I have now created an online survey in order to collect some data for my professional inquiry idea i am working with at the moment and would appreciate it if anyone who sees this post would mind taking part.
Many Thanks
Tory
https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/GRZ9V5S
Thursday, 31 March 2016
Task 4 A: Initial Inquiry Questions
Thinking about my professional inquiry and ideas behind it I am considering employment in the musical theatre industry and what is deemed as successful and unsuccessful.
The Musical Theatre industry is one heavily reliant on reflection not only from yourself but your tutors, peers and friends. Crictically evaluating one’s technique and performance be it in singing dancing and acting helps us as performers improve everyday. And however important feedback such as this is, I always have a hindering that it is also judgmental.
Anyone can be in the musical theatre industry but is it right to judge them on where they studied? if they graduated? before even considering talent?
Other questions that came to my head were about employment in general. To maintain my life in London alongside this degree, alongside auditions I have a full time job. To stay in London and continue to pursue my career as a performer I have no other option of affording to say in this wonderful city than work incredibly hard to pay my way.
People may see me as unsuccessful because I’m not working in the industry at the moment. However, in my full time job I have gained life skills that will impact my further career such as knowing how to deal with accounts and banking, also gaining further development in IT skills which have improved my confidence in techniques such as my blogging but further programmes on Microsoft, Windows and Mac programmes.
Am I deemed unsuccessful to be maintaining a normal job on the side of pursuing my aspirations in life? or alternatively am I a success, achieving more than I ever thought I was capable of (particularly in the form of time management and multi-tasking skills.
But I would further like to further discuss the ultimate word everyone hates, REJECTION.
How does rejection reflect on you in the musical theatre industry? how many times can one get knocked down and carry on? What helps you pick yourself back up and carry on and head to the next audition remaining positive. Is the love of what we do enough to keep us going?
The handbook suggests we look back to further work we did in previous modules to also come up with relevant questions and one question I would love to know the answer to and explore further is, Inspirations and Aspirations.
How did you know this industry was one that you wanted to work in? what Inspired you to get to where you are today?
I know for myself my family were a massive factor in inspiring me to get to where I am today. I have come from a very musical family but more instrumental than performing, my grandmother being my Piano teacher and my father also being a Pianist and a Violinist additionally to being in various bands and also being a Musical Director to his own Performing Academy. From learning Piano and Flute from a very young age I naturally fell into singing from my appreciation of all aspects of music from an early age, appreciating everything from Classical repertoire - Musical Theatre and pop. I think back most days about how grateful I am for my early life and how much I learnt so young about Music. If I hadn’t of achieved all I had before the age of 12 I know I wouldn’t of had as many opportunity to expand in Music as I have had. Attending the Royal Northern College of Music from 14 further developing me in my Classical Music but further into Musical Theatre which in turn led me to attending Italia Conti. Without my family and there own inspirations and love of music. I wouldn’t be where I am today.
Coming up with these questions I know leaves me still with a very broad topic of subject for my professional Inquiry. To narrow down ideas of questions I really want to discuss further I am going to come along with an online survey to share with as many people in the musical theatre industry as possible to try and collect as much data as possible to aid me further in the development of my professional Inquiry.
Monday, 7 March 2016
Starting my thoughts on professional inquiry...
So today I had a lovely talk with Paula about my professional inquiry.. I'm a little late off the starting block... however I've been having a good think about idea's.
After a good few hours of brainstorming I'm now going to start researching theories and practitioners and concepts surrounding my ideas and see where my searches take and lead me towards a professional inquiry to take further and complete module 2!
After a good few hours of brainstorming I'm now going to start researching theories and practitioners and concepts surrounding my ideas and see where my searches take and lead me towards a professional inquiry to take further and complete module 2!
Saturday, 5 March 2016
Time to Start Module 2...
So,
this blog has been a long time coming.
Unfortunately my new year didn't get off to the best starts having a particularly nasty illness the past three weeks. However, now fighting fit and ready to get caught up and back onto the course.
Tonights plans have been reading through my module 2 handbook and all of the readers and initially creating ideas for my inquiry.
Going to be a lot of brainstorming over the next few days and a blog to follow to hopefully get some suggestions and advice from my peers.
So ready for a new term!
Speak soon
Tory
this blog has been a long time coming.
Unfortunately my new year didn't get off to the best starts having a particularly nasty illness the past three weeks. However, now fighting fit and ready to get caught up and back onto the course.
