What a journey!

Well as I look back over my journey on the BAPP Arts course I realise just how much I have discovered. I feel one of the most important things I have discovered is the individual power I have within my own work. In the world of ballet we are so used to being told what to do and this course helped me to find my own voice, encouraging me to ask questions which I had never thought about before. I feel I have developed as an artist through this process and have thoroughly enjoyed working with the other BAPP members. It was so nice to meet everyone the other week when we had the oral exams. I found it fascinating to see the way each individual interpreted the course and developed within their field. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the tutors who have helped me on the course - Helen, Adesola, Paula and Hopal as well as my colleagues and friends who were involved throughout the inquiry process.  I will continue to use this blog to update you with all I am doing!

Oral presentation, artefact and a snap shot of findings

I have been busy at work preparing my oral presentation for next week. I must say it has been a challenge as I seem to have  so many findings to share I would need more like 2 hours than 10 minutes!
I have decided just to focus on the really important points and then have my artefact with me for people to look at if they want more details. It has been amazing looking back over the course and the inquiry journey, as I realise that although my inquiry was quite a broad and ambitious topic, I have learned so much from this process. Even though I can't share them all in my presentation, they have had a huge benefit to my practice and that is what the BAPP course is all about.
Below I am going to share a few of my discoveries but I don't want to give too many away before my presentation.

I discovered that Anna Pavlova possessed the following elements in her performance:

Technical

•      Unique Physicality

•      Expressive footwork

•      Expressive hands and upper body

•      Distinctive arabesque

•      Dynamic pirouettes

•      The application of the classical technique and ability to convey a character or theme.

•      Speed and musicality

Artistic

•      Individuality

•      Poetic Movement

•      Emotion and honesty

•      Magic/spiritual quality

•      Involvement

Below is a snap shot of some of the findings:

Are they still relevant?

•      Some have become so embedded in ballet they are not perhaps so noticeable. Such as expressive footwork and the arabesque position. Pavlova may have paved the way for these elements.

•      Others can continue to evolve such as the magic/spiritual atmosphere which could be created in many ways with new stage effects and costumes. The love of the costumes was very strong from my local audience.

•      Audiences today may benefit from a greater sense of involvement

 Below are a couple of pages from my professional artefact:

Photographs by Theresa Sallnow

Interpretation

Through the observations I have done of a lead UK ballet company, I had a very important realisation.  As I was watching the full length classical ballets with all their splendour and I found myself thinking 'Ann what is it that you really enjoy and you feel really at home in when you are dancing?' My answer was so clear - I love interpretation of characters and roles. I love to get inside my roles and become whatever I am dancing. What I find challenging is the physical side. The stamina and strength required are not natural to my body type but I love to perform. This knowledge gave me the incentive to work at the physical side that I find a challenge so that I might have more opportunities to perform bigger parts in the future. But also to realise that opportunities which emphasise my abilities in interpretation are where I will be most fulfilled.

Below is a photograph by Mike Mason, post production work by Steve Lloyd, of myself as The Little Mermaid in a recent performance.

Should audience opinion rule your decisions?

Through the analysis of the inquiry I have realised just how much emphasis I put on the opinions of others. I started the inquiry process feeling that I want to learn how to reach audiences today and I do feel that I know a great deal more now about what audiences seem to seek today. However, I also realised that it cannot all be about what the audience wants. Sometimes by challenging an audience to see something that they are not expecting, they develop a new interest. The difficulty lies in attracting them to come in the first place.

Not all audiences will like the way I dance or the choreographies that I create, but no doubt there will be some people out there who do, because everyone has a different opinion. I had never acknowledged this idea of everyone liking something different until this inquiry, because I have a perfectionist nature and tend to want to please everyone. From my interview and questionnaire data it has become so apparent that there are a huge variety of tastes out there and how important it is to do your very best and hope that it does something for some people. It is not right to put artistic creativity and development after what the audience might think it wants, the two must be considered in equal measure.

Emotion and Honesty in the performer: dwelling on findings!

