Presentation and Journey Reflection

As I'm unable to make the presentation days at the campus next week I did my oral presentation over skype a few days ago therefore I wanted to share a few things with you all to round up what I have learnt over this course. Throughout the course I have found visual learning to help me the most as I find I remember things and understand them more clearly when they are interesting to look at. So firstly here is the enlarged mind map which shows the main subject findings of my inquiry:

You can see I colour co-ordinated them to help visually. The following colours link with my four inquiry questions:
"What do show directors believe the purpose/function of a dance show is?"
"What do show directors believe their role is in relation to the dance production?" 
"How does the process of directing a dance show begin?"
"What are the key steps to creating a dance production?"

Along with this I wanted to share with you the things I have learnt that help me as a professional:

• Understanding the importance of beliefs and implementing them into the work.
• Dancer-director relationship is improved when there is an understanding of the ideas/rationale behind the actions.
• Understanding the vision behind the production can improve performance.
• Communication is important.
• Taking initiative in trying new choreographic approaches during rehearsals can help the creative process.
• Being aware that there are different versions of the truth and embracing these.
• Question and analyse work situations to seek new insights - create a second head to stand back from the situation and question what is usually assumed to be "truth".
• To test the assumptions implicit in my practice.

In my presentation I was questioned on my choice of the word 'director' and not 'choreographer'. Firstly both of my interviewees have the official job title of 'director' of these productions within my workplace hence why I used this term. They have the responsibility and final say for everything in the shows - including aspects such as lighting, costumes and scenery. To me and my own practice I know the term choreographer to be specifically related to the creating movement discipline. Adesola pointed out that a choreographer is usually not implicit to just movement especially in present time although in my theatre 'director' is how they are known. As my theatre's first language is not english either there are translation differences too. 

I was also questioned on the relation between beliefs and behaviours. "Are they not the same thing?". My inquiry aim was to explore what the beliefs were to try and understand the reason for specific actions - as a dancer we are given movement to dance to but aren't always necessarily told where this idea came from or why this movement? The same with the methods director's use. I found literature in my inquiry that stated beliefs and ideas are very closely linked to behaviours. I didn't explore this in huge depth as had so much to cover in my inquiry. I believe they are not always the same thing. For example looking at the dancers beliefs and actions - sometimes you are taught something and you just do it even if your own beliefs and ideas are different. Adesola's said this was applicable to a dance student. I agree that this is the transition between being a dance student and becoming a dance professional- being able to 'think' as as well as just 'do'.

I have really enjoyed my learning journey on this BAPP course and I feel it has already helped me in my own professional practice. I feel I have acquired knowledge that will also be very beneficial to my future practice and have found more pathways to acquiring further knowledge later if I choose to do so. The future is exciting. 

Final Artefact

Following on from my last blog I wanted to share with you my final artefact as it encompasses so much of what I have learnt in a slightly more compact way than the 6000 word critical review! I hope you enjoy reading it and can take something from it that may help your own practice:

Artefact

As our deadline is approaching I am focusing most of my attention on the artefact. My inquiry is looking into the creative process of a dance production and so I decided to create an academic poster to highlight the key points that I discovered and that I think would be of interest and benefit to others. I want to highlight that this poster is not an advert, but something from which people can learn from.

I chose this topic because as a dancer I have had a lot of involvement in the creation of new productions but from only one perspective. I wanted to gain insight on the directors' thoughts and actions because this is a role I possibly look to do in my future career.

Because of this I had some difficulty deciding on my target audience as I do not claim to be an expert in this domain. I simply wanted to share with people what I had learnt during this process to hopefully aid my audience's own practices too. Creating an academic poster for my own workplace may have raised slight ethical concern as although the directors I interviewed gave consent for me to use their quotes, this did not include referencing their names. It would be easy for my colleagues to work out who these quotes were from.

I finally came to the decision to aim this poster at those of you also on the BAPP course and other people within dance looking for more information in this domain. For example this may include dance school teachers wanting to put on their own school productions.

I am now onto the final stages of my artefact - the design. I feel I have the right content but although I am one form of artist, I am am far from a design artist. I am currently using powerpoint which has been good but formatting the background isn't so great. I wondered is there a better platform than powerpoint to do this on?

I'd be very grateful for any ideas you all have.