Tonights plans have been reading through my module 2 handbook and all of the readers and initially creating ideas for my inquiry.
Going to be a lot of brainstorming over the next few days and a blog to follow to hopefully get some suggestions and advice from my peers.
So ready for a new term!
Speak soon
Tory
Tuesday, 1 December 2015
TASK 2C: REFLECTIVE THEORY
After reading reader 2 it has occurred to me how much I already incorporated reflective practice into my day to day routine, being quite blissfully unaware of the benefits it has gained for me.
Firstly I came across to look at Boud's (1995) theory of "What tools do you need to be engaged in 'turning experience into learning'?". For myself since starting this course I have been keeping a journal documenting my journey on how this course is going for me and skills I am acquiring to use in my daily life but also there are many other tools I have used for a long time through studying at performing arts college to entering the professional world of musical theatre that have helped benefit me in order to turn experience into learning.
- Dictaphone/ Voice Recording: Whilst I was studying at college and also since I have left the use of recording equipment such as a dictaphone or voice recording which I have on my iPhone is incredibly useful for recording harmonies to practice outside of the rehearsal space but also to record full experts of songs or an expectation required as a final outcome. Through the use of sound; giving myself a clear aim of what I am practicing and working towards I find greatly beneficial towards the development of my art.
- Video recording: whether this be recording myself dancing or singing or choreography in general through rehearsal time it is very important as a performer to be able to watch oneself and be self analytical of one's performance. I personally have always been critical of myself and have recorded myself so I can see where needs improvement but by recording myself I can also see progress from one video to the next and not only does that help improve my skill but also confidence levels which hopefully reflect in my performances.
Through this use of documenting and recording my experience in the rehearsal room to then be reflected onto a stage space has not only developed me as a performer but from every show I have taken part in it has helped me learn from the experience and be able to gain a successful strategy that I continue to use in my day to day life preparing for performances.
I find the section in the reader about John Dewney and his opinion on reflective thought incredibly interesting. Being an educationalist he considered education an experimental action and considered the level of engagement and consciousness of the experience from a learning perspective. He defined the process as a "continual reorganisation, reconstruction and transformation of experience" (Dewney 1916) which personally I couldn't agree with more. Being a performer and relating his educational method to theatre; the level of performance from day one in a rehearsal room to a finished product on stage goes through many different cycles of reorganisations and reconstructions of the material from the directing/ choreographing methods to transform the experience of the final product from a a script or a piece of music to the greatest experience in the world for an audience to see. Without the journey the performers initially go through the final result would not be a success without.
This then follows to the learning cycle created by David Kolb in 1984, who's theory was greatly influenced that ideas of John Dewney.
Firstly I came across to look at Boud's (1995) theory of "What tools do you need to be engaged in 'turning experience into learning'?". For myself since starting this course I have been keeping a journal documenting my journey on how this course is going for me and skills I am acquiring to use in my daily life but also there are many other tools I have used for a long time through studying at performing arts college to entering the professional world of musical theatre that have helped benefit me in order to turn experience into learning.
- Dictaphone/ Voice Recording: Whilst I was studying at college and also since I have left the use of recording equipment such as a dictaphone or voice recording which I have on my iPhone is incredibly useful for recording harmonies to practice outside of the rehearsal space but also to record full experts of songs or an expectation required as a final outcome. Through the use of sound; giving myself a clear aim of what I am practicing and working towards I find greatly beneficial towards the development of my art.
- Video recording: whether this be recording myself dancing or singing or choreography in general through rehearsal time it is very important as a performer to be able to watch oneself and be self analytical of one's performance. I personally have always been critical of myself and have recorded myself so I can see where needs improvement but by recording myself I can also see progress from one video to the next and not only does that help improve my skill but also confidence levels which hopefully reflect in my performances.
Through this use of documenting and recording my experience in the rehearsal room to then be reflected onto a stage space has not only developed me as a performer but from every show I have taken part in it has helped me learn from the experience and be able to gain a successful strategy that I continue to use in my day to day life preparing for performances.
