Researching and Reviewing Different Literature

I started this task of reviewing and researching different literature by reading Paula’s blog on ‘The Dinner Party: Literature for your Critical Review in M3’. I had to read the post a few times in order for it to sync in and understand the idea in this way. The concept gave a storyline to what we are working on and how it should develop during the module much like a dinner party does. 

For a dinner party you choose your guests, invite them for dinner, greet them when they arrive, have dinner, discuss common interests, and what is going on in each others lives. After the evening has finished you feel like you have a better understanding of what is going on with everyone.  

Our research is similar as we pick our the relevant literature that is related to our inquiry. We discuss our opinions, knowledge and ideas with others and by the end of it we have learnt more about the subject we were inquiring about. However like some dinner parties we could come out of the end with more questions and resolved issues that need more exploration. This can come however as we further our careers down this route. 

Here is a ‘table plan’ of my literature….. 

Table Plan

These are the main areas of my research:

Touring performing arts shows, Culture, Production, Analysis, Questions, Interviews, Ethics

For each of these areas I have started to gather different sources to research further to improve my inquiry, these are to follow……

Researching and Reviewing Different Literature

I started this task of reviewing and researching different literature by reading Paula’s blog on ‘The Dinner Party: Literature for your Critical Review in M3’. I had to read the post a few times in order for it to sync in and understand the idea in this way. The concept gave a storyline to what we are working on and how it should develop during the module much like a dinner party does. 

For a dinner party you choose your guests, invite them for dinner, greet them when they arrive, have dinner, discuss common interests, and what is going on in each others lives. After the evening has finished you feel like you have a better understanding of what is going on with everyone.  

Our research is similar as we pick out the relevant literature that is related to our inquiry. We discuss our opinions, knowledge and ideas with others, and by the end of it we have learnt more about the subject we were inquiring about. However like some dinner parties we could finish the evening with more questions and unresolved issues that need more explanation. 

Here is a ‘table plan’ of my literature….. 

Table Plan

These are the main areas of my research:

Touring performing arts shows, Culture, Production, Analysis, Questions, Interviews, Ethics

For each of these areas I have started to gather different sources to research further to improve my inquiry, these are to follow……

http://paulanottingham.blogspot.co.uk

Experiences - I want to hear about yours!

One of aspects I wanted to improve on was to get more involved with the BAPP community. I have a good network in my own professional community, but would also like to know what everyone’s insight is on the BAPP course. 

Most of us have come from a performing arts background and I would like to hear about some of your experiences of performing and particularly if anyone has performed aboard or in an environment with different culture?

My main inquiry is about performers experiences of touring in different cultural settings: Life on and off stage.

I would love to hear about any of your own experiences, however small or big it is!!

My general interests are looking into:

 Do people think there is a difference from touring a show aboard to touring a show in the UK?

If there are any differences is this regarding life on stage or off stage? 

I have written briefly about some of my experiences in a previous blog, please take a read and I would love to know other peoples experiences…..

Thank you 

Catch Up with Paula

After reviewing my feedback and having a one to one with Paula, I have gained three valuable areas that I need to improve on in module 3: 

1). Sources and Literature - I was struggling to find different resources and literature that related to my inquiry directly. Paula has helped me to understand that it is possible to research different aspects of the inquiry and cross reference the ideas to gain more from the research. Rather than giving up after not finding the exact topic in question, I need to think outside the box, so I can further my knowledge on my particular topic. 

2). Discussing my inquiry with other people on the BAPP Course - As we are all doing different topics and our subject areas in question are all very different, I find it quite difficult sometimes to add anything to what other people on the course are working on. I am sure it is probably the case the other way round as well. However there is still a lot to gain from other peoples perspectives and experiences. I am looking forward to discussing with others what they are working on, and I hope it will help me further with my inquiry.  

3). Time-Keeping - At the end of Module 2, I had ran out of time to complete the module to the standard that I had wanted to. I started the module later as I could not decide what to do my inquiry on as there were so many areas I wanted to explore within my Professional Practice. This module however, I am going to make sure I keep on top of my work and do not get behind. 

Overall after reflecting with Paula, I have a clearer understanding of what is expected during this Module and how I can achieve it. 

My Experiences on Tour

I thought I would write a brief blog about the experiences I have had on tour. First of all I love touring. When I started dancing I never thought I would enjoy touring with a show as I enjoyed my home comforts too much, however when I was given the opportunity I thought I would give it a go. 

I am so glad that I did. Although touring can be very gruelling, the amount you learn is irreplaceable! 

