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!
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
