A very useful image that depicts leadership

Although I thought I had completed all my research I am still finding so much more information and resources on leadership. This image was photographed by Alfred Steiglitz (1864-1946) and was named "Dancing Trees". The image presents to us the thick branches of a young tree at its first forking. The branches separate from the trunk as a sign of indepence, yet each one stays close to another for support and encouragement. They intertwine, at once leaning toward and away from each other, sharing the pies are entitled to a life outside of their work and how important that life is to each person is essentice of sunlight that shines through the leaves from above (Steiglitz, 1922).

In terms of leadership it is important to take into account the interdependence of relationships. Involving not only our relationship with ourselves but also with our peers, friends, family and co workers. Acknowledging that workeral for any emotionally intelligent leader.

Discussion with Paula and Michelle

After Paula had posted the slide share on paulanottingham.blogspot.co.uk, myself, Paula and Michelle got together via video chat and discussed the slides in more depth.

For me it was really useful being able to talk about my inquiry out loud and have someone ask me questions that I hadn't yet thought about or that I presumed would be obvious to my audience. I realised it was important for me to fully explain my job role and my inquiry within the introduction before assuming that my audience would know what I was writing about. 

I have found some creative images to help keep me motivated and have around me whilst I am working, this is something Paula suggested would be really helpful and I have to say I'm going to give it a try and see how these positive images can keep me motivated. 

I especially enjoy this one from funtoxin.com.

We had a great discussion about the difference between the analysis and evaluation. This was something that was confusing me, however Paula explained that the evaluation is more of an explanation about what you have been doing and the data you have been collecting and also what you hope to find out from your inquiry, and the analysis is connecting the ideas the you have gathered from interviews, observations, professional conversations, reflective journal and literature. 

There is another session Friday 13th November if anyone is available, I would highly recommend it. 

 

Women in Leadership Roles

So after a discussion with Paula I had completely forgotten about my idea to look into women in leadership roles. This past year I have had constant questioning about how I run my rehearsals and this mainly comes from the boys that I work with. I find they always need to be right and potentially feel uncomfortable having a woman tell them whether they are incorrect or in fact being criticized by myself, the difference I see when the casting manager comes to watch is distinctly different. The boys are very motivated around him and never ever give back chat. Is this because he is a man and they have more respect for men or is it because he is in a higher position than myself within the company, he potentially holds their future with the company in his hands. On that note I began researching women in leadership roles and came across a huge amount of literature that provoked my thinking. I have listed the links below.

www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2014/08/05/companies-do-better-with-women-leaders-but-women-need-more-confidence-to-lead-study-says 

In this article there is a huge amount of statistics that reveal how low the percentage of women working in leadership roles within large companies is. It makes me wander whether this is to do with lack of confidence that women have or due to the males employing the leadership staff. 

uk.buisnessinsider.com (Unfortunately I couldnt get the whole link to work so I have put the home page up instead)

This article is a study led by Ekaterina Netchaeve, Ph.D., at Bocconi University in Italy. A group of researchers performed a study finding that mean act more aggresively towards hypothetical female bosses, it is a really interesting read and gets you thinking about the male bravado. It also provokes thought on if men do feel threatened by a female boss what are their reasons for it? 

Please comment below I would really appreciate it. 

Respondent 3 Inquiry Questions

Interview questions BAPP Arts Inquiry

Respondent 3 has worked as a head dancer for four seasons and has worked for the company for five seasons as an entertainer.

Please discuss your experience as a head dancer and the challenges/accomplishments you have come across.

I started out with little knowledge of 'how to be a head dancer' but with the help and support from head office I learnt very quickly about the differences you come across within an entertainments team. I found that sometimes my approach was very harsh and entertainers as opposed to 'dancers' are not used to being spoken to like that. My main accomplishment is seeing people get better at performing and also putting together the halloween show each year is an incredible experience. I love seeing it all come together and getting to oversee the whole thing is brilliant! I also find it quite difficult when team members take a bad rehearsal home with them because as the head dancer you are the one to always get the blame. It's a difficult job as if you put one foot wrong everyone else is ready to pounce on you and point out your mistakes, I think that comes with any level of management though.

What skills and attributes do you think a head dancer should have and why?

Personally I think you need to be extremely confident within yourself, I have experienced team members who constantly question what I ask them to do in rehearsal but its important to stay completely true to what you believe. I find often the questioning comes from the boys on the team, they always always have to be right, it becomes very frustrating but its important to stay strong. Head dancers should be strong dancers as well, you need to be able to break things down correctly and also know how to help people with things like dynamics and performance qualities.

Where can the skills you have acquired in this job be used when making a career transition?

Leadership skills can be transferred into almost any other leadership role, for example if you were going into teaching you would have had a lot of experience of working with different people and breaking things down and taking order of a room. The customer care skills that you have to have for this job are also easily transferable into retail jobs, when networking and also in jobs where you may have to meet clients etc. The confidence you gain on stage also enables you to be able to speak to a large room and speak confidently. I think being a head dancer gives you a very thick skin as well so I believe most head dancers will have developed a strong work ethic and can cope with a lot of high pressure.

An emotional intelligent leader primes good feeling in those they lead, how do you think this type of leadership could help/hinder a head dancer?

I think as a head dancer you need to be aware of your teams emotional needs, some team members are better at taking criticism than others and its important to work out who needs what from you. I think also being approachable so that your team can speak to you about any issues they have whether it be personal or work related is important as its beneficial for you and the team to ensure everyone is motivated and happy in their job role.

Is it important as a head dancer to adapt to the 'situational leadership' style whereby you fit your style to the needs of the individual and to the situation at hand?

I think this is really important, you need to make sure you can get on to everyones 'wave length' and where they are at with their own progress. You can actually hinder a persons performance and confidence if you try to push them too hard or if they are not pushed enough. I always discuss targets with my team members and ensure they are happy with what I set them.

