The oral presentation

So this time last week I did the final part of module 3- the oral presentation. I really enjoyed this experience as it was nice to finally be able to talk to a group of people about my inquiry and all that I had discovered and achieved. I thought it might be beneficial for anyone that has this part of the module to come to read my reflections on the experience.

* Make a clear, nice visual powerpoint, the fewer words the better!
I found that the powerpoints that weren't hugely descriptive and were used to bullet point the essence of the presentation were clearer than ones that had endless paragraphs. It was a struggle to read long quotes or sections from the inquiry. I also thought that pictures and photographs were also very effective where appropriate as it added an extra dimension and something else to look at.

* Stick to the 10 minute guidance time!
This was something a lot of people struggled with. With so much to say it's really hard to cram it all into 10 minutes. I think we were all surprised at just how short 10 minutes is! However, while I genuinely enjoyed listening to every individuals presentation, once it went over 12 minutes it was very difficult to not start clock watching. Shorter is better as it engages the audience for just the right amount of time.
I took my phone up with me so that the pressure of the stopwatch helped me. Mine was 10.31.

* Practice your presentation before hand!
About 3 days before the presentation I practiced and it came in at 23 minutes! I panicked! However, through a strict method of cutting and practicing I was able to edit my presentation down to the absolute essential points. I believe brought a clarity to my work and gave me more confidence in delivering it. I then pretended I was a final candidate in The Apprentice where you have to present your final business plan! This actually really helped to completely ingrain the presentation into my mind, but also meant I was well rehearsed and not as nervous for the real thing.
I also wrote down bullet points that I could follow during the presentation to help me stay on track.

* If you're struggling with how to structure your powerpoint then look in the handbook
In the final handbook of this course it gives you a suggested structure for your oral presentation. It is as follows:

Introduction

Methods of research

Evaluation of findings

Critical Review

Not everyone stuck to this structure and I don't think it mattered. I really enjoyed the variety of presentations and it was great to see different ways of talking about the various inquiries. However, myself and a few others in the room used this structure and for me personally it really worked . It was nice to have a guide that kept me on target and hopefully made my presentation clear and easy to follow.

*Believe and enjoy what you are talking about!
The presentations that stick out in my mind a week on are the ones where there was a real passion behind what was being said. I think above all you should have total confidence in what you are talking about as that will translate over to the other people in the room.

Overall I really enjoyed that afternoon of presentations. Here is the link to my powerpoint presentation . Nothing special but it worked alright for me!

The Professional Artefact

Here is the youtube link to my Professional Artefact. A lot of blood, sweat and tears went into this video and I can't express how relieved I am by the fact I can just upload the link!

Enjoy!

The end is fast approaching

So in 48 hours time I will have done my oral presentation and will have handed in all work needed for the final module of this course!

I can't quite believe how fast these last 15 months have gone. Looking back over the three modules it is incredible how much I have learnt and even more incredible how much of that learning has been subconscious.

The start of module one seemed like a minefield to me. I have never been very technical and the thought of pinning the majority of my degree on the computer and Web 2.0 seemed like a pretty silly idea. However, like all well thought out plans, this encouragement of using the computer more has benefited my knowledge and allowed me to learn skills that will enhance my career. Module one also sparked the interest into my chosen topic of research which has honestly been one of the most interesting academic projects I have created.

Module two allowed me to study my career from a completely different perspective. The physical demand being a choreographer puts on you means that I had little knowledge on the broader view of my career such as ethics and analysing my professional network. I found this module quite a struggle at the beginning as there was lots to take in for the first time and I had to do a lot of excess reading to fully get to grips with the themes and ideas. 

I was also very conscious that this learning was going to be the foundations of my professional inquiry and I wanted to give myself the best possible chance at making my inquiry the best it could be. The highlight of this module was writing my proposal. It took a long time to write and edit down but was highly rewarding to put together a well thought out plan that I was excited to carry out.

Module three seemed the shortest out of all the modules. I felt the gap between this module and the last was so small that there wasn't really anytime to breathe in between. In a way though I found this a good thing as it meant I kept up the momentum throughtout, particularly using the literature research to do it. However, I found the professional inquiry easier to put together than the professional artefact. I absolutely loved gathering the information to write the inquiry. Being able to interview professional choreographers as well as observe them was really interesting and the hours spent in the library researching and reading the literature was challenging but a good way to constantly keep me learning and focused. 