As I am writing up my inquiry, a number of important findings have emerged as being significant to audience members. A very frequently used word amongst the audience members of my own performance was emotion and emotional. These words were used to describe The Swan solo and the effect of live performance. The audience members used the word when describing what they liked and found meaningful. This made me realise that my individuality as a performer lies the ability to create an emotional atmosphere, whether I am expressing positivity or conveying the sadness and difficulty of The Swan's death. I suppose reading this feedback has helped me to understand that an honest performance, with true emotion may have a longer lasting impression than technical perfection.

Professional Artefact

Because there are a number of different strands to my inquiry with the historical aspects of Pavlova and the exploration of what current audiences are seeking, as well as the practical side of trying to embody some of the elements identified, it has been a challenge to come up with an appropriate artefact in which I can share the whole process of the inquiry. However, what I have identified as being important to people within the ballet world is having something very visual and not too wordy. Yet at the same time I felt that a video would be too much like my viva exam as I would have to do so much talking.

So, I have decided to create an album of collages themed to the key elements of the inquiry process and finding. I will collage around pictures which I have taken throughout the inquiry process as well as some historical pictures of Pavlova. This will be accompanied by small descriptions and points to make these key elements clear and understandable, as well as quotations from audience members and interviews. Each collage will be numbered and there will be a bibliography at the back, linking up with each collage to ensure that any images used out of books or off the internet are referenced using Harvard.

 I put this idea to a number of dancer colleagues who all agreed that a visual format would be much more enticing for them. Izzy Clough from Module 2 said that it sounded ‘a bit like a real life power point presentation’ and this made me think that I would need to ensure it was different to the viva, but I feel that the collages would take care of this as I would not use all of these in my actual power point. I also thought that colleagues and professional associates from the dance world are going to be particularly interested in the dances that I performed for my recent event so I might focus on the event with a number of collages and pictures in the costumes, accompanied by short descriptions on what the process of rehearsal and performance unveiled within my practice.

I also felt that an album is a good way to share my inquiry with as many people as possible because even if they do not have a lot of time they can always have a quick flick through and look at the pictures. I can also take pictures of the album and send it to people digitally or share it on blogs and social media. Another point is that the collages are a direct expression of my creativity, as is my dance, so it unites all aspects of my artistic self.

 I wondered if anyone had any thoughts as I would be most grateful for them! Thank you!

Choices

I was very disappointed when my physiotherapist said the only time that she could see me this week was at 1.45pm on Tuesday right bang in the middle of the campus session at Middlesex Uni. It was on the other side of London and I had already arranged to go to the campus session and especially planned my trip to London for it.

I was faced with the choice as my foot is still not right and this injury has been lingering on for a long time. I have been worried about the injury and how I should be approaching it. I did not know when I would be able to see the physio again and so I considered the matter for a few hours, in the end I realised that this course is all about work based learning and that looking after my body and ensuring I am in fit condition for my area of practice is a key part of my development as a professional within my field. I have always had a tendency to put work before anything else but I have recently realised that health must be a priority if I am to have a good career. Therefore I decided to go to the physio and looking back I am so glad that I did because she gave it great treatment and special exercises with a little band. She also gave me lots of advice for getting it back to normal and reassured me that it would eventually go as this was a concern that had been increasing in my mind for some time.

I suppose this made me reflect back to Module 1 because that was when I first realised that sometimes those times when you think that something is holding you back and interfering with your degree, it is actually the very thing that is helping you grow as a professional within your field and this is what the degree is all about!

Analysing Questionnaires and Pavlova Tea Reflections

My initial idea for the Pavlova Tea event performance was to have a focus group of roughly 10 people who would fill out questionnaires after my free performance of ballet solos. However, this all changed when I had 35 people attending the performance 27 of which wanted to fill out the questionnaire.

This has made the analysis process slightly different as I decided that with this number it would be useful to see how many people attending the performance were from different age categories and also to see which of the solos seen were most popular. So as well analysing in a qualitative fashion from the comments made, I have created some charts with the numerical data although of course it is still a small number of people so the data collected is only of use to me and my local audience.

I must say that I have been quite overwhelmed getting all of this information ordered into my computer as 27 questionnaires was more than I was anticipating. But first of all I gave each questionnaire a number and then categorised the comments on each variation and theme and it soon started to unfold. What has been very special about this process is really hearing what people are feeling about what they are seeing. I have never been able to receive this sort of feedback before and the only feedback I have been able to get on paper has been from a teacher.
I was very surprised by feelings about what I read. Some of the positive comments really touched my heart. I also have had to take into consideration the fact that many of these people do know me and that their feedback is possibly going to reflect that. However, there were also people who I had never met before, some of whom had never seen me dance before and some of whom had never seen ballet at all before.