Discuss this statement 'To be a head dancer you need to be an exceptional dancer as well'.

I wouldnt say you have to be an 'exceptional' dancer but you need to have an understanding of dance and also set a good standard for your team to work towards. I think above all you need to a confident leader and be able to have an understanding of each person on your team otherwise whether or not your a fantastic dancer you wont be able to get your team to a high standard which is what the head dancer is for.

Inquiry questions Respondent 2

Interview questions BAPP Arts Inquiry

Respondent 2 has worked for the company for eight years and started out as a head dancer, she then went on to choreograph extensively for the company and now looks after all twenty four head dancers who work for parkdean.

Please discuss your experience as a head dancer and the challenges/accomplishments you have come across.

One of the main challenges in my opinion is working with different individuals and finding ways to get the most out of each person. As a head dancer you cannot teach everyone exactly the same, you need to find out different individual personalities. Some people you can push a bit harder and that will ensure you get the most out of them, however others may be more sensitive and switch off to a strong personality. Accomplishments for me include seeing people grow and watching them improve. I know that I can dance and I know what to do as a head dancer so my accomplisments come out of what others achieve on my team.

What skills and attributes do you think a head dancer should have and why?

Obviously, dancing skills and technically trained is important because its difficult to teach others if you do not have great understanding of the movement yourself. They need to have people management skills, which goes back to understanding different people. You need to be able to speak to people on all levels and have great communication skills. Also being able to lead by example.

Where can the skills you have acquired in this job be used when making a career transition?

As a head dancer you acquire the skills that enable you to lead a team of people and working in a team as well. So teamwork and being a leader will help in almost any job. Communication skills again will help when trying to acquire a job and also in any customer care type work it will only benefit you. As a head dancer you always need to be enthuasiastic which again will help just in general life.

An emotional intelligent leader primes good feeling in those they lead, how do you think this type of leadership could help/hinder a head dancer?

I think if someone was really upset and it was apparent in a rehearsal I would try to make the rehearsal a bit more fun and probably not give them as many corrections. I might do a silly warm up just to uplift the whole team rather than centre in on one person. As a head dancer as well its your job to bring the team up and motivate them which is a hard skill to achieve.

Is it important as a head dancer to adapt to the 'situational leadership' style whereby you fit your style to the needs of the individual and to the situation at hand?

It is definitely important to work on the individual. There are a lot of people who have got so much enthusiasim but are actually not that great performance wise and then they can get disheartened if you are constantly giving them negative feedback, so you have to balance it out. With the people who have a high competency for the job but lack enthusiasm I would try to give them a challenge to keep them motivated. With the person who is a level 1 I would be working more on their technique, I would be giving them challenges that suit them.

Discuss this statement 'To be a head dancer you need to be an exceptional dancer as well'.

I would like to agree with that because that is what I would like, and I like to employ head dancers that are exceptional dancers as well however it is not the case with everybody, but that is what I strive to have for the head dancers of this company. But I dont always necessarily think that being a great dancer will make you a great head dancer. For example I think there are alot of other qualities that are necessary to be a great head dancer like being able to break things down, work as a team and lead people. As a head dancer you need to work to make the team dance in sync and help to bring your team up to standard.

Literature review #4

Leadership and the One Minute Manager: Increasing effectiveness through situational leadership by Ken Blanchard, Patricia Zigarmi and Drea Zigarmi. New and updated edition 2015.

Contents

Introduction

A visit from an entrepreneur

Being Successful

Thinking differently about leadership

Different strokes for different folks

Leadership style: Perceptions of others

Three skills of a situational leader

Managing the performance of others

Goal Setting

Diagnosing development level

Leadership style flexibility

The four basic leadership styles

Matching leadership style to development level

Think before you act

Different strokes for the same folks

Developing competence and commitment

Turning around performance problems

Sharing what you're doing

Understanding the six conversations

Positive assumptions about people

Becoming a situational leader

Acknowledgements

About the authors

Services available

Looking at the contents page for this book, you may think that it is very long and difficult to read, however it was quite the opposite. The authors have written the book in a story like fashion. An entrepreneur is our main character who meets several people that work for the 'one minute manager', each person describes how they are led by their manager and then the entrepreneur discusses each style with the one minute manager. 

Essentially in any team that you work for within the company Parkdean, you will be working with different people from different backgrounds with different skills therfore it is very important to cater for each persons specific needs. 

"Everyone has peak performance potential -you just need to know where they are coming from and meet them there" pg 52 The One Minute Manager.

The book talks about how everyone is at a different level in their career, however everyone can be developed if they are dealt with in the correct way, some people need more guidance than others. This piece of literature includes a development levels scale;

D1: Low competence with high commitment

D2: Low to some competence with Low commitment

D3: Moderate to high competence with variable commitment

D4:High competence with High commitment

From my understanding the development levels represent when someone first comes into a job, they would be considered at D1 as they are excited to start but dont have all the tools to succeed on their own just yet. As you develop into a D2 you become frustrated because you have learnt so much but you know you still have more to learn '"Sometimes as people's skills grow, their confidence and motivation drop", continued Kathy. "They begin to realize how much more they've got to learn to be able to do a really good job. It's like the old saying: 'The more I know, The more I realize I don't Know.' This part of the literature really stuck out to me as this year I have two new people to the company and they both experienced this developmental stage a couple of months into the season and I had to reassure them that they were doing well and they were fully capable of the work ahead. As a person moves into the D3 developmental stage they are more capable of their job however they lack confidence in some tasks so need more reassurance at this stage. Finally D4's are described as 'self reliant achievers', you are confident in your job and you are committed to doing it to the best of your ability. D4's need to be appreciated in their job roles and given tasks to help them grow and develop in their area. 

This piece of literature has been so helpful for me when I am dealing with my team. I always set achievable goals with them now and discuss where they are at in their journey with the company. It has also helped me to understand their frustrations depending on where they are at developmentally. 