The professional artefact has been a challenge particularly from a technical point of view.  While I didn't find it hard to physically do the artefact, I found it incredibly challenging to use the computer software to compile a video and then send it over to be marked. I have tried to turn this experience into a positive by taking the opportunity to learn all about how to make videos and send them as I am aware how useful this skill could be in my career. The ability to be able to film choreography and then send it all over the world could increase my professional network, job opportunities and also be used to promote my work. 

But right now I need to focus on the oral presentation. Fingers crossed that it goes ok and that I do my inquiry justice. I have been working a lot on it but who knows what might come out of my mouth on the day! Wish me luck....

The feeling of relief and panic

So last week I handed in my inquiry and my professional artefact. The feeling of relief was overwhelming but also immediately followed with that sense of 'have I done enough'? 

As an overall experience I have really enjoyed creating and writing my inquiry. The opportunities it has brought to interview and observe amazing choreographers, as well as the chance for me to combine this with all my personal experiences has been so beneficial to my career as a young choreographer. Through this inquiry I have grown in confidence at my own ability and approach to choreography and teaching, as well as learning staggering amounts not just about each choreographers individual process, but also about their approach to the industry as well as choreographic techniques I can use in my work to enhance it.

My biggest challenge by far, has been physically creating and sending my professional artefact. After taking a while to work out how I was going to present my findings for the professional artefact, I finally decided (after a big discussion with Adesola) that I needed to document the phyiscal doing of choreography in order for this project to be most beneficial to me and my career. Therefore I decided to make a video documenting two different choreographic processes: one for contemporary and one for musical theatre. The filming of the video was enjoyable and it was really helpful for me to physically feel everything I had discovered and to see how my body and mind reacted to it. However, I then had endless amounts of trouble creating a video due to computer issues and so finally had to use PowerPoint as the tool to display my findings. Due to the size of the file this was then not able to be sent over the internet by ANY means.... Seriously, skydive, wetransfer, Dropbox- you name it I tried it! I eventually had to put it on a DVD disc and send it but the disc is very slow to load is requires unnecessary effort. 

While all this stress has brought me to tears several times, I have actually learnt a great deal from it. Adesola rightly pointed out that these type of computer skills are very much needed in my profession as a lot of artists use video to showcase themselves and their capabilities. I had never heard if wetransfer before this problem, nor had I spent the time to fully explore Dropbox or YouTube. Since this  problem, I have researched other software that creates videos. I have downloaded a newer version of movie maker onto my laptop (I tried this before and the software didn't work) and have remade my professional artefact incase it's needed in the future. While I am still have a problem with it, it has encouraged me to email tech savvy people that may be able to help in an attempt to boost my computer skills. 

Fingers tightly crossed I won't have such a stressful time in the future! 

The editing of my essay...

So I have just received the feedback from my first draft. In general, Adesola seemed very positive about my work, and gave me some really useful points of advice.

One thing I am particularly struggling with ( and have throughout this entire course) is being able to stay within the word count limit. I genuinely really connect with my inquiry and find I want to write in too much detail about everything. However, Adesola gave me some really good advice. She said

In terms of the word count I suggest you go through for extra words you don't need.  I have crossed some out to give examples of ones that could be cut. This is like the choreographic process!!! Getting rid of the parts that do not need to be there to still make your point - making a clean 'line'.

Directly linking my problem to my inquiry is a great way for me to look at this essay in general. With my topic I have been trying to strip away an unnecessary parts in the choreographic process, and get to the essence of it and why it might be. This is exactly what I need to do with the essay. 

This approach really helped me decide how to conduct my professional artefact as I took this advice and wrote down the three main ideas I needed to show and then thought about the best way to show it. 

While I am still struggling with the word count, my new attitude towards it will hopefully help me to make this essay as 'straight to the point' as it can be!

The planning of my critical reflection

So the interviews and observations I have been conducting have been really interesting and I am enjoying discovering and reflecting on my findings. Already certain themes are immerging, but I am also seeing a huge variety in the different choreographic processes I am learning about. I am beginning to try and analyse why this is, but I still have two interviews to complete so I am having to be patient.