I find the section in the reader about John Dewney and his opinion on reflective thought incredibly interesting. Being an educationalist he considered education an experimental action and considered the level of engagement and consciousness of the experience from a learning perspective. He defined the process as a "continual reorganisation, reconstruction and transformation of experience" (Dewney 1916) which personally I couldn't agree with more. Being a performer and relating his educational method to theatre; the level of performance from day one in a rehearsal room to a finished product on stage goes through many different cycles of reorganisations and reconstructions of the material from the directing/ choreographing methods to transform the experience of the final product from a a script or a piece of music to the greatest experience in the world for an audience to see. Without the journey the performers initially go through the final result would not be a success without.
This then follows to the learning cycle created by David Kolb in 1984, who's theory was greatly influenced that ideas of John Dewney.
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This learning cycle identifies that everyone through any stage of learning will go this cycle in the same way but all consequently at different points of the cycle depending on what type of learner you are. We have the concrete experience (the actual doing or experience of the event), we observe others (reflection of the experience), we think about it (work it out in our heads first) and then we actively experiment as we try out the ideas. For me I have never really even considered a cycle to my learning but this all does make a lot of sense. Each and every individual learns in there own way but ultimately whether we're all studying for the same exam or rehearsing for the same show we end up being involved in the same result. For myself I believe I start at the Abstract Conceptualisation stage, I have to think a lot about something before ideas start to flow. It is then once I have worked out what is needed be it the harmony line for example I will then do it, feel it and then finally reflect on it from the recording I will have made to analyse and think about it again. When seen in a diagram it is all very self explanatory and extraordinary how it already related to my life without even noticing.
Other practitioners such as Garner looked further into the way people learn and identified that people had multiple intelligences and didn't only learn or reflect in one way. Creating awareness of different intelligences of tools we use to learn. These categorised down to:
- Spatial
- Verbal- linguistic
- Logical- mathmatical
- Bodily - Kinaesthetic
- Musical
- Interpersonal - understanding people and relationships.
- Intrapersoanal - relates to one's emotional life as a means to understand oneself and others.
- Naturalistic - relates to nature and natural world to find meaning.
Personally, again I have never really evaluated my learning strategies however what I do know is I have always been a lot more physical, verbal and musical within my learning strategies. Even as a child I would record myself singing songs to remember spellings for my English test or a story I had to recite in French. Through constant repetition and sound I found information to enter my head a lot easier. Furthermore, I would always move around whilst processing this information whether that be walking around the block with my dog or coming to choreography through the use of music to remember information or dance moves I had learnt that day. I believe each and every one of us has there own individual way of learning and for me the use of music in my every day life has always been very important. However it would be interesting to see whether I could adapt a new way of learning such as a mathematical or interpersonal approach to learning a script of a song and see whether that does make a difference in the development of my career.
Wednesday, 18 November 2015
Task 2b: Reflective Writing
When coming to write about documenting my day into a journal as suggested in the reader I tried and tested many of the different ways to document my daily routine ....
Description: When one is told to sit down and write a journal I feel it is a natural instinct to immediately describe the contents of your day so writing as a description of events came very naturally to me in a course of journal entry. Being able to write about what has happened in my day and where and when and what were the main events that occurred. At first I found I was being overly descriptive when reading back on my entries and spending an awful lot of time doing so. However, it was when I discovered further ways of documenting my journal entries I came up with the best strategy for me.
Evaluation: In terms of evaluating my day to day life, I don't really know how beneficial that is to me as a person. I over think every thing in my life anyway so even though I am writing down my main events of the day for me I don't really like to elaborate to much on evaluating it straight away as I know I will get lost in my thoughts and not sleep. I do believe in terms of professional practice that evaluating ones notes is very beneficial though as stated on a previous blog. If you can't evaluate your notes as a performer it is difficult to progress further with ones development of character or thought process behind the piece. So in terms of my career and in performance roles I would make a very clear effort to most definitely evaluate my work however in my day to day personal life I try to keep things simple.
Even though more of a descriptive list for me has proven the best way of writing a journal of my day to day life exploring these other ways of documenting has been very interesting and I'm intrigued to know how other people have made these other forms of keeping a journal successful in their day to day lives.
Description: When one is told to sit down and write a journal I feel it is a natural instinct to immediately describe the contents of your day so writing as a description of events came very naturally to me in a course of journal entry. Being able to write about what has happened in my day and where and when and what were the main events that occurred. At first I found I was being overly descriptive when reading back on my entries and spending an awful lot of time doing so. However, it was when I discovered further ways of documenting my journal entries I came up with the best strategy for me.