Inquiry Questions

Inquiry Questions Respondent 1

Respondent 1 has performed the role of head dancer with parkdean for the past two seasons, before working for this company she worked abroad also as a head dancer for six years. Respondent 1 is happy for her information and opinions to be used as data for my professional inquiry, she has signed a consent form as evidence of this.

Interview questions BAPP Arts Inquiry

Please discuss your experience as a head dancer and the challenges/accomplishments you have come across.

When I came into it last year, maybe it was because it was my first year with the company, I was so worried about getting all of my own steps right I dont think I did as good a job last year, in the sense that I didnt establish my authority straight away. Once I got confident in the role I then struggled getting the authority I acquired because I hadnt started as I meant to go on. Last year I didnt really feel like I was needed as my team were very strong however when we then got a new boy he was like my project so I could help him and make him better and that was a huge accomplishment for me. However this year with my team, some members are more sensitive than those I had previously so I have had to adapt the way I teach certain members of my team so I can get the best out of them. You have to approach everyone differently. Then later this year I had another new person join the team and teaching her was a huge accomplisment because I could see her grow and develop. I think that challenges come when you have too much experience in a team. Working abroad is very different to working in the UK because all the work abroad is your own, you are the choreographer so you dont have to worry about whether the choreography is 'correct' as its your own material. Also abroad there were alot of people who werent dancers or singers but were employed as childrens entertainer but they had to still be in the shows.

My analysis: Respondent one struggled with gaining authority last year because she said she was focusing on the material she needed to learn for her own part. Authority isnt something that I have struggled with however I have found that my team do not appreciate the amount of work that I do for them which is something have struggled with this year and have talked about in my reflective journal. She also talks about how she needs to adapt the way she teaches different people, this is something I have come across in my literature,

“As a situational leader, I've come to believe it's foolish to apply the same style in every situation”, Leadership and the one minute manager,K. Blanchard, P. Zigarmi and D.Zigarmi. 2015 edition.

After reading about situational leadership I do believe that you have to adapt your teaching and leading style to your team members, so that they can learn in the most effective way and in turn make your job easier when putting the shows together.

What skills and attributes do you think a head dancer should have and why?

Well, I think, personally a head dancer needs to have attended professional college, but thats just my opinion. Only because some people that I see who have taken on the head dancer role without professional training are the ones who struggle the most, the ones that are good at their job have been to college. College completely changed me and you have to be quite tough to be a head dancer and college gave me that. Also not old as in a head dancer should be old but they need to be mature and have life experience.

My analysis: I definately agree that a head dancer needs life experience, to be a leader in any job you need to have acquired a certain level of maturity and be able to deal with all sorts of different people and different situations. I think that attending professional dance college will aid in your role as a head dancer however I dont think that it is a neccessity. Professional dance college definitely gave me a 'thick skin', it also enabled me to offer others the technical dance skills that I learned. As well as all of this dance college helped me to see that you can always work harder and you can always get better and thats something that I now live by, I will never give up and that includes when I am teaching someone, I wont give up on them either.

Where can the skills you have acquired in this job be used when making a career transition?

Say for example if I wanted to be a manager, the head dancer is like the second step because you kind of already have that authority. So it is much easier for a head dancer to go into a management.

My analysis: I think that potentially it is alot easier for a head dancer to go into management as they are managing the team in terms of shows and character roles etc, also as a head dancer you spend a lot of time working out rotas with your entertainements manager so you can see how that is done as well.

An emotional intelligent leader primes good feeling in those they lead, how do you think this type of leadership could help/hinder a head dancer?

I am going to have to use examples of this year, so for example with someone like A we are very similar, hes very passionate, however then we can clash so even though I am emotionally aware of how he is feeling we can then snap at each other because more often than not we are feeling the same. However with B, he always works really hard for me like always, but say one day randomly he was being rubbish, instead of me picking up on that straight away and asking what the problem is I always wait til the end of the rehearsal to ask him whats happening because he is never just forgetful because he cant be bothered its always because somethings happened in his personal life. If it was like C I would just say 'why are you being rubbish?' and they would snap out of it or apologise if you know what I mean. But it can also hinder you because people can pick up on your approach and think that its okay to be a bit crap that day because she'll (the head dancer) will just think I am down about something. Then you could be seen as a bit of a pushover. I have been very lucky with my teams the past two seasons, because everyone on my team have always wanted to be there. For me also, being 'crap' isnt your skills its more about your attitude and being lazy etc.

My analysis: After reading about primal leadership (emotional intelligence) and also putting it into practice I have found it very effective. Emotional intelligence helps you to be on the same 'wave length' as your team so you are all working towards the same goal.

“Intellect alone will not make a leader; leaders execute a vision by motivating, guiding, inspiring, listening, persuading -and, most cruicially, through creating resonance.” The power of emotional intelligence, D.Goleman, R.Boyatzis and A.Mckee. Tenth Anniversary Edition.

Is it important as a head dancer to adapt to the 'situational leadership' style whereby you fit your style to the needs of the individual and to the situation at hand?

If I am teaching a strong dancer something I can use different language and be a bit more vague and I can teach it faster whereas with a non dancer I would need to know what I was doing one hundred percent and break it down into chunks and go alot slower. I would ask them more if they needed to go over it more etc.

Discuss this statement 'To be a head dancer you need to be an exceptional dancer as well' .

I think you do, because I think you need to lead by example, you dont have to be like the best thing in world, but if I had turned up to this company and the choreographer hadnt been as good as she is then I wouldnt have as much respect for her. I think also if you have someone on your team who is a better dancer than you then it could make you feel less confident in your role, and could then hinder your actions as a head dancer. I also think the team would be able to tell as well that your not a confident dancer so then why should they take correction from you?

