Artefact

Hello Module 3 :)

So I feel like  there is alot of people panicking about the artefact and not having a clue what to do for it. I had a skype call with Adesola on Sunday 4th and she said a phrase which has stuck with me as it was very useful and feel like everyone needs to hear ...

"If the artefact has anything to do with paper and writing then it won't be as strong as it could be. Think of the artefact as a piece of art."

Adesola gave me this example ...

As one of my key themes is about body image she suggested to get a mannequin and stick things on it e.g. the quote off my mum about love and support should be stuck on the heart and the bad things on dance should be stuck on the stomach because it makes you feel sick.

This example really did make me think about what I could do ..

Taking Adesola's example of 'enlarging' one of my key themes, I took a look at my other key themes I could base my artefact around. Throughout my interviews it came to light that money within the dance industry is very short so I thought I would use this as my base theme. I am going to make (somehow) a large, open wallet (i'm thinking maybe cardboard and paper mache). Where the cards in a wallet go, each one will have easy to read points about a theme. Each 'bank card' will have a different key theme. Where the money notes go will be a couple of pieces of paper one about how I conducted my interviews and other about how I analysed my work.

I hope this helps someone! I think I have my work cut out over Christmas :)
And if anyone has any tips on how I could create this, please feel free to share! My artistic skills aren't the best haha.


Happy bloggin!

Body image surrounding dancers

Hi bloggers,

Just thought I would share the link below as I think it is a really interesting article and argues both points well.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/11/body-image-dance_n_5798654.html

I know I don't fit the 'mould' as a dancer, I'm 5ft 2" with hips because of this, I know I have missed out on job opportunities. Is this fair? Who knows! It is still and I think it will be an ongoing argument for near future as I believe, our shape is changing as a whole.

Take this for an example:
In the early 1900's, a lady who was curvy showed they were wealthy because they could afford alot of good food. Also being pale was attractive because wealthy people had umbrellas to keep the sun off them and their jobs properly wasn't outside laboring for a someone.
However, in today's society, wealthy means slim and tanned. You can afford the expensive healthy food and the gym and personal trainer. Tanned skin is also a sign of health and wealth.

The world is changing constantly without us realizing and as this article states ... "beauty and self expressions exists in many shape" which I couldn't agree with more.

Just some food for thought!

Happy Saturday night :)

Interview with Justin Bieber's dancers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mGMgioqlIg


I'm not sure why I enjoyed this video so much but I could feel myself smiling all the way through. It is a video of an interview with Justin Bieber's dancers but they are on tour together. The video just is filled with laughter and love and you can see just how tight they have become through that experience. This is one of the main reasons I love dance, you find yourself with a new family when rehearsing and performing a show and you realise after you have made friends for life.

The interview asks the positives and negatives about tour life. I think the postives are just as important as the negatives as this makes them who they are as a person and a performer. This is something I am going to take away and put into my interviews as I feel like a lot people focus too much on the negatives in life.

Module 3

So I'm currently sat at my desk at work realizing I haven't blogged since I started back on Module 3. I feel like I have been so worked up and worried about the work load and my focus has been on interviewing and literature equaling in blogging going out the window.

I moved out again over the summer meaning I have had to take on more hours at work and overtime in the evenings at teaching. This situation plus the fact I'm in doing module 3 where I feel like it is the most challenging module has meant I feel like my life is crazy busy. With this in mind, I have had to be extra organised and do this I have to create myself a schedule for myself each week, planning in when I can get my work done.

If I'm totally honest, I was dreading come back for the final term as I was disappointed with my work in module 2 and felt completely lost in what I was actually doing for my inquiry. After a call with Adesola - we stripped my inquiry idea right back to the most simple form, had a discussion about my practice and what I do and we went from there to come up with my new inquiry title 'What does dance mean to different types of people in the industry?' 