Initial Refection: Naturally I am a very emotive person and a lot of things that happen in my daily life I automatically accompany with a feeling or emotion purely because that's me thats the way I am. If something were to be a main event in my day it is most likely that it has affected me emotionally and hence a reason it has impacted me to write about it so my initial refection to sport events that have occurred during my day is very important to my journal.
List: Regardless be it journal or not, I make lists every single day. In bed at night I will make a list of my morning routine and what I need to accomplish before work. I will also make to do list of things I need to achieve long and short term. Currently I have countless lists of birthday and Chirstmas present ideas for my entire family as Christmas ever so quickly is approaching. So when I thought about my daily journal, for me writing a list of the main events in my day was incredibly beneficial for me. Yes I was being descriptive in it but just writing down the main essential facts of what I wanted to make note of and this became a very easy way to document my day and took very little time to do so.
Evaluation: In terms of evaluating my day to day life, I don't really know how beneficial that is to me as a person. I over think every thing in my life anyway so even though I am writing down my main events of the day for me I don't really like to elaborate to much on evaluating it straight away as I know I will get lost in my thoughts and not sleep. I do believe in terms of professional practice that evaluating ones notes is very beneficial though as stated on a previous blog. If you can't evaluate your notes as a performer it is difficult to progress further with ones development of character or thought process behind the piece. So in terms of my career and in performance roles I would make a very clear effort to most definitely evaluate my work however in my day to day personal life I try to keep things simple.
Graphs, Charts and Diagrams: Using a chart, graph or diagram for the use of a journal could be seen as a very interesting way to document ones day. When I began to think about what I could document on a chart or diagram I found it much easier to document more physical ways of what I'm doing and how time consuming they are rather than my thoughts and emotions. I love to read and even though I am very creative I found it very difficult to maintain such visual ways of maintaining a blog than writing it down so for me this wasn't very successful.
What if?: I'm not a strong believer in What If I'm afraid. Personally I hate thinking about what could of been. I live very much in the day to day life. In my life I have experienced a lot of pain and upset and you really don't know what could happen and how maybe your hopes and dreams could be destroyed. Yes, I have ambition and so many things I would like to achieve and want for my life but I try not to think too far ahead. If I do not only am I afraid I won't achieve it but I'm also afraid my whole life could fall apart so for me I have to think about whats happening on a day to day basis. For mine and my whole families sake.
Another View Point: When looking at this way of writing a journal I thought it would be very interesting maybe imaging my life as my mirror in my bedroom or the hat stand at my work... but for the sake of writing a journal on my life in my career, for me being more successful in writing about my daily activities has been to "keep it simple". And however much writing like this could be incredibly interesting... a more simple view point has proven to be more successful for me.
What if?: I'm not a strong believer in What If I'm afraid. Personally I hate thinking about what could of been. I live very much in the day to day life. In my life I have experienced a lot of pain and upset and you really don't know what could happen and how maybe your hopes and dreams could be destroyed. Yes, I have ambition and so many things I would like to achieve and want for my life but I try not to think too far ahead. If I do not only am I afraid I won't achieve it but I'm also afraid my whole life could fall apart so for me I have to think about whats happening on a day to day basis. For mine and my whole families sake.
Another View Point: When looking at this way of writing a journal I thought it would be very interesting maybe imaging my life as my mirror in my bedroom or the hat stand at my work... but for the sake of writing a journal on my life in my career, for me being more successful in writing about my daily activities has been to "keep it simple". And however much writing like this could be incredibly interesting... a more simple view point has proven to be more successful for me.
Even though more of a descriptive list for me has proven the best way of writing a journal of my day to day life exploring these other ways of documenting has been very interesting and I'm intrigued to know how other people have made these other forms of keeping a journal successful in their day to day lives.
Thursday, 12 November 2015
Back to it...
So I haven't blogged in a little while as I've been pretty poorly after having to have a wisdom tooth removed on top of a chest infection.... its been fun. However I did manage to continue with plans to visit Germany this last weekend as one of my best friends is in the show "Starlight Express" and also "The Bodyguard" and it really was so incredible to watch two of my amazing friends performing on stage. Since I graduated college an incredible amount has happened in my life but non has stopped me wanting to perform and sing and I feel even using this degree and form of networking is inspiring me to challenge myself and gain my confidence back.
Anyhow its back to work ... X
Anyhow its back to work ... X
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