Oral presentation - the final hurdle!

Hello bloggers!

So close but yet so far to the finish line!
However after today a huge weight has been lifted and I can finally breathe again haha!
So for the oral presentation, I have read the hand book and reader 7 which I found had some useful tips;
Only 1 min per slide - I didn't know this but it will help the audience stay engaged.
Not much info per slide - a tip I did already know but it's good to be reminded - so the audience doesn't feel overwhelmed with info
Main key points which is to be put into the presentation are
 
"introduction, evaluation of the inquiry tools, your main findings, andthe critical reflection of the whole process; both the Critical Review and theProfessional Artefact can be used as content for your presentation." - took from the handbook :)

I will use powerpoint to create my presentation and have notes in which I can follow so I don't have to keep turning around to see the bullet points.

Hope this helps someone!

Jess x

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 :)