Feeling more confident after this I came up with my interview questions and got on with them now I am onto my literature review which again, in Jess Boswell style, I feel confused and lost. After an hours session with Paula on skype, again I felt like I was back onto the right path. The skype session made it clear to me that I was mixing up my literature review and my analysis of findings. 

I ordered a book last week which arrived last night which I'm excited to read! Blog to follow about the literature I have found :) 

Happy blogging!

Task 6b

Hello bloggers :)

Before deciding what tool I needed to use, first I learnt the difference between quantitative and qualitative research: 

"Quantitative researchers collect facts and study relationship of one set of facts to another." (Bell, J and Waters 2005)

"Qualitative research not only uses non-numerical and unstructured data but also, typically, has research questions and methods which are general at the start, and become more focused as the study progresses" (Punch 2005)

Comparing these two quotations taught that qualitative research is the style I need to use. I am not looking for facts and figures, I want to find out about peoples views and opinions and how they feel about different topics. 

Interviews

I think that doing some interviews with dance therapists would be a good idea as I can leave my questions as open ended so it would be more like a discussion. I can find out the methods they use and find out their own personal opinions and views on Dance Movement Therapy. I can also talk about their side of the argument relating to the surrounding topic of whether or not it is just the music which helps the patient or whether the movement helps as well. I would also record the in interview if they allow me so I can concentrate on getting the correct information which I need rather than trying to scribble all the info down. I would then transcribe it later. I would try to get a face-to-face interview if they are local as you can watch body language too however if not, over the phone or skype will work just as well.

Observations

Watching a dance therapy session would be very useful as I could see the methods they use first hand and I could watch how they bond with the patient to become 'their friend' before starting therapy. However I think this would be extremely hard to get involved with because patients with depression, anxiety or eating disorders will have low self esteem/confidence and I feel like may presence may interrupt the therapy. I could ask in the interview if they have anyone who wouldn't mind and if they allow me, I think it would be extremely useful to watch.

Questionnaires

I think the main negative about questionnaires is that it is restricting for the Dance therapists. I would be asking open ended questions and it will be harder for them to write down in small blank box than discussing it with me. However the positives of a questionnaire are that my opinions don't influence their answers as everyone is asked exactly the same questions and have to answer in the same way so it would be very standardized. 

I do feel like interviews are the way for me to go at the moment because I can go follow up on their answers and ask more questions about the answer they have given me. 

A few ideas for my inquiry ...

Hello bloggers :)

So I have known for a while I have wanted to do my inquiry about dance therapy but I didn't know what specifically I wanted to write about. I have been doing some research on dance therapy in general in search to find some inspiration which will help to lead me to my final question in which I would answer in my inquiry.

I have come across two topics which I think may be interesting .. 

1.) I personally find history quite an interesting topic and I had a sudden thought while I was reading an article that I could talk about how therapy for mental health patients has evolved since the 1930's when they used Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) (basically sending electric shocks through the brain) to contemporary therapy like DMT (dance movement therapy). I can question many different things like:

Did ECT actually work?

What were the long term effects it had? Was this the reason why they have stopped doing?

Does DMT actually work?

What exactly is DMT?

2.) My second chain of thought is 'what are the effects of dance therapy in comparison to people how just have standard care/therapy.' I could look at different case studies for both and compare the results and see if DMT does actually have a positive effect on people with mental health. 

Please comment your opinions which you would think would make a better inquiry. Maybe I could combine the two questions? 

Thankyou :) 

Task 5c

Hello Bloggers :)

After reading Reader 5 several times, my mind still feels slightly boggled if I'm totally honest. Ethics is a much bigger topic than I ever realized covering from law to religion - two major roles which effect different peoples ethics.