Whilst touring not only do you get to travel and see the world, you are able to try new foods, experience a different culture, and attempt at speaking another language. I have also found that touring can make you a much stronger dancer. It can make you more flexible with the way you adapt to your surroundings. The stages, theatres and staff can all be so different from each theatre you perform in, you have to learn to adapt quickly to the different ways in which people work. 

Another great but not always so great aspect is spending most of your time with a cast. It can be amazing to get so close to your cast, you get to spend a lot of time together that not a lot of other work places do, however this can also be difficult if you don't always see eye to eye with everyone. 

Here is a link below which is a great insight to surviving touring…..

http://www.dancespirit.com/uncategorized/road_warriors_surviving_life_on_tour/ (1)

A fascinating area that I have noticed can effect your experience and the performance is the culture you are surrounded by. Here are some of the examples of my experiences whilst touring that have had to be changed or altered to fit in the countries social norms….

During my two tours of China I noticed a lot of differences in culture. Firstly the language barrier - not only could we not speak Mandarin, we could not even translate any of the text, as they have symbols rather that letters it can prove to be very difficult when communicating. Getting to places and ordering food was often very challenging, although there were some very amusing moments, a lot of the time it was very difficult to get any food that was what you had ordered or what you needed, not the best when you are dancers and need to have a particular diet. When words are translated they are not always exact and can end up looking like this…..

                                                                 Menu (2)

Another area that I mentioned in module one was about the access of communication China has. China is quite a strict country in terms of social media and the internet. When I went there last year a lot of the main social media websites had been blocked and so had some of the search engines. This made communicating with loved ones at home and even doing the work for the BAPP course extremely difficult. I wasn’t even able to get onto my emails as my account is with ‘Gmail’. This then gives an extra  annoyance on tour when you are not able to use the same applications that you can use at home. Luckily I had been pre warned by other performers that had experienced this before, however I couldn’t help but think that if they had not warned me how much harder everything would have been.    

Another cultural difference I had noticed with regards to the show performance, was that within the Chinese culture they find it unacceptable for the show to go up late, sometimes even starting the show early. Although it is in our culture not to start a show late, however we would never dream of starting a show without the main performers ready to go on. This was not the case in China. On several occasions we had gone up early and performers were not ready and had not warmed up efficiently, this did not help as a lot of the Chinese theatres are very big, it was difficult for them to heat up. This was dangerous for us as our bodies would not be warm enough to dance full out, and would higher the risk of injury. In UK however this would have been sorted as soon as possible as it would effect the health and safety regulations, which China do not enforce. 

On the flip side of China, whilst performing in Israel the situation was the complete opposite. We never started a show on time. Within their culture it is customary to wait until most of the audience had arrived which would be late every single time. This was also not ideal as we were made to be ready for the set start time but would not start until at least 30 minutes to an hour later. This also can affect the warming up process as you end up waiting around and cooling down again. It also meant we arrived back at the hotel later and our breaks between shows were shorter. There was one incident where we had a triple show day and wanted to go up on time so we could unsure we had the right amount of rest time between shows, however this did not happen and a disagreement occurred. This was an example of a clash of social norms and values as in our culture it is against our own health and safety laws and seen as unprofessional to go up so late with a show.  

One other area I have experienced is going to countries where you need to cover up your body. In Israel there were particular parts of the country that we had to cover our shoulders, knees, chest and stomach out of respect to their culture. In Qatar the country in predominately muslin, therefore for our performance we had to alter our costumes so our bodies were covered appropriately. 

From my experiences I have realised that understanding a different culture and accepting the differences between you in order to get along is essential, particularly when working together. Although touring can be very challenging because of the differences, it is also amazing to learn more and adapt to a different life that is on tour. 

References

1)

http://www.dancespirit.com/uncategorized/road_warriors_surviving_life_on_tour/

2) Photo of a Chinese menu, photograph taken my myself. 

Task 4b

Hello Everyone! Here is my SIG community about touring shows. As this is the area in which my career has all been about. I wanted to look into further detail the different areas that make a touring show successful and whether touring in different countries with different cultures affects the show on a larger scale on stage and off stage. 

I originally created my SIG on my google plus account however I realised I had not got much of a response from people. Although I had my fellow BAPP students, people from my professional community did not have a google plus account therefore I was limiting the responses to find out opinions from people in the same industry as myself. Therefore I have decided to create a SIG on Facebook, which a larger number of people have access too. 