Review of Interviewing Process

Now my interviews are complete. I have all the relevant data and I actually really enjoyed the process. Going back to my last post prior to the interviews, I found this structure was suitable. However, during my 1st interview I felt the director was quite taken aback by my first question 'What do you believe a ballet show is for?' He really had to think about this and I found that such a big question to begin with put him out of his comfort zone. Having the feedback from Bernie on my last blog and the use of the article she posted I decided to start my second interview with a less complex question that focused more on the director's background. This better as it helped the interviewee seem more at ease to begin with.I really enjoyed the conversational approach as it made the whole process less formal and therefore I was able to gather more information.

The second interviewee was extremely busy and was not able to have a face to face interview with me in the end. He suggested I pre - record the interview questions and when he had time he would reply in the same manner. I was slightly dubious to that this would work well but after consulting with my SIG we agreed that it would be more effective than a rushed fact to face interview.
It was! And he really went into depth on the themes I had asked him to discuss which was very beneficial. He also sounded quite relaxed - again a lot more than in a rushed face to face interview was likely to be.

What is 'entertainment'?

So amidst interviewing and researching into practitioners beliefs on the purpose of creating a production the work entertainment came up numerous times. It led me to thinking what actually is entertainment? People enjoy different things when the watch a show correct? So what is it people refer to when they talk about entertainment?

One piece of literature separated entertainment into 2 parts involving enjoyment which is often associated closely with amusement or comedic entertainment and appreciation which is usually linked with thought provoking entertainment. (Oliver and Bartsch, 2011) To put this into context a romantic comedy film may elicit enjoyment but not necessarily appreciation whereas a circus act sawing a woman in half may generate appreciation but not necessarily enjoyment.

To me personally I am entertained by a production that evokes an emotional reaction regardless of the specific emotion it reacts. I find the entertainment that does this to be the most memorable. I'd be interested to learn your views on what you believe entertainment is and what are you most entertained by in dance production? x

Theatre Roles

In my inquiry I am mainly focusing on the directors of two productions however there are many more people are involved in this process. I am focusing on the creative side. To truly understand the idea of collaboration between these departments and how they relate with each other I thought I would write this blog to give an idea of what their separate jobs entail. This is based on the creative roles within the theatre that I work in. Sometimes the individual responsibilities vary depending on the theatre/production etc. but here is a brief overview. Some are self explanatory but wanted to show that all are involved.

A) Personnel
• Director – 'A person who is in charge of an activity, department, or organization'.
It is the director's role to create the vision for the whole production and communicate it to everybody involved. Final decisions will be made by them. When staging the production it is the director who tells people where to stand, how to react etc. They are the head collaborator and bring everything and everyone together.
Often the director of a dance production is also the choreographer. The choreographer creates the steps to music needed for the various artists to perform and rehearses them during the rehearsal period.

• Conductor - A person who directs the performance of an orchestra or choir.
It is their role to rehearse the orchestra and choir, and communicate the set tempos of the music. They can also be responsible for arranging the music in the necessary format. They will collaborate with the director/choreographer on the tempo adjustments and the artists on the stage take the music cues from them.

• Designer-  A person who plans the look or workings of something prior to it being made, by preparing drawings or plans.
There are often numerous designers involved in any one production. It is their role to create the visual idea for their respective department (ie. lighting, set and costume). They are also responsible for making sure it does not hinder the artists on stage. For example the costumes are not too long, the set is not in the way, the lighting does not restrict the eyesight. They will collaborate a lot with the director in bringing ideas forward to aid the vision.

• Dancer- A person who dances or whose profession is dancing.
It is their role to learn the steps the choreographer gives and perform them. Sometimes they are needed to act in scenes. They are usually taught the choreography in the studio and have a set period of studio rehearsals. They then come together with the other personnel closer to the premiere for stage rehearsals. This is where everything is set in the stage space - all personnel involved.

• Singer- A person who sings, especially professionally.
It is their role to learn the songs and perform them. Sometimes they too are needed to act in scenes. They are given the music and have to learn the lyrics. The conductor rehearses them in the studio then alike the dancers, in stage rehearsals their movement within the space is set.

• Actor/Actress - A person whose profession is acting on the stage. 
Their role is to learn the lines, interpret their character and perform it. Sometimes they are needed to sing and dance also. They too begin with studio rehearsals and come together with everybody closer to the show. This is when they learn entrances and exits from wings etc.

• Instrumentalist - A player of a musical instrument
Their  play the instruments that make up the orchestra. They have to learn the music, the dynamics necessary and perform them. Usually during the last couple of weeks leading up to the premiere, they come together with the artists onstage to run everything through and make the changes necessary.

• Dresser - A person whose job is to look after theatrical costumes and help actors to dress.
They are a member of the costume department and their role is to bring all the costumes for the productions to the dressing rooms and help dress the artists. They are also accountable for minor adjustments needed. If there is a wardrobe malfunction onstage they will be the people to solve it.