Case study 2: Ethics in photography - I found this small section endearing leaving me questioning a few things. If you were in his shoes, what would you do? I find it very difficult to understand that someone could just walk away from the poor child struggling for their life but do you put your own life at risk (in this case, the photographer feared the contagious disease which was going around at the time)? But also, on top on that, he knows as a photographer his ethical role is to observe and not interfere - 2 major facts as to why he left her. As a dancer, not a photographer, I would of have to of helped this poor girl but I have to put this situation into something I can understand ... If I knew someone was dancing on an injury and I was concerned about their health and the show, I would probably talk to them first but still after that I was concerned, should I tell the choreographer? If I think it will effect the show (might not be able to go on stage ect) or should I keep out of it? The dance world is a very small and I wouldn't want to be standing on peoples toes and making a bad name for myself. I think ethical wise, I probably share my concerns to someone. So going back to the photographer, I think there are many different opinions and it's hard to please everyone. If he had saved that girl and he died from the disease, who knows what the press would of said. You can never win!

The quote above is targeting a different aspect of ethics. I feel like it talking more about passion and attitude. It's implying that if you don't work hard, if your not reliable, not trustworthy (low work ethics) then your not going to be successful which I fully agree with.  

Everyone has their own personal ethics as well - each individual has different ideas as to what is right and what is wrong - people can be very opinionated which I think has an effect in any situation like the photographers for example. Some people may think he did the right thing by walking away, other will think he did the wrong thing.


My next step is to start planning my own ethics release form using the guidelines in the Reader but I'm also still struggling to find the question I want to answer for my inquiry .. suggestions welcome! I want to write about dance therapy and how/why it helps people with mental illness.

Thankyou x  

Task 5b: Dance therapy code of Ethics and Professional Practice

Hellooooooo :)

http://www.admt.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Code-of-Ethics-and-Professional-Practice-PDF.pdf

The link above will take you to a contract for ADMPUK which is a company which supplies DMT's in many different areas in the UK.

From my 'educated guesses' I think I managed to cover some of main points like 'Best interests for the clients' 'Data protection' 'Professional Relations' 'Confidentiality' and 'Use of Touch' however I didn't have a clue about how much detail it went into.


- "5.1 Referral and assessment 5.1.1 Dance movement psychotherapists offer treatment after a formal referral/self-referral and assessment procedure (including contract, consent and risk assessment) has been completed."
This is a good point which I completely missed out! I had a feeling the person would have to be referred first so it's good to know for definite.

-"4.12 Dance movement psychotherapists are guided to keep clinical records for eight years after the termination of therapy and stay aware of relevant current legislation and organizational policies."
8 YEARS?! WOW! hahaha .. I never really gave this point a thought but my initial assumption probably would be that you would have to keep in on record for 3-5years after, 5 years at a push. How wrong was I?! haha ... very surprising.

-"2.5.2 Dance movement psychotherapists have a duty to refer concerns of suspected abuse or risk of abuse to their supervisor, child protection/safeguarding officer or line manager within their organisation and, if necessary, to their local child protection organisation, Children’s Social Care or the police."
This also surprised me as I thought if a child tells you something like this but tells you confidentially, you can't tell anyone but you can urge the child to tell someone else who can help them. However, in this contract it uses the words 'concerns of suspected' so this makes me think that this means if I have noticed something like brusies/marks then I can tell someone that I am worried that something might be going on at home. However, later on in the contract in states "4.2 Dance movement psychotherapists are aware of and comply with national laws regarding confidentiality and data protection" ... this makes me think that my first point about the child telling me something might be written in the national law contract.


Overall, DMT have a lot to bare in mind when taking on a session as I have gathered today :) !

Task 5a: My thoughts on code of practice/regualtions

'Take your place of work/professional community which is familiar to you' .. when I read this in my handbook, instantly I am most comfortable with the performing industry as I have been doing that for the longest.

My initial thoughts about codes of practice/regulations of performing are taken from the way I have worked/taught in the past when I have been in shows. I think some of my thoughts are maybe 'unwritten rules' and wouldn't be physically be wrote on paper in the code of practice but here they are anyway ..