Here is a link to my Special Interest Group…… Please join as I would appreciate any insights people may have on this topic: ……… 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/554471681367565/

Task 4a

After reviewing Reader 4 on Developing Lines of Professional Inquiry I have reviewed my previous thoughts on the route of inquiry I was going to look into, which was maintaining a professional dance career. I wanted to incorporate the work I had previously done in Module one and use the topic area of what I love doing the most (touring) into my line of inquiry. There was a particular paragraph that made me understand what the inquiry should be based around, ’The term inquiry implies that you are examining what you do in order to ‘ask the right questions’ so that you will have a more-in-depth understanding of the presence and interaction of theory and practice. Inquiry based learning expects the adult learner to engage with relevant problems and scenarios, draw on existing knowledge, seek out new evidence, and analyse and present that evidence in appropriate ways’ Kahn and O’Rourke, 2004.  

From this I want to look into further detail the different areas that make a performing arts touring show successful, looking at the performers experiences on and off stage. As explained in Reader 4, I want to use my own experiences and knowledge to gain more information on this topic area. I decided to develop and talk through some ideas with my Dance Captain, to get her insight on the topic and whether she saw it relevant in our workplace. I started by asking her the following questions and here were her responses:

1). What do you enjoy about touring with a show? The aspect I enjoy the most about touring is being in different places and not knowing what it’s going to be like, almost like a new challenge each time. 

2). What don’t you enjoy about touring with a show? I don’t like living out of a suitcase and taking my stuff around with me everywhere. 

3). Are there any aspects that are easier/better when touring a show rather than staying in house? I wouldn’t necessarily say that anything is easier when touring, however there isn’t much boredom whilst touring as each place is usually so different and therefore it is more exciting. 

4). Are there any aspects that are harder/worse when touring rather than staying in house? There are a lot of aspects that are harder whilst touring, one mainly being not knowing what place you are going to and not knowing what the facilities and staging is going to be like. The travelling and tiredness are also very overwhelming on tour. 

5). What could be improved in performing arts touring shows, with regards to the performers experience on and off stage? Depending on the company you work for and the conditions that you are in, but mainly it could be improved by the preparation that goes into the tour. Knowing what to expect when it comes to the culture you are touring around, what the food is going to be like is a particularly big factor, as a dancers’ diet is very important for nutrition and wellbeing in order to look after our bodies and to prevent injuries. Knowing what the rules and regulations are also very important in order to know how to behave and what you can wear. 

After discussing with my Dance Captain her thoughts I have noticed that culture could play a big part in the experiences of dancers whilst on tour. This is something I would like to explore more. 

There is a section within Reader 4 that talks about the idea of a ‘transdisciplinary’ approach with regards to knowledge. ‘Transdisciplinary’ means ‘a wider scope of understanding that crosses the boundaries of disciplines.’ Reader 4, p.10. The idea discusses how it can be useful to use knowledge from different disciplines to help with another. For example the success of a touring show is not just about how good the performance is but it’s success can depend on the marketing and advertisement the show has had in each area, how much the ticket prices are, the accessibility to get to the show, the conditions of tour life etc. Therefore it is important to use your knowledge from different disciplines in order to gain a wider knowledge. Gibbons et al. initiated an idea called ‘Mode 2’ this is mainly referred to in scientific inquires however one of the points of Mode 2 helped me understand this term a lot more, ‘2. Mode 2 knowledge production is transdisicplinary, which means it uses a range of theoretical perspectives and practical methodologies to solve problems […]’ (Gibbons, 2008, online). When I first read about this I was very closed minded and thought that the workplace I work within is in a disciplinary context and not transdisciplinary, however after discussing with my Dance Captain and answering the questions in Reader 4  she made me see that there are different aspects to our professional practice that can cross into different disciplines.  Although this is possible it is an area I could improve in for my own professional practice to explore a different side to the area that I work in. Looking at these questions in Reader 4:

Do you work within a disciplinary context in the arts? Or is your situation transdisciplinary?

Dancing is disciplinary, however when looking at performing arts touring shows, it is transdisciplinary. Touring involves, marketing, advertising, business, and logistics. 

What do you know?

My skills are in dancing and my wellbeing (looking after my body to prevent injuries) and the choreography for the shows. 

How do you know it?

I have has the appropriate training and rehearsing needed. 

Make a brief list of your competencies and capabilities.

• The ability to perform a wide range of dance styles
• Knowledge of different dance styles
• The ability to learn new choreography
• Knowledge of health and nutrition 

What knowledge and skills do you think you will need for the future? 

I will need to learn how to prepare more efficiently for tours and have a wider knowledge of the business side of a tour. 

Looking at Martyn Denscombe insight on what the propose of the inquiry topic might act to do helped me to pin point what I would possibly want to do. The options were:

Forecast some outcome?

Explain the causes or consequences of something?

Criticize or evaluate something?

Describe something?

Develop good practice?

Empower a particular group (2002, p. 41)

After researching what I would like to base my inquiry on, I will go back and look at these questions to help pinpoint what I am planning for my inquiry. 

References

Reader 4, Middlesex University