Literature review #3

The person behind the mask: A guide to performing arts psychology by Linda H. Hamilton

The Blurb summarizes how Dr. Linda Hamilton takes her readers on a 'vivid journey into the performers private world'. This book gives a lot of insight into being a professional performer and the effects it can have on different performers in different situations. I feel like this is really relevant to my inquiry as to be a great head dancer I believe you need to understand the backgrounds of the people you are working with and there are various people within the company I work for who have dealt with the situations that Hamilton discusses. 

Contents: 

Introduction

Training considerations for performers

Weight standards for stage and screen

Personal relationships in the Arts

Focusing the spotlight on Performance

Occupational Injuries and Retirement

Performing Arts Psychology

An Overview of Narcissism

Resource Directory

References

Author Index

Subject Index

About the Author

The main section that I have focused on in this book is 'Personal relationships in the Arts', mainly because I have to look at the relationship that I have with my team and understand the situations where they have come from with other leaders in their work life. 

Hamilton discusses how performers home life can determine their reactions to authority. A study on the New York City Ballet company showed that eighty six percent of dancers idealized their director as a powerful father figure in their lives. Obviously this is based on a ballet company where dancers have performed for many years and I am working with a team for possibly just one season, however I do believe the information that Hamilton provides is useful to my development as a 'leader' in the entertainment sector.

I have had issues on my team with conflict, sometimes an attitude towards myself which then affects the performers learning or very often a conflict with another team member which affects how both members perform. Hamilton discusses 'Interventions' and talks about 'performers who exhibit conflicts with authority', this section is really relevant to my role as I would prefer not to have any conflict within my team, however when this is unavoidable it is essential to be equipped with the tools to deal with it. 

Getting it together!

Wow! I have had the busiest peak season! However I have managed to use some of the tools that I have read about in the leadership literature that I have acquired. A common theme I have found from the leadership books that I have read is that it is important as a 'good' leader to be able to empathise with your team and to also be able to differentiate between each person. I know now for example that each of my team members are motivated in different ways, some I can push harder than others and some are better at learning a routine and then having time away to practice on their own. It has been really interesting using the skills I have read about during my daily practice. 

My inquiry has got me thinking about the skills I have and the skills I need to work on, I know now that I take comments my team make very personally and their attitude towards myself can be quite hostile depending on how they are feeling that day and if they are having a good rehearsal or not. I spoke to the company choreographer about this situation and she told me that the person in charge will most likely be the one to recieve 'attitude' if a team member is having a bad day, therefore it is a good idea to quickly recognise when a someone is having an 'off' day and speak to them before rehearsals, however if you do not get the chance to speak to that person before you rehearse, it is then best to 'leave them to their own devices' and then speak with them after rehearsal. 

Whilst working on my inquiry I have been looking at the skills required to be a head dancer. My question to everyone out there is Do you have to be a great dancer to be a great head dancer? I have listed the skills required for both below:

Dancer skills:

Strong Core
Performance skills
Good elevation
Rhythm
Technique
Good at picking up choreography
Passion
Ability to interpret what the choreographer wants
Good memory 

Head Dancer Skills:

Clear communication skills
Rhythm
Ability to interpret what the choreographer wants 
Ability to motivate
Good memory Ability to criticize in a constructive way 

There are many skills required in both fields, however some skills overlap like rhythm and the ability to interpret what the choreographer wants, therefore although some may say you do not need to be a great dancer to be a great head dancer there are some skills required for both. 

This is something I am going to investigate further. Please let me know your thoughts! 

Literature review #2

Literature review #2

Career Transitions in Professional Dancers: Stanley E. Greben, M.D., F.R.C.P.C

An article where the author summarises his experience with 160 dancer-clients who are experiencing career transitions. It includes some psychological aspects of dance careers and of career transitions are considered.

This article includes

Introduction

Psychological Aspects of the Dance Career

Psychological Aspects of Career Transition

The Role of Psychotherapy in Dancer Transition

Clinical illustrations

Conclusion

The majority of head dancers in Parkdean have been trained in dance and so experience some of the challenges that Greben discusses. The change from being a performer/parkdean trouper, to then leading your team to performance success comes with challenges and accomplishments, however each individual with require different support when making that change.

The section on ‘Psychological aspects of dance career’, talks about how dancers in general become ‘accustomed to being instructed, directed, and corrected’. As a head dancer you have to team your team and therefore cannot rely on anyone else to guide your group through the different shows. ‘Conversely, they often do not feel autonomously competent, but depend too much on the leadership and opinion of others. My experience as a head dancer has revealed that although I do not rely on others to lead my team, I do get affected by others opinions and I also find myself second guessing choreography, if for example a member of my team has questioned a part of the show.

Greben discusses this theme of a lack of leadership further in his section on Psychological aspects of career transition. All the head dancers in parkdean have the support of their manager, choreographer of the company and the casting manager, however it is up to the head dancer to communicate with these authorities so they can feel supported. ‘When working with dancers in transition, they need to be shown that they are most likely multi-talented, and their intelligence is probably high, but that they have been under-developed. Many adult dancers fear, from the protected position of their life training and in companies that they will not be up to the outside world’s expectations and demands. Thus they require support, guidance, and training for more autonomous functioning. ‘I can really relate to this, the training I received at Dance College encouraged me to rely on the opinion of others and to be led by my teachers and dance captains.

Although this article focuses on the psychological issues that dancers face when transitioning into a new role I feel that a lot of the information provided relates to issues I have faced within my first season as a head dancer and therefore I feel it will benefit others in my situation. 

Literature Review #1

Literature review

Primal Leadership by Daniel Goleman, Richard Boyatzis and Annie McKee

I was given the piece of literature by my Dad after discussing with him the nature of my inquiry. I explained that I wanted to explore the tools required to become a head dancer, manager and choreographer within a leisure entertainments facility. You can purchase the book on Amazon or similar sites.

