Post Presentation

It feels really strange knowing that I have now technically finished the MAPP programme however whilst the rest feels good not having to edit, change, read a bit more and burn the midnight oil I am really looking forward to the next chapter in this research inquiry. What that looks like and when that happens will evolve but first I need to reflect and on another more practical level put the house and family back in order - literally! Thanks to all those who attended the presentation yesterday - whilst it was un-nerving to present in such a way I felt such grattitude to those willing to listen and take an interest in what I had to share and say and support me with your smiles. It feels good! Will keep blogging though as I feel I need it! Hopal

Body and discourse

Here's another post to share http://www.goethe.de/kue/tut/tre/en9956955.htm

Dancing and thinking.....

Something to share for a Sunday morning. I came across this as a direct result of reading Mary's blog and it got me thinking again about my thoughts around the subject of the body in Module 2. Its intersting how even thought I am in the research process where research reflecting back and capturing ideas takes me. Also reflecting on Adesola's blog again about starting, starting again and so on I wonder where I am in the triad of three... Ideas for sunday which is making me think again and reflect.... http://www.goethe.de/kue/tut/tre/en8820849.htm

Workshop - working from the inside out

I recently attended a CPD workshop a few weeks ago, which looked at contemporary dance styles for teachers of GCSE/BTEC/ A Level, dance in the modern dance styles of Graham and Limon. I had a particular interest in attending because I teach Horton a modern dance style developed at the time of Martha Graham and Jose Limon. The different being that Horton was developed on the west cost of America and the others on the east coast in what was considered the modern dance mecca at the time in the 1930s 40s, and 50s. Alvin Ailey studied and danced in Lester Horton’s company and after Lester Horton died in 1953, Ailey took and developed his legacy in the form of a company and choreographic works, which include Ailey’s signature piece “Revelations”. Revelations contains both influences of Graham and Horton technique. The technique is codified and forms part of the technical and choreographic training of dancers at the Ailey school and company. Doing this course was relevant as it links to my inquiry about modern dance technique and young people in the 21st century. What was interesting was how the workshop facilitators talked about the movement principles of the techniques of Graham and Limon, which is not as dated as people might expect. A long time ago I was told that the Horton technique was considered out of date and old fashioned! This statement was in reference to a class I taught at a school and subsequent repertory that resulted. Whilst the comment was unhelpful the implication was that it wasn’t trendy enough and would not engage the school. There was agreement that these modern dance styles are very relevant and can be utilized in the teaching of technique through performance. Susan Sentler and Nina Atkinson who led the workshop both shared and worked on some choreography from the repertoires of both Graham and Limon and it was revelatory and also affirming how as with most dance styles the choreography dictated the style and substance of the techniques. It got me thinking about Horton’s early works which if you look at it in historical context was appropriate for the time and to some looks a little dated but in looking closely at the movement concepts it was very much up to date and adaptable for today’s dancer. I could see the relevance of the technique both in terms of its form and function. Also really interesting was the use of somatic practice incorporated into the study exploration and experience of a modern dance technique to support the understanding teaching and learning of a codified modern dance style. Both Nina and Susan adopt this approach and to very good effect. We went back to basics and worked from the inside out. I cam across a couple of clips of the restaging of one of Horton’s earlier pieces “The Beloved” (1948). The first I viewed as a performance reconstruction from a notated score and the other clip an embodied reconstruction from ex Horton dancer and company member Bella Lewitzky. Although choreographed by Horton she collaborated on this piece. Bella was his muse for the development of many of his choreographic works and also for the development of the technical form of Horton. What I loved when watching both pieces was the performance aspect and how as a teacher I could use sections of choreography as a study and focus on the movement principles in order to get my students to understand style and technique and develop different ways of learning and educating the body. Reflecting on the workshop made me realize how little relationship my students have with the past history of modern dance in order to understand where it came from and then inform the future. Not having this relationship or embodied knowledge sets up a big challenge for me teaching modern dance. However I felt inspired looking at it from purely a movement perspective which I hope with the right language encourage my students to compare, contrast and make links with movement in their own lives. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZZ8RP8cTcs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sncN5sq0ONY

Some thoughts...

