The Power of Twitter

I felt a blog was necessary as I have just been offered an internship, and how did I find out about it? Through a tweet! Before this opportunity came about I had only ever sent two tweets in my whole life. I purely used it for my curiosity into celebrities lives, and because everyone else had it so I felt left out! However, after this experience I can completely see how social networking allows you to get into contact with people, that might, in other circumstances be impossible. If it hadn't been for Twitter, the opportunity wouldn't have been opened out to such a wide spectrum of people. It would also not have been so easy to get in direct contact with the specific person so quickly.

I feel so happy to have been given this opportunity and felt that this blog was the perfect place to outlet my excitement!

This just proves to me how social networking can make the world, at times, seem like a very small place!

1a. The reader and my comments

Web 2.0 is defined as a tool of networking and communication.  It gives us the ability to interact, debate and share ideas with people globally, and blurs the line between the creator and the reader. It encourages and enables participation and reduces barriers such as money and time, allowing more people to get involved in the process of collaboration, sharing and interaction.

 As a young adult living in 2013, it is now the norm that I am exposed and participating daily with Web 2.0. I use Facebook and Twitter for my own personal enjoyment, and am now a keen blogger, posting my own opinions as well as reading, commenting and debating with others! Not only this, but when thinking strictly about myself as a lover of Musical Theatre, as well as an aspiring choreographer and teacher, Web 2.0 opens up to me a level of communication and interaction that can further my career in a way that would not have been possible before.

The reader talks about active and passive participation, in other words taking part in something as well as creating it. The modern idea of #hash-tagging is a perfect example of this. Anyone these days can create a #hash-tag, but depending on current affairs that week #hash-tags can trend, meaning they are used by thousands of people across the world. The creator of the ‘trend’ could be anyone, instantly uniting celebrities with us every day folk. Re-tweeting elaborates this further. I will always remember my friend’s excitement when she was re-tweeted by Lord Alan Sugar! In her everyday life her opinion would not matter to Lord Sugar, as they have no personal contact what so ever. However in a world where Web 2.0 is so important, Lord Sugar found her opinion important enough to re-tweet, therefore uniting these two people.

When reading through the reader I was very interested to find the following statistic; the average user (of Facebook) has 130 friends. This instantly got me thinking about the amount of friends I have on Facebook (over 900!), and how many of them I would call my actual friends, that I spend time with face to face. I reckon a little over a hundred of these people I see fairly regularly through work and socialising and about 30 of them I would consider my really close friends.  So what about the other 800 that I am exposing my day to day events too? In some ways this all can be seen as a positive. Facebook is allowing me to interact with friends that I don’t get to see often, as well as allowing us both to see what the other has been up to. But when thinking about it another way, Facebook is exposing my whole life to people that I might have been friends with once, but now have no contact with.

Looking at this idea in terms of my career, I am now hugely aware of my web ‘profile’ and how people in the Musical Theatre industry may view me.  In the reader Gruber talks about Web 2.0 being a place where your data can be searched, indexed and positioned to allow you to connect with other people. This means that someone interviewing me for a job can probably find out a lot more about me by simply typing my name into Google, than by meeting me for 10 minutes for an interview. A scary, yet very real thought...

Gruber also talks about the benefits of Google as it is very good at finding a message in a public forum in which someone has asked a question similar to ones query. I am guilty of using Google for this exact reason. The other day I needed a piece of instrumental music for contemporary dance I was creating. I simply opened up Google and typed ‘good instrumental contemporary dance music’ and was instantly faced with links to forums where people had asked a question similar to mine. Although this initially looked helpful, my search wasn’t specific enough and I ended up finding it a lot easier to simply browse on i-tunes. This opens up the debate about Web 2.0 against non web- based research such as newspapers and books. The obvious positives about Web 2.0, as well as Web 1.0 are that a lot of information is available to you very quickly. However, is this information always relevant? And it is healthy for today’s society to be constantly sitting in front of a computer rather than going out and seeking the information for themselves? Has that thirst for knowledge gone, or has that phase simply taken a different path?

1a. The importance of presentation...

Because I am an aspiring choreographer and teacher I quickly decided that I wanted to create a CV just for the work experience I have done related to this field. This then allows anyone reading my blog to see how my career is developing down a specific path. In addition to my choreographic and teaching CV, I also have my everyday working CV and my Spotlight CV. I was unsure whether to upload both of these as well as I felt that three may be a bit excessive! I checked out other people's blogs and found a mixture of CV's had been added. As I browsed through a few, I began to notice that some were easier to read and access information that others. At first I thought it was just the way they had been worded, but I then began to realise that it was also the layout and design that affected which ones I liked and which ones I didn't. This straight away got my mind thinking about the society we live in today, and the importance of presentation, against the importance of content. Which one is more valuable?

This sent me off on a tangent thinking about this in the Musical Theatre world. What is more important at an audition? If the person looks right for the part, or whether the person can actually play/sing/ dance the part? An ongoing and frustrating debate I feel...

From researching this further online I stumbled across this quote which although isn't linked to Musical Theatre, is very interesting in terms of CV's, and could be easily translated for an audition situation.

'...many CVs are immediately dismissed..., not because the person isn't a strong candidate (they never get to interview stage) but because the information in the CV is presented poorly...'*

For many, this statement is brutal but true. Although we like to pretend that our qualifications and experience will always be the most important thing, society now suggests otherwise. It's now not enough to just be able to do the job or play the part, you have to do it with such a style and look that sets you apart from others. Your image is vital. And your CV is stage one of your image.