Primal Leadership assesses the importance of emotionally intelligent leadership. Being a head dancer within Parkdean you are a team leader, you run the rehearsals and lead your team to be the best they can be in terms of their performance on stage. I feel the idea of being emotionally connected with your team is especially important within my job at Parkdean as we all live and work together and we are all working away from our families, which can make the job especially difficult. I also have to give constructive criticism to my team and inform them if they are performing well or are falling behind, again dealing with these sorts of issues it is important that as a team leader you are emotionally connected with your team.

Contents

Part 1 The Power of Emotional Intelligence

·         Primal Leadership

·         Resonant Leadership

·         The Neuroanatomy of Leadership

·         The Leadership Repertoire

·         The Dissonant Styles

Part 2 Making Leaders

·         Becoming a resonant leader

·         The Motivation to change

·         Metamorphosis

Part 3 Building emotionally intelligent organisations

·         The emotional reality of teams

·         Reality and the ideal vision

·         Creating substantial change

‘Throughout history and in cultures everywhere, the leader in any human group has been the one to whom others look for assurance and clarity when facing uncertainty or threat, or when there’s a job to be done. The leader acts as the groups emotional guide.’ This small section from primal leadership evokes a lot of ideas about how I should be acting towards my team. Already I feel like this information will help to develop my leadership skills. I hope to acquire skills from this literature and use them on my team to see if I notice a difference in their work ethic, performance and their reactions to constructive criticism.

Primal Leadership also discusses the difference between Resonant leadership and the discordant leader. ‘When leaders drive emotions positively (…), they bring out everyone’s best. We call this effect resonance. When they drive emotions negatively (…) leaders spawn dissonance, undermining the emotional foundations that let people shine.  A s a head dancer I want my team to shine, however it is very difficult always be positive when you work with a team of six people who you also live with and spend most of your time with. This book will give me some tools to help guide my team positively and hopefully help to achieve better scores from our guests who holiday with Parkdean.

In ‘The Neuroanatomy of Leadership’ section of the book there is a break down of ‘Emotional Intelligence Domains and Associated Competencies’, this information provides a practical guideline for building leadership skills.

I believe this piece of literature will help me develop skills in leadership within my role as a head dancer, I also believe it will coincide with the data I receive from my interviews. I will be asking my interviewees ‘What skills are required in the head dancer role?'.

Overwhelmed!

I have spent the last couple of days researching leadership, leadership in dance and also the requirements for a head dancer within a leisure entertainment facility. I have to say I am feeling slightly overwhelmed by the amount of work ahead of me, on top of this BAPP course its also the start of peak season. Peak season for parkdean means working a huge amount of hours with little time or energy to put into anything else. However with my inquiry looming its going to be important that I keep well rested and fuel my body with the right nutrition. Therefore I have also been looking at the best foods to keep your body fueled, my plan is to invest in lots of protein and energy filled foods like chicken, nuts, seeds, bananas and lots of fruit and vegetables. Last season I relied on energy drinks like red bull and monster, as much as these drinks gave me a short burst of energy they did not help sustain my body throughout the busy season. 

I am feeling very apprehensive so if anyone has any advice or wants to get talking (just for support) it would be hugely appreciated. 

Slowly summarising

So I have recieved the feedback from my inquiry plan and have began summarising my thoughts and ideas for my inquiry.

Inquiry Summary

From looking at my feedback that I received I have decided to change the title of my inquiry. My previous title ‘An investigation into career transition for women in dance: The challenges that come with change’ did not communicate the idea of dancers transitioning into leadership roles. Therefore I am changing my title to ‘Exploring the skills required to transition into a dance leadership role within the leisure entertainment sector’.  I am hoping this covers all angles of my inquiry.

I will be choosing two head dancers from parkdean who have experienced two seasons, two managers from parkdean who have also experienced a minimum of two years with the company and I will also be interviewing the casting manager and the choreographer of the company. I feel this will give me a strong basis for the skills required to take on a leadership role within a company like parkdean. I would like each candidate to have a minimum of two years experience within the job as I feel they will have more to offer than someone who has spent less time in the job.

Inquiry questions

What support did you receive in furthering your career as a professional performer?

What leadership skills do you have and how have you had to use these in your career?

Could you discuss your challenges and accomplishments that you have faced throughout your career?

If you were to employ a head dancer what skills would you look for specifically?

How would these skills differ, in your opinion to that of a entertainments manager?

What advice would you give a performer hoping to achieve head dancer/manager status?

Initially I was going to be looking at the retirement issues within the transitions in dance, however I feel that I would like to focus on the challenges and accomplishments faced in leadership roles.

The ethical issues I have addressed in my inquiry plan will be put into place when I begin my interviews. However I need to clarify my insider-researcher position with my tutor, which I will be doing this week. 

Head Dancer Role

I have to first apologise for leaving my blog empty for such a long time now! It has been a very busy couple of months. January 30th I began rehearsing five brand new 40minute shows choreographed for a five man show team. I have taken the role of head dancer so not only was I learning my own part but I was also learning another four parts. I have to say I didnt realise how much this job role would challenge me. Not only was I learning five different parts, cleaning shows, running rehearsals and dealing with four very different personalities but it was also part of my job role to ensure vocals were up to scratch, costumes and props were kept clean and in good condition and peoples hours weren't going over their contracts. 

My first week in the Venue was very stressful. After main rehearsals (which took place in Wales) I had to start putting the shows together, unfortunately not every one on my show team were strong dancers, my boys for example were stronger singers and struggled to remember choreography. I spent hours having one to ones with separate people ensuring they knew exactly what they were doing and were confident with each show. Once my team knew the choreography it was then time to start spacing everything on the stage, with set, props and microphones. I then had to go through costume changes and run dress rehearsals to ensure each person knew when their costume changes happened and if they could make them on time. 