Some of the comments reflected that certain dances do not appeal to certain age ranges and vice versa and this is such valuable information for me as it can all be taken into account when I plan my performances in the future.

Below is another picture from my Performance by Sian Parry who kindly gave me permission to publish it.

Thoughts on my use of Social Media and the Internet

I have been thinking a lot lately about my use of social Media and the internet generally since I began the course. I realise that since embarking on the BAPP journey I have become a lot more open about my work on social media. I always use Facebook to publicise my work and performances and I did not do this so much before as I felt a bit scared to. However, I still do not find it easy to put myself out there on the internet and I do not use many forums other than facebook and this blog. I love my blog now and every time I do anything or think about something that I want to discuss, I straight away post to my blog. Considering that at the beginning I had to use 'wiki how' to learn how to start a blog I think I have travelled a fair journey!

However, I still feel I have a way to go. I am considering starting a website and possibly a professional artist facebook page with more details of what I have achieved and the kind of work I am available for. I have not got on with delicious or google docs really as I find it much better to send my work to different individuals by email or message. I have a flicr account but have not used as much as I could so I am thinking of trying to develop this next. I have to be strict with myself to ensure that I do not become fearful of getting myself out there on to the internet as I can fall into this trap very easily.

Pavlova Tea Event

On Saturday I had my event and it was a great success. I had over 30 people in the audience and they all filled out their questionnaires afterwards. I thoroughly enjoyed dancing and performing. Although I have to be honest in saying that I have had stomach flu for a week and was feeling pretty dreadful. However adrenaline as always got me through it! It did make me consider though the dangers of doing a performance of solos with no understudy. I really did not have an option other than to perform. I am in the process of analysing questionnaires at the moment and it is fascinating to receive this sort of feedback, some of it surprised me very much. I was surprised by how nervous I was presenting a solo performance! Below are some pictures from the event. I also created the Pavlova's. Timing was key for this event!!

With Michael Wall who was in charge of music and Esme Marie Sallnow who helped out with the serving of teas and Pavlovas!

'Golden Rays': the choreographic process for the dance

Next week I am performing a dance I have choreographed to music by Couperin called Golden Rays. The music will be played live and I am very much looking forward to performing it. 

The dance explores the golden rays transcending from the sun. I have often been very intrigued by the patterns and incredibly vivid colours that I see in rays of sunlight and this dance explores some of those patterns. I am also exploring a deeper spiritual connection associated with the golden ray, the connection which allows us to be at one with our creator or spirituality. The collage below is helping me through the choreographic process and encouraging my artistic expression to shine through.

Creating my Dragonfly costume

Today I have been busy at work creating my dragonfly costume for the performance next week. I have been trying to create a costume which is nice and light but also represents the creature well. Compared with Anna Pavlova's original dress, mine is very different but this is deliberate as I want to create my vision for the dance, something new and distinctive to me. I have also had quite a strict budget to stick to so had to bear that in mind too. Below are some shots of me in the creation process. I will share the finished piece soon.

Pavlova Tea afternoon

I am currently preparing for My Pavlova Tea Event next week on the 31st of March. Busy rehearsing and finalising the programme ready for printing. I am very pleased with the response so far and am expecting about 27 to 30 people to come. Many of these people have already signed slips to say they are happy to fill out the questionnaire afterwards. The programme is made up of the six dances and between each dance the audience can help themselves to tea and pavlovas! The event has been advertised in the local paper this week and below is the flyer which I created for the event.

Skype session 13th March

Following the Twilight Tuesday skype session this week, I must say that I had a lot to think about. The most important points that emerged from the session were the following:

• When contacting participants for interviews it is sometimes a good idea to look outside of the box you have created for your plan. Sometimes change is a good thing.

• Because I have been having difficulty with people not replying to my messages to arrange their interviews, I am now looking further a field and changing my specific idea of interviewing a freelance ballet dancer to looking for a dancer who is currently working in a company.

