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!