My main issue has been with how I deliver a rehearsal, sometimes it can be so frustrating when you have spent hours with someone and they still cant remember the choreography especially when I find it so easy to pick routines up. I had to find a way to deal with this and not get too frustrated, I needed to realise that in time the routines would come and people would start to remember their own choreography. 

We are now 4weeks in and the shows are up and running so I have started to film each show and watch them back so I can start giving corrections. In my rehearsal yesterday  I filmed everyone and got them to watch the rehearsal back and take notes on themselves as I was finding that when I gave people corrections I would often get back chat. I have really had to grow a tougher skin as I am dealing with some very strong personalities all of whom are a few years older than me and have worked the job alot longer than I have. Regardless of how many years they have been working in the industry I had to remember that I was given this job for a reason and that I am more than capable of being in charge of what goes on that stage each night. 

Now that we have the main shows up and running I have been travelling to torquay to learn the new touring shows. Touring shows are made for two girls so I am only learning two parts and neither of the girls sing during the show, we are basically backing dancers so I dont have to learn any harmonies or lyrics. 

I hope this brings everyone up to scratch with what I have been doing for the past couple of months, it has been a challenging transition for me however I feel it will contribute massively towards my final inquiry. 

Task 6a

Before getting started with reader 6 I felt quite overwhelmed with information, I wasn't sure if my ideas for an inquiry were heading in the right direction, I didn't know how to get started or where I was getting my information from. However, complete clarity washed over me as I read through the various tools that help to create social science research. 

I have that my inquiry research will mostly be made up of interviews and possibly questionnaires depending on the information I obtain from my interviews. As I have decided to research the different transitions in dance I felt that I would need a large age range to cover a dancers life span. 

When putting together an interview I needed to think about what I wanted to gain from this inquiry. As a dancer a big fear of mine is 'what will my next job be?' and 'How can I prepare myself for unemployment once this contract ends?', with these in mind my initial idea for my inquiry is this: 

'Exploring the transitions within a female dancers career and how well equipped dancers are to cope with those mental, physical and emotional changes.' 

In order to keep my data ethically acceptable I have named each person a different letter A,B,C etc. This is my pilot interview.

Person A trained at Bird College London and has performed as a dancer for 11 years, she is now a very successful pilates instructor.

Discuss the article below 

www.dance-london.com/10-setbacks-dancers-face-deal/)

Which parts of this article relate to you and do you feel they relate to dancers nowadays?

I was never told I would never make it during my training or by my family etc, but ofcorse I experienced a lot of rejection in auditions which could be taken as 'you'll never make it'. You take it personally when you really shouldnt, however you are at a young age and you are very impressionable. You don't have the wisdom of years in the industry at that point. It does affect your self belief. And obviously you are rejected from more jobs than you actually get. But you learn that alot of the time it is based on asthetics, for example, will you fit that costume?.

And ofcorse dancers get paid the least and yet they work the hardest, its still the same now. I also think as dancers we are very bad at asking for money, because we know that theres plenty of girls ready to take our spot who will work for less if not for nothing. I think equity as a union is quite weak for dancers, and their wage rights. 

Dancers are unique in that you train and you still go to class whereas most jobs you don't have to keep training every day, and still we are the least valued. 

My dream job, I was never structually right for because of my limb length, and it was so hard because it was my goal and my dream and I felt like I wasnt successful if I didn't achieve that. But then I recieved a letter from the choreographer of that show thanking me for auditioning on so many occasions and that they were sorry I wasn't right for the part which was truly overwhelming. You do almost feel like you didn't make it, which isn't a good for your mental health. 

Even when you are in a job, because the pay is so appalling you still struggle to get by. However life was cheaper in my day. 

I still constantly compare myself to others. It's something that is instilled in you from your teachers as they compare you to others. As well as your own personal self criticism. Again this is where low self esteem and self confidence issues can manifest. Because it is ingrained in you from an early age it doesn't leave you. You always want to be the best. It is a good thing as you always put 100% in but you do however beat yourself up because you have that desire to be perfect. We can only be as perfect as our bodies will allow us to be. That need to achieve will help you in any job, so transitioning away from dance becomes easier as there are so many jobs that need someone who is dedicated and disciplined. The negatives are that you never give yourself a break. 

Proving that dance is a real profession is just as relevant now as it was in the mid eighties when I used to get that. My mum was really supportive but it was other people who questioned whether I had a 'real' job. Unfortunately in schools as well, the career advisers are not well informed about the arts, they don't see dance as a job they only see it as a hobby. 
They had zero idea about how to help me pursue dance. 

I retired nearly 20 years ago and yet I still say I am a dancer because that is my soul and who I am. When I retired it was difficult to disassociate myself from the dance world, in the end I had to remove myself from everyone and everything dance related. 

Did you experience any emotional or physical problems throughout your career? If so how did you cope with them? 

Yes, I had physical issues with my knees, I had been dancing for nearly ten years at that point, and I sort of ignored the pain. I did start to feel change was needed anyway. Stupidly, I should have gone to see a physio, you feel when your young your body is invincible.

Do you think that has anything to do with the training in this country? 

We didn't get any information on nurturing the body or yourself and it would have been invaluable. Things like nutrition should be covered and injury and prevention of injury etc. 

If I had had them looked at I may have carried on for longer. Retiring after that was dreadful, I immediately moved to a greek island and opened up a restaurant but I had to get away from everything! I discovered a different life being away, you don't have a break being a dancer. I am quite unusual in the way that I completely disassociated myself, most of my peers retired as they wanted to become a mother, or they would go into teaching, or they might go into being an assistant choreographer or go into directing. Some also went into doing what I do working with the body in pilates or yoga. Most of them did that straight after retiring. 

It was hard to move away from dance and in a way you actually grieve the loss of dance, which to the outside world seems silly but it is your whole life and when you have to leave that behind it is emotionally battering. 

Transition resources aren't very well known about here in the UK which is a shame as they provide a huge amount of support.