• I also managed to clarify that even if some participants are just filling out a questionnaire they still need to fill out a participant consent form. This was a point I was unsure of for a while, so it was great that Henry was able to enlighten me!

• There was also some very interesting points that emerged about social media. How young people need to be careful about the way they present themselves as future employers may be able to see what they post. The idea of more education being given to young people and children about this was brought up and I thought it was a really good idea. Also, I think it was Harry L who mentioned that some of his employers have actually said that they check out the people auditioning on social media before considering them for the job. This astonished me!

• Then the other really important point that was raised was right at the end by Adesola. She said how important it is for us to observe ourselves within the situation in other words how much we participated in the conversation and why.

• So I felt that I was quite involved with the chat, however, there were some really frustrating moments when I wanted to say something and the connection cut out and also some moments when I could hear nothing so they were not that great! But overall a really good discussion!

Developing choreographic ideas for The Dragonfly Dance

For my inquiry event (Pavlova tea afternoon) I am recreating Pavlova’s Dragonfly dance to the original music, creating my own take on it.

Whilst preparing for the creation of the dance, I decided to watch a video about dragonflies to develop a better understanding of the creatures. I was amazed to know that for two years the dragonfly lives as a nymph under water where it engages in fierce hunting. It then moves out of the water and emerges to it’s dragonfly state in a two hour process. The dragonfly that we see only lasts about two months before dying. I had not realised that the dragonfly had this previous life and this made me see it quite differently.

The observation made me consider the following elements for the choreographic process.

Strength

Patience

An incredible energy which emerges fast

The world would be very exciting as you would not have seen the world above water before.

It is a race against time to live before your time is up
Enthusiasm and zest for life

Hovering

Fast landings

A sense of a continuous motor when in flight (this could be created with fast bouŕees and footwork.

Wings are very delicate and intricate.

I created this collage to inspire me in the process too and continue to use this in the studio at this stage when I am still formulating the interpretation within the dance. It includes photos of Pavlova in her original version as well as real photographs of dragonflies.

First Interview

Below is an extract from my journal after I did my first interview:

Today I did my interview with the marketing and outreach officer in the ballet company. I must say that I was unbelievably nervous! I realised just how difficult it is for me to be in a position of authority, to be asking questions and guiding the talk. I am very much used to being on the other side. I think this is something that comes from the ballet world, we as dancers are used to be dictated to and not asking questions. However, once I arrived I was put at my ease with the staff at the company. The interview was only 16 minutes long which surprised me. I was expecting it to be double that length but I found it hard to know just how long the participant was likely to need to answer each question.

I did generate all the information that I required in a very short period of time though. After listening back to the interview, I realise that I need to project my voice more as when I am nervous it tends to disappear. Some of the answers that my participant gave really surprised me as they were contrary to what I had previously assumed to be the case and this really excited me. I am thoroughly enjoying seeing how the inquiry is beginning to develop.

I have transcribed the interview and was pleased with the amount of information generated. I am currently planning the next one but am having difficulty because all of the three possible participants are now not replying to my messages,  despite two of them initially saying they would be involved. This is making things quite challenging but it also made me realise that it is better to be honest and say no than not to say anything at all. I do realise that they are probably very busy though and this is something which I may include in the inquiry process.

Reviewing Literature in more depth

As I am reviewing literature in more depth I have begun questioning some ideas.

 In the article Art is dying warns sadler’s wells chief, in the Independent (2011, accessed 15/11/17), Alistair Spalding stated that ballet was a dying art because the leading companies were continuing to do the same ballets and not producing sufficient new material.

However, he also states that the classic ballets which companies are continuing to perform are selling and that the reason not so many new works are being created is because ‘’new things are difficult to sell; the audience isn’t expecting it.’’ This made me question is it because the new things are not as attractive, not because they are new, but because of their content or subject matter.

In this same article Homan’s, author of the book Apollo’s Angels (a comprehensive history of ballet) then goes on to say that ‘’Alistair is right, and we are at a conservative moment in ballet, and dancers need to feel they are doing new work. Unfortunately, for the most part, the new work is not living up to the old work.’’

This is quite a different thought. Perhaps it is not whether the ballet is known, but whether it is relevant and attractive to audiences today. Clearly there is still something in these classics that people love to see.

