Because the SIG seems to be taking
a while to get going as I know everyone is really busy with their own research
questions too, I have been considering my initial areas of wonder and developed
them through discussions with friends, past colleagues and my performing siblings in one to one messages and conversations.
I researched literature on the initial questions I had. What I realised as I
was looking more and more into the idea of different performance contexts was
that this is such a broad area, there is no way that I would be able to do the
inquiry justice within the time limits I have. Reading the book Doing your
Research Project by Judith Bell and Stephen Waters has helped me to come to a
more systematic approach to my research and I realise that narrowing down ideas
to a more specific area will allow me to do my inquiry more justice. The area
of wonder that I found myself focusing on more and more was:
What dynamics are produced from different
audiences watching dance and how does that affect the performer?
From this area the following
questions emerged.
How does the audience’s opinions impact the ballet dancer’s
performance?
What can the ballet dancer learn from the views of the
audience?
Is the audience’s point of view really necessary for a ballet
dancer to progress?
Can proprioception take the place of external judgement?
What dynamics are produced from differing audiences?
How do views differ amongst diverse audiences?
How does the ballet dancer rate audience’s opinions?
Does the ballet dancer place more value on the point of view
of a critical eye or a lay person’s eye?
How do ballet dancers deal with criticism?
After researching literature around this topic, I found that
I had a lot of material to draw upon (I will be posting my literature in my
next blog as I have not quite finished my reviews.)
I discussed this idea a little with Adesola, Jessica and
Emily on the Module 2 skype session last week. Jessica brought up the question
of how you deal with what the audience thinks of you, draw negative or positive
outcomes from their views and if you as a performer take those views home with
you. This idea stuck with me and first pointed my inquiry in this direction.
I have been
discussing these ideas with my Professional Associate Anna Pujol, a past
colleague currently dancing with Ballet Cymru (She has agreed to be my
professional Associate, granted permission to be named and for me to hyperlink
to her biography). We discussed the effects of bad reviews and how although
these should not in theory affect how a dancer works they could provide mental
strain and ultimately result in detrimental effects on performance. Anna felt
this area of research had great relevance.
I also discovered that this is perhaps the most relevant
area to my practice as a ballet dancer at the moment. As I have recently been
contemplating the fact that I place a lot of emphasis on the opinion of others.
I often find it hard to decipher between opinions which are relevant and will
help me to develop as a dancer and those that are unhelpful and of no use to
me. I am also dancing in slightly more unusual places like care homes and book
shops and consequently performing for diverse audiences in close proximity. Often,
I will receive feedback from an audience immediately after I have performed and
it can be a challenge to fully reflect on what I have done and decide what
information is relevant from the views of others. I feel that by exploring how
the audiences point of view has affected dancers before me in their
performances and how they have used their opinions will help me understand how
to use feedback from others to improve my performances.
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