B) Departments

• Ballet- The ballet company have their own ballet productions (i.e Gatsby) but are also involved in other productions that may have dance numbers in them, such as the musicals and operas. They have their own Artistic Director who usually chooses and brings in the directors for specific shows. They also have ballet masters/mistresses who give ballet class to the dancers each morning and rehearse them before for the show.

• Choir- The choir are involved in any production that needs singing. This will always include the operas and musicals, sometimes drama pieces and they have been known to be used in the dance productions in the background as extra bodies to help fill the stage. They sometimes have a choir master who will rehearse them but the conductor is the overall head of music.

• Drama- The Drama department alike the ballet also have their own productions. They too are needed sometimes for the musicals and operas. Especially those of them who can sing too. They are usually character roles in these productions. It is the drama department that we (the ballet company) collaborate with the least as often their shows are very different from ours.

• Costumes- The costume department makes all the costumes necessary for the production being created. They have different sections. The fitting rooms is where the artists have their costumes personally measured and where they make the costumes from scratch. The storage is where they store all of the costumes previously used in shows and where the dressers for each show put the costumes after being used.

• Set & Props - The set and prop department are in charge of buying, making and bringing all the necessary props for the production and creating the set. Large pieces of scenery are produced and painted all under the direction of the set designer.

• Stage Crew- They are the people 'behind the curtain' who are in charge of setting the stage prior to a show or rehearsal, moving scenery during the show, putting props in the necessary places and making sure the stage itself is safe to work on.

There are obviously many more roles involved but these are the main creative ones involved. Without the collaboration between all of them most productions would not happen and certainly not to the standard of which they do.

Interview Questions

So I have been preparing my interview questions and feel I'm quite close to being set. So thought I would share with you how I came to these questions and my process.

As this is my main data gathering tool I really need to be sure I am able to gather all the relevant information needed. Here are pictures of my notes so you can grasp some of my thoughts. I began with my inquiry questions and explored them further, adding sub-questions in order to gain a deeper understanding and evidence of what I am looking into:

The first two parts to my interview are semi structured questions with room for flexibility yet specific to the areas I want answered. The third part of my interview is a lot more open and as you can see I have noted subject topics that I wish to explore. I feel the semi-structured questions would not work as well for this section as the areas I explore will be based on what my interviewee is expressing.

I would be really grateful for your feedback and input on my questions. Are there any changes you would make?
I plan to use the voice recorder on my phone to record the interviews and there may a possibility for me to film them.

Update!

So having deferred a term due to time scheduling in my theatre and now I am back blogging. Having looked at my inquiry plan I have decided to change it very slightly so here is my formal update:

Instead of focusing on the two separate productions of different sizes I have decided to make my focal point the two different directors of the productions. I feel immediately this makes my inquiry more specific and that way I can be thorough in answering my aim and inquiry questions.

My aim is to explore the perceptions of dance production directors on the process of putting together a production. So rather than just looking at what their actions are I want to understand how they conceptualise the process, and therefore the reasoning behind their actions. 

In pursuing this form of inquiry I acknowledge that there will not be a ‘definitive answer’. Instead I wish to identify ideas and ways of thinking that I can reflect on and analyse, and use to inform my (and my audience’s) practice further.

My current inquiry questions are:
• What do show directors believe the purpose/function of a dance production is?
• What do show directors believe their role is?
• How does the process begin?
• What are the key steps in creating a dance production?

My method is to interview in depth two directors (both of whom are at different stages within their careers) of the two contrasting productions within my workplace in order to gain meaningful understanding of their thinking/ideas/thought processes and consequently their actions. 

I intend to 
• Gather data from my subjects using semi structured interviews and observation sessions
• Triangulate that information with my own impressions and reflections from working with the     subjects. This will be excerpts from my journal.
• Compare and relate the above data with relevant subject literature.
• Integrate my findings to identify possible areas for me to focus on for my future development.

Although I'm a little apprehensive about this upcoming term I now feel I am ready to get 'stuck in' and will firstly be looking further into literature pieces for comparisons. I have a few good pieces especially regarding the actions taken during the process but I have actually found it surprisingly hard to find literature specifically based on the ideas and thought processes behind the creation of a production. I will be looking further into this.
I will also be starting to get the relevant permission and consent from those involved in my inquiry.

Hope your all beginning to get back into things and not too apprehensive (like me). Would love to hear any thoughts ideas you have.
Good Luck for the next term!
Emma x