In Skype meeting with Helen some time ago it was a great opportunity as always to catch up and still stay connected to a community of learners. The meeting gave me the chance to reignite the belief I had in my research inquiry and at the same time become grounded in my ideas for some type of theory and preferred methodology as a tool develop themes as they evolve. At the heart of this process I am at the centre and the approach I am taking is an ethnographic stance. In “Ethnography in the performing arts – a student guide” – (Dr Simone Krüger 2008) I have found an apt description, which encapsulates the type of methodology I am undertaking. Definition: Ethnographic research qualitative research is located within the interpretive paradigm that generates knowledge from people’s shared understandings and negotiation within a historical and social context. The researcher is involved and subjective, that is, informed by his/her personal experience in interaction with the people studied. The goal of the interpretive paradigm is the comparison of results to similar or dissimilar processes and phenomena; and the development of workable and shared understandings regarding regularities in human behaviour in specific settings. I was reminded when embarking on this process to review my module two work and reflect on the questions which begun this process. My question for the research from module 2 started as a hunch. By following my hunch and designing the question It’s interesting to see now where this hunch is taken me and what the many possibilities or implications are. From an ethnographic stance I am finding that as I dig deep I am not really finding answers se but essences or more questions. As I am discovering then ask a further question, what is written about all of this from the critical review perspective. Its almost as if I am on an archeological dig so deep that I need a theory to back me up so that I can use the theory to climb out of my dig and get some air! I am also finding that as I uncover yet more layers. Also despite the subjective nature of the research the thing I have begun to struggle with is separating my opinions from what I have found and interpreting what I see or experience. I suppose this will be the case for most undergoing a piece of academic research but I am reminded how important it is to interpret what is found and discovered and back it up with critical theory. I really do believe that whatever the outcome of the research and more importantly the process it is not the end. In ethnography the time it takes to gather data and to do the field work is quite long to get a sample of ideas and findings. However for me I only have this term so I consider this the appetizer! I may see this experience as the beginning of something more longer term. As a novice researcher from an ethnographic stance I’ll still be learning as a life long student. In my teaching mode I find that I am involved in the whole process of learning not only for the students I work with but for myself also and in this case find it incredibly difficult to step out of my scenario and look objectively. I was and am a part of the research. I am reminded by Dr Simone Krüger that in ethnographic research the purpose of this method is to “seek to answer questions without reference to trying to solve any problems” Hopal In Skype meeting with Helen some time ago it was a great opportunity as always to catch up and still stay connected to a community of learners. The meeting gave me the chance to reignite the belief I had in my research inquiry and at the same time become grounded in my ideas for some type of theory and preferred methodology as a tool develop themes as they evolve. At the heart of this process I am at the centre and the approach I am taking is an ethnographic stance. In “Ethnography in the performing arts – a student guide” – (Dr Simone Krüger 2008) I have found an apt description, which encapsulates the type of methodology I am undertaking. Definition: Ethnographic research qualitative research is located within the interpretive paradigm that generates knowledge from people’s shared understandings and negotiation within a historical and social context. The researcher is involved and subjective, that is, informed by his/her personal experience in interaction with the people studied. The goal of the interpretive paradigm is the comparison of results to similar or dissimilar processes and phenomena; and the development of workable and shared understandings regarding regularities in human behaviour in specific settings. I was reminded when embarking on this process to review my module two work and reflect on the questions which begun this process. My question for the research from module 2 started as a hunch. By following my hunch and designing the question It’s interesting to see now where this hunch is taken me and what the many possibilities or implications are. From an ethnographic stance I am finding that as I dig deep I am not really finding answers se but essences or more questions. As I am discovering then ask a further question, what is written about all of this from the critical review perspective. Its almost as if I am on an archeological dig so deep that I need a theory to back me up so that I can use the theory to climb out of my dig and get some air! I am also finding that as I uncover yet more layers. Also despite the subjective nature of the research the thing I have begun to struggle with is separating my opinions from what I have found and interpreting what I see or experience. I suppose this will be the case for most undergoing a piece of academic research but I am reminded how important it is to interpret what is found and discovered and back it up with critical theory. I really do believe that whatever the outcome of the research and more importantly the process it is not the end. In ethnography the time it takes to gather data and to do the field work is quite long to get a sample of ideas and findings. However for me I only have this term so I consider this the appetizer! I may see this experience as the beginning of something more longer term. As a novice researcher from an ethnographic stance I’ll still be learning as a life long student. In my teaching mode I find that I am involved in the whole process of learning not only for the students I work with but for myself also and in this case find it incredibly difficult to step out of my scenario and look objectively. I was and am a part of the research. I am reminded by Dr Simone Krüger that in ethnographic research the purpose of this method is to “seek to answer questions without reference to trying to solve any problems” Hopal

I don't want to be noticed!