What support did you recieve in furthering your career as a professional dancer? 

We did have auditon technique classes and they brought in outside choreographers. We had mock auditions in front of our peers and tutors. These were very helpful and beneficial. We had photographers come in for your portfolio. We would then audition for big dance agencies. 

What advice would you give a young dancer who is just making those first steps onto the career ladder? 

I would say do it because for all the insecurities that the profession has, pursue it. Your health and well being is so important, nutritionally and physically. Do things like pilates to prevent injury. Don't take anything personally, you are a product and you will rarely be treated like a person. Try not to compare yourself to others. Focus on your positives. Every time you get praised write it down and log it. 

Did you have a plan in case of injury or unemployment?

No not all. I think if you have a back up plan you are setting yourself up to fail. 

How can a dancer prepare for career longevity? 

I think some of the things we have already mentioned for example health and well being. Get a balanced diet and attend classes like pilates for prevention of injury. Keep up with class. Ensure you are polite and hard working in every job you do so that if you ever come across that person again you don't have any issues with them. A lot of dancers nowadays feel they have a right to get a job without working hard, that is a big mistake, no one deserves anything, you get what you work for. 

Inquiry plan

Exploring the transitions within dancers career and

 how well equipped dancers are to cope with those mental, physical and emotional changes. focusing on female dancers.

Context of inquiry

My inquiry will be conducted using information acquired from professional dancers/ dancers who have trained professionally between the ages of 18-50years. All interviewees will have either worked in the dance profession or trained professionally to a high standard. I will interview each individual separately and compare data. 

The inquiry will benefit any individual who is either in the dance profession, training to be a dancer or thinking about taking up dance as a career. Personally I have chosen dance as my career and I would like to settle some of my own anxieties during this research project. Dance is a huge passion of mine and turning it into a career has been very difficult even though I am at the very early stages. I hope that it will enable me to guide other dancers in the industry, and being given the role of head dancer this year I hope it will help me to guide my own team in what ever worries they have concerning dance. 

Rationale

One of the first tasks I completed in module 2 was preparing a pilot questionnaire which I used to interview a couple of colleagues and people I have worked with in the past. These are on my blog www.lizziemartinbapp.blogspot.co.uk. From these interviews a new interest I discovered were the skills required for career longevity and also how to transition into different roles as a dancer e.g. head dancer, choreographer and teacher

I also spent a lot of time speaking with my colleagues about what they wanted to do after this contract had finished etc and a lot of them had many worries about where their next pay cheque would come from and would they find a dancing job as fulfilling as the one they are currently in? 

I decided to do some research on the difficulties dancers face and found this really interesting article which narrowed down a few struggles that professional dancers come to face. 

www.dance-london.com/10-setbacks-dancers-face-deal/

In this article they also provide information on how to deal with these issues. 

Upon being accepted to a professional dance college I assumed the college and its staff would provide me with the skills and support I needed to conquer the dance industry. However although I acquired a large amount of tools to enable me to become a professional dancer, I came to realise there was a lot of information I was missing. When I first left college I went into a state of anxiety, there were a million questions I wanted to ask and no one to ask them to. This is a big reason why I would like to research this particular subject.

Aims and Objectives

My main aim is to collect and provide suitable information about the transitions in a dancers career, so that professional dancers of all ages have support and guidance regarding the stage they are at in their career.

I plan to interview female dancers who are at different stages within the dance industry. I have decided to pick five 18-25 new graduates, five professional dancers between 26-35 and five between 36-55. I feel this will give me enough scope on dancers professional dance lives and how they have coped in the industry and also what advice they could give others. I am hoping the new graduates responses and queries will be answered by the advice given in the older category questions. I will be using mostly open ending questions to provoke discussion and develop ideas and knowledge.

I will then organise my data and code each interview so that I can look at comparisons, contrasts and insights given. I will also be answering the questions myself as I would like to put across my opinion in my research. Once I have the information I require from the interviewee's I will be looking at literature, media and other sources to find supporting information and advice to help create the perfect package for all dancers who are at different stages of their career. 

I hope to find enough information to act as a tool not only for myself but for other dancers who have anxieties about their future career. 

Ethical Considerations

  To ensure my research is ethically correct I have prepared consent forms for each of my interviewee's to fill out. I think this enables myself and the interviewees to understand the boundaries of the interview situation and that their information is safe. 

All data I collect will be stored on a locked hard drive that only I have the password for and all names will remain anonymous. I will be using a coded system so that peoples names remain anonymous. I will be following the Data Protection Act guidelines. www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/29/contents


Each interview will take place on neutral ground, as I feel this is beneficial to myself and the interviewee. Meeting on neutral ground ensures both parties are comfortable and the meeting place will be discussed prior to the interview. 

Analysis

I will transcribe all interviews and they will be coded to ensure that all essential information is highlighted and can be used for research purposes. I will compare the information obtained from the different age categories and link it to literature and media sources that I have found. I will then decide what information is the most useful to myself and other dancers. Finally I will present my findings in a way that I feel is beneficial to its readers. 

Resources

• Sample of graduate dancers to experienced dancers.
• Laptop
• Dictaphone
• Literature
• Schedule 

Schedule

 Week 1: Email all interviewee's to get times and places for interviews. Send out consent forms so they can be updated beforehand and so I know they are happy for the interview to happen.

Week 2: 18-25 interviews and begin transcribing as soon as possible.

Week 3: 26-35 interviews and begin transcribing as soon as possible.

Week 4: 36-50 interviews and begin transcribing as soon as possible.

Week 5: Continue transcribing and putting together a coding plan.

Week 6: Begin coding interviews.

Week 7: Highlight important and relevant sections. Start comparing interviews.

Week 8: Find relevant sources that support or contradict findings. 

Week 9: Start analysing literature and findings to discover similarites. 

Week 10: Write up findings and keep searching for supporting information.