Two days ago I wrote a detailed plan of my critical reflection, breaking down each advised heading into sub headings. This has really helped my essays in the past, as it ensures you cover all areas, but have a well thought out and strong structured essay. I feel a lot better now that I have done this, as I have a clear direction as to where my essay is heading. In addition to this I am now able to start writing an introduction as well as begin to draft out some of the rest of the essay. 

When it comes to the literature I have struggled a bit to know how to incorporate it into my essay without the clear structure of my essay to be hugely complicated. I am aware how important it is that the literature supports and also challenges your findings and so it needs to be constantly inter- woven into the anaylsis. However, I also feel it is appropriate to have a subheading of literature within the essay in order to set it up clearly and to allow it to be a strong feature of the reflection. 

My next stage within this process is to finish the last interviews and then finish cross referencing the data! 

The slight feeling of panic...

So I have completed a couple of observations, have two more interviews scheduled and am just trying to arranged the final interview. I am still aiming to have all interviews and observations done by March but I am feeling a little impatient! I feel a massive desire to start pulling all my information together and start writing, but I know that I am not ready yet....

In terms of literature I have categorised it all into sections and have read up on it to the point where I now need to cross reference it against my own personal discoverings.

Reading up on the creative process, there are many websites and books which try to categorise the process into sections. This final module feels a process of creativity and discovering and yet trying to put all my feelings and thoughts into a specific boxes or categories just doesn't seem to be working! When it comes to choreography, I do usually go through a stage where my thoughts are whirring and not in any type of order. However I also trust they will come together naturally. I am hoping this will happen with my final module, but right now it just doesn't feel like it. 

It's quite interesting to feel the difference in how my brain works when it comes to creating choreography and creating my final module work. Right now I can't work out why there is a difference, expect that maybe when it comes to creating choreography, the journey is so personal that I have more control over the outcome. But with this module I am learning about so many different people and so many different sources that it is taking longer for me to process everything. 

I am trying to see this new feeling as a positive thing, as I am learning so much about myself from this entire process, as well as so much about my chosen topic. I just wanted to document this feeling as writing it down has ironically helped me to organise my thoughts! 

The research so far...

So on Wednesday I went for an observation in the morning with one choreographer, and then an interview in the evening with another. It was such a great day, and my mind is already whirring with ideas and further questions! 

The observation took place at Chichester university where I watched a rehearsal for the third year musical 'Anything Goes'. Without going into specific detail about the background of the choreographer, I immediately picked up on a signature style of movement, which is similar to that of another choreographer I know. Knowing that both these men are good friends, and are about 10 years apart in age, I now am very keen to know the reasons behind the similarity. Training at the same place? Friendship? Working on jobs together? Coincidence? 

I am hoping to complete the interview in the next few weeks so fingers crossed I will find out! 

The interview I conducted was with a choreographer I work with as mainly his assistant. The interview was incredible as I learnt so much about his past and how he has got to the place he is today. His signature style of choreography has a very specific process and I think through re listening to the audio and looking over my notes, I will be able to use the literature, to analyse this process. Once I have conducted some more interviews, I will be able to then cross reference against each other and find the similarities and differences.

Although I stil have a lot of research to do, I feel pleased that I have kick started the investigation, and that I am already drawing out interesting ideas... I can't wait to interview and observe more choreographers and see what I discover! 

The skype coffee morning

So this morning Adesola, Megan, Ruth and myself had a great skype session. Even though each if us were in different modules, I found it was really helpful discussing a couple of things I needed to talk through...

Generally I think we all feel that feeling a lot of us get at the beginning of each module- an uncertainty that you don't fully understand the tasks. I think just by being able to talk through these concerns and realise everyone felt the same really helped all of us!

Adesola reminded us that the design of this course encourages us to think like a community- all helping and supporting each other and using Web 2.0 to do this. This comment, combined with other comments made by Megan and Ruth re- opened my eyes to this way of thinking. I think as you start your dissertation proposal at the end of module 2 and enter module 3 everyone focuses on their own inquiry's and it easy to neglect getting involved with other peoples work. This morning before our skype session, I had a read of a few peoples blogs and realised that I hadn't done it in a while. I found some really interesting ideas coming out, and I think I need to get back into this mind set once again.