First of all to my fellow MAPPers please accept my apologies in advance for Sunday as unfortunately I will not be at the Skype meeting. I will be attending a course all day. THis course came up which I really wanted to do but at the same time wanted to engage with you via dialogue and sharing. This morning when I dropped off my little ones at school I got chatting to one of the parents about usual stuff as you do. She knew that I teach part contemporary dance part-time and proceeded to tell me about a friend of her's whose daughter dances contemporary in an after school club setting locally - it turned out to be one of my students. Apparently this student is a lovely dancer who loves to move and wants to dance but there is a conunndrum she faces because she is very academic and as a result is being steered into choosing academic subjects for the start of her GCSE studies next year. Nevertheless she loves to dance and as a solution attends dance classes after school which is great as I feel that dance can only add and enhance more to her studies and will make good use of her mind in movement and the complexities and creative challenges dance will bring enhancing her studies. This reminds me of a friend of mine who did ballet all her life from a young age and never gave it up despite doing all academic subjects at school and at university where she studied chemistry and pharmacology and in her spare moments did class both in the local town where she found a class and when she came back home during holidays to London went to all of the usual places to keep up her ballet classes. Upon finishing and graduating from University went on to dance with a degree in her hand !! It was heartening hearing from my parent friend that this student really loves dance - however one of the things I noticed with her along with others in my class is that along with her colleagues they all sometimes appeared closed off and shy when in class and it was hard to read body language at times especially when during exercises and tasks when I ask for feedback. The reaction sometimes is the folding of the arms indicating that they are guarding and protecting their bodies, being afraid of some of the material which was out of their comfort zone - but in some of the movement tasks they lit up. Another time when I showed them a DVD clip of a Horton Technique warm-up series there was stunned silence and a ripple of nervous laughter covering their faces with their hands to shield their embarrassment. I had thought "Oh my... I've really put them off now!.." My friend commented that she like her own teenage daughter does that in order not to be noticed and is at that stage where they feel so uncomfortable about their bodies- which struck me because I got a sense from some of the students in my class despite the myriad of challenges and excuses even getting them to class is that they love to dance because it makes them feel... So.... my reflective question is that despite not wanting to be noticed and stick out from the crowd as different and blend into the status quo of other teenagers at school does the space I hold for them in the studio and during my session allow for them to 'feel' and in so doing not be noticed? or different? Does the space allow for that to happen? Does what I teach them despite being quite strange and new allow for them to explore movement that is different inviting them to be themselves or find themselves or their own language and interpretation in the movement? I find myself saying quite often that it is okay to get the movement wrong, that is how you learn and the space is safe for them not to feel the pressure of getting it right. For me the studio is a space where a process happens whatever the outcome and not worry about being watched, judged or seen to be different or noticed differently. I suppose for this student and for others not wishing to be seen in their initial response in class is a mask to their real desire to feel and my job therefore is to hold that space solely for them to feel and embody themselves through movement. It was strange but then I suppose I went through a similar phase of not wishing to be noticed but then I managed to get myself noticed on stage because it was there that I begun to 'feel'.....! Have a great Skype meeting everyone. Hopal

Pressing the re-set button

Apologies to for all not being able to Skype with you all last Sunday. I had to attend some training that fits around my freelance teaching work, and therefore it was necessary to go. There was some really useful stuff to learn and also things to notice as a tutor which I attribute to where I am placed at this stage of my learning and research project. Its interesting to see how much my noticing called upon the styles and practices especially around engaging young people and their learning practice through the medium of dance. My research in a nutshell is going to look at how a modern dance training and practice that I had experience as a young person and dancer (which became the catalyst for my subsequent career in dance to date) is relevant to the life choices, experiences and aspirations of young people today. Is what I teach young people fit for purpose? It was good to experience and absorb the type of learning on offer as it flagged up some questions about my own practice as a teacher and how I engage with my students when teaching. Whilst in the training session my thoughts turned towards fellow MAPPers pondering and reflecting on their journeys so far and how you all including myself begin to approach and start the next phase of our modules after concluding the previous ones with some much needed time to breath. For me I had to hit the re-start button. My journey stalled during the third module and I had to live with the impact of a decision to pause which, on reflection was a good move to refocus and galvanise, re-assess, re-read and in some cases not read at all to allow the flow of my thoughts to guide me to where I needed to be. It was a choppy and uncomfortable process admittedly and for a long while wondered whether I had the confidence and strength to re-boot and resume from the place where I stalled and overcome the notion of being left behind. I begun to question my learning and revisit some areas of my AOLs back in Module 1 plus vulnerable moments that triggered old fears and patterns . Pausing was in hindsight a great idea. I noticed that my reading had changed too and that what I had planned in my critical review to support my research project no longer had currency and didn't feel right for what it is I want to find out. As is my pattern in most things when the going gets tough I have to walk away and come back to it with a new, different and open perspective. This happened recently with one piece of critical review which looked at my research from an Africanist standpoint especially around the area of philosophy particularly reflecting on the writings of the late Esiaba Irobi (2006)where he talked about the " philosophy of the body as a site of transendant discourses, and used to regulate thought and feeling and ideas of identity within their cultures.." Cultures in this context Irobi reffered to include cultures that traversed from the diaspora of Africa across to Brazil, Latin America, the caribbean, the USA and United Kingdom. Attending and being present at the oral presentations in January of my cohort was a great way for me to re-set my thinking and feeling about my research project. It was a great opportunity for me to get to know and experience my fellow Mappers research and learn how they arrived at and tease out what it is they discovered. It was fascinating as links and references which they highlighted connected with me and gave me the much needed courage to re-set and revive. I finish this post with a quote yet again from Esiaba Irobi which encapsulates my thoughts, feelings about my philosophical stance and much needed pause to refresh my thinking as I embark on Module 3: "...I will highlight how the body itself, in African and African diasporic cultures, functions as a somatogenic instrument as well as a site of multiple discourses which absorbs and replays, like music recorded on vinyl, epistemologies of faith and power grooved into it by history. An Igbo proverb states that when we dance we express who we were, who we are, and who want to be. Time is compressed and telescoped telelogically to contain and express the past, the present and the future in one fluid kinaesthetic moment." Irobi, Esiaba (2006) Philosophy of the Sea