Although I am fairly happy with the presentation of my CV's on my blog, I am not 100% convinced that they demonstrate my professionalism and my personality in it's entirety. This is hugely down to the fact that my computer skills are not developed enough yet to work out how to upload my CV's exactly how I want them. But I also feel that I should develop my research into this field in order for my CV to be the best it can be.




*http://www.odgersberndtson.co.uk/gb/news-knowledge/blogs/cfo-blog/post/the-importance-of-a-good-cv-2474/

1a. The development and comments on re-writing my CV

Before I re- wrote my CV for my profile, I had a browse around other people blogs on the BAPP course, to see the kind of style and approach people took. I discovered there was quite a varied range of profiles. Michelle Whitney's profile was structured almost like a story. It had a very warm, conversational tone and gave you a sense of her whole life, not just the years she has been training and performing professionally. I enjoyed reading it, but felt that sometimes it could have been slightly more consise, which is why I have not taken this approach directly. Jonny Howard used his profile to show his personality, adding light hearted jokes and comments. It completely contrasted with the layout and colour scheme of his blog, which is black in colour and very formatted, but I liked the contrast, as it showed his personal and professional side. Comedy personally isn't my strong point, and I am not very comfortable writing in that style, however I did find myself smiling when I read it. Georgie Bird stuck very strongly to her origional performance CV. She allowed the profile to flow, making it easy to read, but kept it very factual.

I re-wrote my CV in quite a similar way to Georgie. I tried to make the tone come across as warm and light, but kept very closely to my CV, allowing whoever is reading it to have a clear sense of what I have been up to and what I am doing now. I am thinking about adding a small paragraph on at the end, talking about what my goals and aspirations are, but I dont want the profile to feel to long and laboured. I am going to continue researching other peoples profiles, to see if they have a paragraph at the end about what they would want to do.

1a. The youtube video

Hello lovely people. Here is my youtube video, so check it out! Possibly one of the most surreal things I've done in a while... But was good to discover how to actually work youtube instead of just watch stuff on it I guess!

1a. The Flickr slideshow

Check out my Flickr lovely people...

1a. The choreographic and teaching CV

Iona Holland

Training        The Urdang Academy

2009-2012

National Diploma in Musical Theatre

Work Experience

January 2013- July 2013	Volunteer at the Chickenshed Theatre, specifically focusing on dance
September 2012 onwards	Dance practitioner for Chichester Festival Youth Theatre
17th October 2012	Choreographer for charity fundraiser event for Children on the Edge
April 2012- August 2012	Assistant Choreographer to Mark Smith on the Chichester Festival Youth Theatre’s production of Noah
February 2011	Speaker at CFYT Dance Workshop, speaking and advising  about Musical Theatre vocational training schools and the application process
15th- 19th August 2010	Dance Captain for the Chichester Festival Youth Theatre 42nd Street Workshop for Laura Doyle (choreographer)
July- September 2009	Choreographer for Chichester Festival Youth Theatre’s  Changing of the Guard routine for Lord Mayor Show in London and other events
December 2008	Dance Captain for Christmas Carol at Chichester Festival Youth Theatre  for Georgina Lamb (choreographer)

Work Experience gained whilst training at the Urdang Academy

February 2012- April 2012	Assistant choreographer to Matt Cole for the production of Merrily We Roll Along
June 2011-July 2011	Dance Captain for the production of Fiddler on the Roof, choreographer Imogen Knight
June 2011- July 2011	Dance Captain for the Dance show A Trip to your Heart, choreographer Stewart Goodwin

References

Dale Rooks	Chichester Festival Youth Theatre Director
Lisa Thorner	Head of Musical Theatre at the Urdang Academy

1a. The professional CV

Iona Holland

Training

 

Urdang Academy

Diploma in Professional Musical Theatre

2009- 2012

 

Vital Statistics

 

Equity number- 3333-5646-2957      

Hair Colour- Blonde

Build- Slim

Shoe Size- 4- 5

Playing Age-15- 25

Vocal Range- Mezzo

DOB- 20.08.1990

Nationality- British

Height- 5’ 6’’

Eye Colour- Green

  

Credits

Show	Role	Dir/ Cho	Venue/ Date
Olympic Closing Ceremony	Dancer	Kim Gavin	Olympic Stadium 2012
Noah	Assistant choreographer	Dale Rooks Mark Smith	Chichester Festival Theatre 2012
Sports Relief Internet Promotional Advert	Party Guest	Malcom Duffy	RSA Films Limited 2012
Merrily We Roll Along	Meg/ Mrs Spencer/ Assistant choreographer	Guy Unsworth Matt Cole	Urdang Academy 2012
Britain’s Got Talent	Resident Choir	SYCO	Foundation Studios 2011
Fiddler on the Roof	Shprintze/ Dance Captain	Michael Hawcroft Imogen Knight	Urdang Academy 2011
A trip to your heart- dance show	Dance Captain	Matt Cole Stewart Goodwin	Urdang Academy 2011
Chicago	Hunyak	Hannah Chissick Leanne Pinter	Urdang Academy 2011
Romeo and Juliet	Juliet	Beth Vyse	Urdang Academy 2010

 Accents

 R.P| General American| Cockney| New York| Southern American| General Northern|Australian 

Other Skills

 

Ballet| Jazz| Tap| Contemporary| Pas de Deux| Pointe work

Full clean Driving Licence