-To ALWAYS be on time or early.
-Never turn up to rehearsals not knowing what you are doing (even if this means working at home after rehearsals.)
-Apply health and safety regulations in any space you rehearse or perform.
-If the choreographer asks for it 'full out' .. do not mark it.
-To respect everyone you work with from directors and the producers to the dresser and the stage crew.
-Ensure all audience members get the same performance (performing to the best of your ability in every show)
-To respect other performers after the after half an hour call - everyone gets 'into show mode' differently
-Performers to have good stage awareness
-To have hair and make-up correct in every show
-To warm up correctly so prevent injuries from happening.



For my inquiry I want to look into dance therapy, I have no experience within this field so I don't really have a clue about the code of practice so here are my educated guesses:

-If you are working with a child under 16, do you need some one else in there?
-Always respect the persons needs
-Be professional, whatever the circumstance may be
-Depending on age and sex, are you allowed to touch/move them?
-Data protection - anything the person tells you is confidential
-Can't take pictures/videos without their consent

That's all I have for now!? I will add more if I think of any ..

Jess xx

Task 4d ... My first bit of literature

Hello Bloggers .. :)

I have found an article which I think is an important piece of literature which I can use as solid evidence that dance and movement therapy (DMT) does help with mental illness, in this case, ian experiment was carried to test how DMT helps people with anxiety. I was hoping to put a link on here so you could have a look but I have it in PDF form and don't know how to attach it, if anyone knows please tell me??

This article tells me exactly what they did in each DMT session, it tells me how the people were selected, what tests were done before and after and of course the results. It also informs me with lots of knowledge about anxiety.

I think one of the most interesting thing about the experiment is that all the exercises they performed were tension releasing based, body focus/self awareness and converting feelings/thoughts to body movement. Another interesting fact was the age ranged from 19-44 so this is already starting to answer my question of  'is there a specific age range in which DMT works better?'

There is a lot to get my head around so i need to re-read it and analyse it in more depth however I do think this is going to be a very important bit of literature.

Jess x

More questions I have for my inquiry ...

So I have started doing basic research for my inquiry, mainly reading articles and started with my dance therapy idea and a few more questions have come to mind ...

How does it help mental health illness?
How does it help people with disabilities? 
Are the theories different? 
Does dance help more with one than the other? 
What are the theories for both?
When did dance therapy first occur?
Is there a specific range in which is helps most?

... as I carry on with my research I will add to the list :)

First Skype session back/Module 2, Task 4a

Hello bloggers :)

Feels like a long time since I have done one of these!! ... So, when I first read Reader 4 I felt quite overwhelmed and didn't have a clue where to start (I feel like I write at the start of every new task haha) and I didn't really have the confidence to start until I had a skype session to talk the task ahead. As always, I figured that it was okay to feel like I don't know where to start and that people on module 3 felt like that and people on module 2 feel like that now.

I have been having a think about what I should look into for my inquiry and I have two topics to choose from:

1.) Should I work for free? I mentioned this is task 2d and in my critical reflection along with a list of questions I thought of ...

Should we work for no pay/less pay?

If we do, does it undermine the industry?

Who's to blame?

How can we stop this from happening?

How much should we pay?

Employers want people experience so how do you get your first job?

Are employers promising paid work at the end of it?

How does it effect people's emotional state?

I do feel quite passionate this because I know as a graduate from a Musical Theatre college, I have had to face this situation and relates to work based learning. Because I have had personal experiences of this, would this make my inquiry stronger? This brings me onto my second option ...

2.) How does dance help children with disabilities and mental health issues?

What are positives?

What are the negatives?

How does dance help children to deal with feelings?

How does it work physiologically?

Is there evidence of it improving the child's mental health or disability?

What is the therapy?

Are there any studies already out there?

These set of questions are just ones I have thought of without any research so I know that the more i research, the questions I will have. Dance therapy really interests me but I have no experience in this field at all so it worries me to go into this for my inquiry. Do I need to get some work experience in this before I do my inquiry? As it is a WBL course?

Please leave any comments you may have, it would be very useful! Thankyou :)