If anyone has any thoughts on this idea I would be interested to hear them.

 Bibliography

Sharp, R. (2011) ‘Art is dying warns sadler’s wells chief,’ The Independent, 3 April. Available at:  http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/news/ballet-is-dying-warns-sadlers-wells-chief-2261417.html (Accessed 15th November 2017).

Finalising questionnaire sheets

Yesterday I tried to attend the module skype session but unfortunately due to the snow here in North Wales the connection was really bad. Initially I heard muffled speech and after about 20 mins of that the sound cut off altogether! The one thing I heard was near the beginning when people were talking about ensuring they are not creating leading questions in their interview questions and questionnaire sheets. Determined to feel I had got something from the session I tried to consider this thought. Although I looked at it in Module 2, I thought now was a good time to look again especially as I am developing the questionnaire sheet for my performance at the end of March. In this performance I will dancing a selection of classical ballet solos as well as a more neo classical one. Audience members who have agreed to will fill out this questionnaire after the event.

I have tried to keep the questions so that the participants can write their ideas and opinions rather than simply giving them options to circle. I am posting the questionnaire below and would be most grateful for ideas on whether any of them seem to be too leading.

Questionnaire for audience participant

All of the information you provide on this sheet will be used solely for research purposes by Ann Wall towards her study for a BA Hons Professional Practice in Arts (Dance) at Middlesex University.

Please circle which age category you fall into

8-14

15-24

25-40

41-60

60+

Were there any elements of the dancing today that you particularly enjoyed?

Which solo did you enjoy the most and why?

Were there any aspects of the dancing today which you as an individual felt you could not relate to or did not like?

Did any of the dances seem out of date and inapplicable to you as an audience member of today?

Was what you have seen today different from what you were expecting prior to the event?

Do you regularly watch dance in a performance context? (have you been to a dance performance 3 times or more in the last 5 years?)

Do you, as an audience member feel you will take anything away with you from this performance? If so, is there anything particularly significant?

Thank you for filling out this questionnaire!

Performance Reflections February 10th

When I performed for this show I felt as though for the first time, I was expressing more of who I truly am. I performed in a very varied programme, it included a baroque ballet (historical dance) Swan Lake pas de deux (classical ballet) solo for The Little Mermaid (ballet in a mermaid tail!), a dance as an ugly sister from Cinderella (doing ballet very badly) a revival of The Pavlova Gavotte (aristocratic dancing) and an unusual piece largely based upon gesture called The Medieval Kindle.

 What was especially apparent to me was that I have become very aware of my audience. There were times when certain pieces felt as though they were not being received as well as others. I think this has a lot to do with the situation in which the performance was taking place. It was in a town hall, so the audience was very close and there were no stage lights to block the audiences faces. In this context it seems to me that dances need to be shared in a way which addresses people rather than the stage method where one’s eye focus is only to the back of the auditorium. I like to address my audience with a certain amount of eye contact when I am dancing in community settings. Not all of the dances in this programme enabled that and at times I felt as though the dancer/ audience connection was lost. People began shifting in their seats and looking around. This was an important moment for my inquiry as I was considering different audiences and contexts within my own working environment and practice.

 What was nice in this performance, was to show so many different aspects of myself in so many different characters.

 After the show with Michael Wall and Clare Wall

Reflections on starting Module 3

Over the last week I have been busy studying the module handbook. I have also been contacting my interview participants and arranging times for my interviews. I had a bit of a panic because one of my participants is now unsure of whether they will have time to do the interview. I felt so glad that I had made my list of back ups so I have now got in touch with another possible participant. This made me realise how important the inquiry plan is because I feel so much more prepared to undertake the real thing.
After receiving my feedback I have also been trying to consider more ethical questions which may arise from my inquiry other than the anonymity of my participants. This week I did my second ballet observation and have been formatting my notes today. I have found observations harder than I thought I would, as when I watch ballet I often focus on specific dancers and details and I have had to force myself to see the performance as a whole in order to ensure the validity of the observation. I am beginning to review my literature more deeply now too and am very much looking forward to the interviews coming up. I find myself feeling quite excited about the inquiry now that it is really in sight.