Week 11: Send off completed draft for feedback.

Week 12: Make necessary amendments according to tutor feedback. If possible acquire feedback from other networks (e.g. SIG) or possibly other dancers, Is this information useful to them? 

Conclusion

In conclusion I hope to gain a greater understanding of how a dancer transitions throughout their career. Through using other peoples experiences and perspectives on the dance world, I hope to discover information that will aid other dancers in their career transitions. In the data I obtain I will be looking for shared experiences and individual experiences. I will be looking at literature and media sources that support the experiences of dancers and information on ways to conquer their anxieties regarding a dance career. I am looking forward to doing this research to see if it supports my concerns about transitions in dance. 

Bibliography

http://www.lizziemartinbapp.blogspot.co.uk/

http://www.dance-london.com/10-setbacks-dancers-face-deal/

www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/29/contents

Critical Reflection 

Module2 

 Devloping lines of professional inquiry 

I began this module thinking about where and what I wanted to achieve both in my personal life and my professional life. When thinking about my aspirations for the future I realised that although I knew what I wanted to achieve I had not thought about how I was going to get there. I needed to think about the skills and tools required to achieve the future that I wanted. 

I devised a set of pilot questions that reflected the concerns I had about my future career and I hoped to recieve information that would be beneficial to both my inquiry ideas as well as my aspirations. These questions were put to a senior member of the company I work within and I was very pleased with the results I obtained. They are posted in my blog (Martin, Lizzie. Pilot Questions, Blogger (online) 2014). 

From these questions I discovered lots of different lines of inquiry. To narrow them down I spoke with my tutor Paula Nottingham about the pro's and con's of each idea. I had to think about the scope of each inquiry and how beneficial the information I obtain would be. I also had to think about the time factor, it was no use picking a line of inquiry that had huge scope but not enough time to complete the research. 

I decided to look at confidence as that has always been an issue for me within the dance industry, myself and paula decided that there was far too much scope to just focus on that idea. This got me thinking about what we as people need confidence for. Decision making requires a lot of confidence in ones self. I thought about the many changes we make as dancers and the different paths we can be led down. From these ideas I felt the need to research transitions and struggles that dancers have both emotionally and physically. When does the time come for a dancer to transition in their career? or infact change to a completely new medium. 

Once I had an idea to pursue I set up a special interest group (Martin.Lizzie.Google Plus Communities. Community for Professional Performers). I really struggled with this as I mainly communicate with a lot of my peers and people I know from the dance world via social media sites. It was useful however having the BAPP Arts group as many of them have joined my community and although I have not recieved a lot of feedback it has been useful looking and commenting on other peoples communities. 

After organising my ideas it was time to start looking for literature. I found some really great websites and foundations whose main aim was to help with the transitions in a dancers career. There was a lot of information on 'Life after Dance'. It was more difficult however to find books covering this topic. A fantastic book I found by Dr. Linda Hamilton called 'the person behind the mask' which covers a lot of emotional and psychological issues that occur in the dance world. 

An interview with Lloyd Newson of Dance Company DV8 also sparked interest in the world of career transitions. He talks about what it means to be a successful dancer and also the risks you take in the dance world. (martin.lizzie.successful dancer (blogger) 2014).

 Ethical Considerations

 Before embarking on this degree course my thoughts about ethics were very limited. I have always been taught 'right' from 'wrong'. Growing up in a christian family my morals very much reflected my religion. However I had never opened my mind to the situations that were discussed in reader 5. 

Within my work place I would say having respect for one another is one of the main ethics that should be adhered to, especially when you are living and working with a small team. However there were a lot of situations that I covered in my journal which I found unethical. I felt certain forms of bullying occured within my work place and many of my peers felt the same. Ethically my manager should have dealt with these situations but unfortunately nothing was resolved. 

Going back to discussing reader 5, the issues that were raised in Case Study 3: The dance class, are ones that I have myself been exposed to within my own dance training. Understandably the teacher says he wants to prepare his students for a the dance world where there is no tip toeing around other peoples feelings. I completely understand this, but I can see how others especially parents would disagree and feel that the teacher should be encouraging students rather that making negative comments. 

I had never thought about how ethics and morals were so closely interlinked. However I have now learned that everyone has different morals and therefore different ethics, but when in the workplace we should all abide by some sort of professional ethical code set by the company we work for. 

Discrimination in the work place should never be tolerated so I am glad that there are laws in place to stop this kind of behaviour. It is also useful to have Health and Safety legislation as well as other forms of legal documents to help protect all workers. 

Inquiry Pilot and Draft 

I found that putting together an inquiry plan was really difficult. The most difficult part was trying to work out my main aims and objectives. Why did I want to discover more information on transitions in dance? Is this really going to be beneficial to people? I hope that now I have put together a plan it will indeed be beneficial to its readers. 

I am going to be interviewing several graduate and experienced dancers to discover their thoughts on the struggles in the dance world, how to over come them and how to transition within a dance career or indeed how to transition out of the dance world. 

By comparing interviews and discovering what information and skills are required for different dancers I then hope to find more literature and other sources to help answer the questions asked by the different age categories. 

I researched this topic extensively and came across various articles which discussed career transitions. I also looked at whether college graduates felt they were being fully prepared to go into the dance world. I recieved mixed responses on this subject. Many students did not feel they had spent enough time studying their well being, audition preparation or self employed issues like sorting out tax etc. This spurred me on to do more research and start putting together my inquiry draft.

After many failed attempts I finally put together a rationale and my inquiry draft, both of which are on my blog www.lizziemartinbapp.blogspot.co.uk

Bibliography

www.lizziemartinbapp.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/4c-questions.html

https://plus.google.com/communities/115070174282035154985

'The person behind the Mask: Guide to Performing Arts psychology' Dr.Linda H. Hamilton (1997)

www.lizziemartinbapp.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/a-successful-dancer.html