps, music, performance, etc. is part of the job which we wouldn't be able to do if weren't 'on-line' reflecting. Whereas in everyday life I am using 'off-line' reflection. After every show I would reflected on my performance and try to think of ways to improve it.
I am very intrigued my the idea of tacit knowledge and Osterman's and Moon's idea of trying to find ways to articulate it. Any form of art is a tacit knowledge and each one of them, be it dance, photography, poetry, etc. have a deeper meaning in them and I think it would be important to access that meaning, so that people who have difficulties expressing themselves with words would still be understood.
And I think that journals are an important tool to express yourself, to try understand what is happening in the world and around you, to reflect and to LEARN. At the end of the day, there are many purposes of a journal as Jennifer A. Moon says but like David Boud states "... journal writing is intimately associated with learning, no matter what else it may aim to do."
Here is the link to the whole essay online:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tk4qSEYWaeJFgzT89UM6-XtztkPc6r7hG7VyR6383PM/edit
Sunday 4 November 2012
Task 2b: Journal writing experience
I've done it ... I've kept a journal for over 2 weeks now and trust me when I say, THAT'S A BIG DEAL!! I've mentioned in one of my earlier blogs that I'm not really into writing diaries and putting my emotions and thoughts on paper. Therefore, this task was quite a challenge for me but I'm proud to say that I've stuck with it and succeeded in keeping a journal.
I have tried various ways of writing my journal and I figured out that I prefer some to others. I'll start with the ones that really suited me.
It's probably a bit unusual but my favourite one was writing a List. It gave me the chance to just brain storm what happened during the day and to just get it all out of my had. With this method I was able to see what was most present in my mind and what stayed in the back of my head for the whole day because those were the things I put down on paper first. Unfortunately, my initial list was mostly a bit chaotic therefore I usually had to put it in order and write it down a bit neater but than again, this just gave me another chance to put everything perspective and put those things first I thought most important.
In combination with writing a List I usually also did an Evaluation of the things that happened during the day. I felt like it gave me more of a chance to figure out what to work on, what things I can do better, anythings that needs improvement, etc. When I only did an Evaluation of my day, I felt like it lacked something. I only put down what I need to work on and what, in my opinion, went well but I didn't actually have an overview of the whole day so the events where just events and not tied together.
The same thing applies to Description and Initial Reflection. I didn't feel like they worked for themselves but in combination with another one, they offered a much more detailed a varied way of writing. Though thinking about it, Description is actually part of all the other ways of keeping a journal. In one way or the other, you always describe what happened throughout the day. So I guess I would have to say that my favourite way of writing my journal was Description.
Probably due to my lack of interest and, yes I admit it, knowledge in mathematics, I struggled hugely with writing a journal entry in Graphs, Charts and Diagrams. To be completely honest with you, I only tried it once and gave up after half an hour because it was one of the most frustrating things I have done in a while. At first, I didn't know where to start and once I decided to just go for it and try it I just got REALLY confused and annoyed with the whole thing that I almost threw it out of the window. So, yeah, I think it's safe to say that I'll NEVER to that again!!
This leads me to the last two, What if? and writing from Another view. I just don't see the point in thinking about what ifs. Everything that has happened, happens and will happen is for a reason and I don't like sitting down at the end of the day and thinking about what could have happened differently, better or worse, if I had done something in a different way. Honestly, I've tried it once and I just felt drained and a little depressed afterwards. It didn't actually help me reflect on the day.
And the same thing goes for writing from Another view. I tried writing from the perspective of my sister which wasn't too bad. I didn't actually enjoy it but I thought I'll give it a try and see what happens. I struggle to stay in the other persons mind and to write about it the way I've seen the day, although I do have to say that it still sounded very much like me.
What I tried and absolutely failed at was writing from the perspective of my handbag. The whole time I was writing I was just thinking, "Bags don't think. They don't have a brain.". Therefore it ended up being a very short resumee of the day and not a very good one!!
I think in future I'll still stick to keeping my journal although I probably won't be writing in it every day. The recipe for keeping my successful journal will be writing a List with a hint of Description and Evaluation.
I have tried various ways of writing my journal and I figured out that I prefer some to others. I'll start with the ones that really suited me.
It's probably a bit unusual but my favourite one was writing a List. It gave me the chance to just brain storm what happened during the day and to just get it all out of my had. With this method I was able to see what was most present in my mind and what stayed in the back of my head for the whole day because those were the things I put down on paper first. Unfortunately, my initial list was mostly a bit chaotic therefore I usually had to put it in order and write it down a bit neater but than again, this just gave me another chance to put everything perspective and put those things first I thought most important.
In combination with writing a List I usually also did an Evaluation of the things that happened during the day. I felt like it gave me more of a chance to figure out what to work on, what things I can do better, anythings that needs improvement, etc. When I only did an Evaluation of my day, I felt like it lacked something. I only put down what I need to work on and what, in my opinion, went well but I didn't actually have an overview of the whole day so the events where just events and not tied together.
The same thing applies to Description and Initial Reflection. I didn't feel like they worked for themselves but in combination with another one, they offered a much more detailed a varied way of writing. Though thinking about it, Description is actually part of all the other ways of keeping a journal. In one way or the other, you always describe what happened throughout the day. So I guess I would have to say that my favourite way of writing my journal was Description.
Probably due to my lack of interest and, yes I admit it, knowledge in mathematics, I struggled hugely with writing a journal entry in Graphs, Charts and Diagrams. To be completely honest with you, I only tried it once and gave up after half an hour because it was one of the most frustrating things I have done in a while. At first, I didn't know where to start and once I decided to just go for it and try it I just got REALLY confused and annoyed with the whole thing that I almost threw it out of the window. So, yeah, I think it's safe to say that I'll NEVER to that again!!
This leads me to the last two, What if? and writing from Another view. I just don't see the point in thinking about what ifs. Everything that has happened, happens and will happen is for a reason and I don't like sitting down at the end of the day and thinking about what could have happened differently, better or worse, if I had done something in a different way. Honestly, I've tried it once and I just felt drained and a little depressed afterwards. It didn't actually help me reflect on the day.
And the same thing goes for writing from Another view. I tried writing from the perspective of my sister which wasn't too bad. I didn't actually enjoy it but I thought I'll give it a try and see what happens. I struggle to stay in the other persons mind and to write about it the way I've seen the day, although I do have to say that it still sounded very much like me.
What I tried and absolutely failed at was writing from the perspective of my handbag. The whole time I was writing I was just thinking, "Bags don't think. They don't have a brain.". Therefore it ended up being a very short resumee of the day and not a very good one!!
I think in future I'll still stick to keeping my journal although I probably won't be writing in it every day. The recipe for keeping my successful journal will be writing a List with a hint of Description and Evaluation.
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