Starting on Module 2...

Warning: Long, rambling post ahead...

This week I have been cracking on with Module 2. I've been reading through the handbook, looking at some blogs and considering my 'areas of wonder' and I'm now excited to find my inquiry topic! I know from my M1 essay feedback that I need to articulate more clearly what my actual practice is and this is hard for me because at the moment I feel a bit here, there and everywhere..

When I wrote a blog post about the Inquiry Task, I came up with plenty of big questions all of which fascinate me. To narrow down the options I asked myself the following questions (which I discovered in Judith Bell's Doing your own research project, 2014): 

"Can I improve my practice so that it is more effective?

Can I improve my understanding of this practice so as to make it more just?

Can I use my knowledge and influence to improve the situation?"

I was really keen on the idea of looking into why women are in the minority when it comes to the main leadership positions in ballet companies but when relating it to my current practice (auditions, staying 'work-ready', short contracts and giving private lessons to earn something... nothing to do with leadership positions in ballet companies) I was disappointed to find I couldn't link it to my practice. Maybe I'm wrong? 

That left me with the following (modified from inquiry task post):

• How has the past shaped and moulded dance today? I am always inspired by people whose knowledge about the past can explain where we are today and what we have learnt for the future. It always helps my practice to really understand why certain aspects of dance (steps, repertoire, music) have evolved in the ways that they have and it helps me feel more assured in what I am doing.

• Does success require confidence? http://www.pointemagazine.com/the-quest-for-confidence-2412904305.html has some very honest and open words from Emily Bromberg, soloist with Miami City Ballet and this caused me to wonder why we talk so little about confidence when its something almost everyone struggles with at some point.

• Can you be a selfless dancer? “Ballet can be selfish at times—you’re always working on yourself" Hannah Bettes, Boston Ballet, on http://www.dancemagazine.com/on-the-rise-hannah-bettes-2306957384.html. I have often been told I don't do well in pressured situations (auditions, assessments etc.) because I am 'too nice'. Seeing as I don't actually think I am that nice, i have come to understand this as not putting myself forward especially at the expense of other people. Sometimes I wonder if you can be a successful dancer without being just a little bit/lot selfish?

• Mindset. How the way we think effects the way we perform. This is something I noticed about myself from all the reflecting in module 1. When I am dancing under pressure I think differently and dance very differently from when I am just working hard in class and not afraid to fall on the floor! 

Recently another idea has popped into my head. I'm sure the dancers among us with have heard or read about the controversial articles that have been coming out about ENB. If you haven't...

http://www.balletposition.com/blog/the-two-faces-of-english-national-ballet

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/national-ballet-isaac-hernandez-b9l9t0ntf

I was a bit afraid to bring this up because obviously everything can be twisted in the press and I think these comments can be said about a lot of companies. Whether these articles have the whole story or not I was struck by the talk of 'fear'. In my own professional experience and practice, especially working with many different choreographers I can relate to this feeling and I know so many people who can too... I think we all just thought this is just the way it is. But should it be? Do ballet dancers want a job so badly that they don't object to unacceptable treatment? Christopher Hampson, director of Scottish Ballet recently wrote this superb article https://www.scottishballet.co.uk/articles/behaviour-in-the-ballet-world which I think is just spot on and shows it's not wrong to have an issue with what we consider to be unfair treatment, young people today simply expect and are asking more of their leaders.

"Millennials get a bad press but, on the whole, I’m inspired by them. They expect to be treated with respect and they search it out." (Hampson, https://www.scottishballet.co.uk/articles/behaviour-in-the-ballet-world)

I'm really trying to decide but the more I look into each idea the more interested I get!!!! Any thoughts?

Bell, J. (2014). Doing Your Research Project: A Guide For First-Time Researchers. McGraw-Hill Education.