By being involved with other peoples inquiry, I will not only enrich my own learning, but I may be able to give ideas and opinions to help others. I'm glad that I have realised early on into this module that I have slightly neglected this mindset as now I can really benefit from it for the rest of my final module. 

The start of module 3....

So having started my dissertation proposal with a huge case of 'writers block', I am happy to say that I have passed module two and am actually quite happy with how the proposal turned out (although the marks might say otherwise!).

Reading over my feedback from Adesola, a few things have already jumped out at me. 

The first important piece of feedback I was given was to work realistically within the time frame and to not try and set myself an unrealistic challenge. This comment stemmed from the fact that I wrote in my proposal I wanted to interview 6-8 different people. Adesola has advised me to concentrate my time on 4 people and maybe interview them more than once to monitor development. I think my enthusiasm for interviewing more is due to the fact that I love the topic and therefore want to interview as many people as possible! But due to the time frame of the module, I completely agree with this comment and have decided to do a much more focused set of interviews. 

Secondly Adesola commented on my use of literature. While she said my choices were strong and well thought out, she also reminded me that 

It is important to see the literature as supporting your analytical process

This is something that I am a bit nervous about. I have been using the last few weeks to go to the library and further my knowledge of the literature around my topic. While I am very interested in my discoveries, I am also a bit unsure how to use them. I feel that my inquiry will work better if I interview the choreographers first, and then do the literature reviews as this way they will be woven together. However I must use my time wisely and continue to go to the library throughtout the interviews to make use of the time . I am off there today so fingers crossed I discover some worthwhile pieces of writing...

The third point Adeosla talk about is analysis. She says the following...

You suggest using coding to look for themes across the interviews and that you will look at these themes in terms of the literature and of course your own experience. This use of triangulation is key to the inquiry.

This triangulation of analysis is something that I need to constantly remind myself of. At the end of the day, this inquiry is for my own personal benefit and so I must constantly remember to draw on my own experiences and not just make the analysis between the interviews and literature. I'm also hoping this way of thinking will help me weave the literature into my findings. 

Finally, Adesola advises me about how I should see myself in the inquiry. She reminds me that I should not be afraid of the fact that I am in the research and I must use this. 

As you progress in the inquiry do not be afraid of the fact you are IN the research. This is the nature of qualitative research the important point is to be aware of your own presence in what you are doing: finding your voice in the research. After all the heart of the inquiry itself is the same  about understanding where the choreographer is in the choreographic process / understanding where the researcher is in the research process. Locating ‘I’ this will be the most valuable to you across creative processes.

Looking back over all the points from Adesola, I have noticed that there are two themes. This first is to be realistic with your research and plan your time efficiently. This is something that I think I can do well as I am an organised person, and with a slightly altered mind set towards the interviews, I think I can use my time wisely.

The second point made is how I use myself in this inquiry and also how I find my voice in this line of research. This is something I might struggle with more, however is the most valuable. I feel that phrase 'all the gear and no idea' could be applied to me right now. I have all the feedback and resources but I am still a bit unsure of how to actually do the task. However, I have had this feeling at the beginning of both previous modules and eventually I have got the hang of it. My plan is to have a skype session with Adeosla next week to discuss ideas, keep stimulating discussions on the Facebook page and also look over the archive of past blogs to help me kick start module 3.

Wish me luck! 

The Reflective Essay

This is my Reflective Essay for Module 2!

The Award Title

So after giving it much thought, as well as asking opinions of colleges, friends and peers, I think I have decided that I want my award title to be

BA (Hons) Professional Practice (Choreography and Performing Arts)

I feel this award title is suitable for many reasons. Firstly my diploma is a Diploma in Musical Theatre from The Urdang Academy, which already shows I have well rounded training in that area from a very well established vocational school. 

I was originally going to go with the title of Dance, but after much thought I have decided that I am already focusing my career and dissertation on choreography, and feel it will be very beneficial to the direction of my career to have choreography in the award title. 

Finally, I have added performing arts to the title because I want to show the field of work my career is heading, without limiting myself to a specific genre. I felt 'choreography' on it's was too vague, but together with 'performing arts' clearly shows what my strengths are without being too specific.