competences and capabilities

Taking a browse through reader 4, I have decided that the job I am in currently requires the employee have a 'transdisiplinary' approach to the job. Here are the skills I believe are needed to work on a show time park with Parkdean:

Skills in Dance                                                             Skills in Compering   

• Flexibility                                                      Improvisation
• Fitness                                                                  Diction
• Technique                                                             Confidence
• Dynamics                                                              Ability to interact with audience
• Strong Body and Core
• Performance skills and expression                

Skills in running daytime activites

• Organised
• Communicating with all ages
• Energetic 
• Reading the room (is everyone getting involved? Is it enjoyable etc?)

Skills in the DJ Box

• Knowing what lights to use and when
• Being able to create an atmosphere with the tools you have (music, lights, smoke)
• Volume Control
• Ability to ride the fader
• Focused 

Skills in Choreography 

• Imagination
• Creating pieces appropriate to ability 
• Interpreting music 

All these skills are required for the job that I am currently in. A lot of these skills do cross over into different sectors so for example you would need to have some level of dance ability to be able to choreograph. 

Where have I got my information from? 

Mainly the ideas I have about the skills required have come from my dance training that I have been receiving from a young age. A lot of information has also come from the company choreographer and teachers that I had at college. As well as being taught alot of this information I also found my information has been acquired from watching alot of dance performances and dance tv programs, for example So You Think You Can Dance, is an American TV show where contestants dance different styles infront of various judges who then critique the dancers, here is a snippet of one of my favorite episodes. 

http://youtu.be/Gd5tkT8EVx4   

Learning Organisation

http://www.infed.org/thinkers/senge.htm  

After reading the link above (Provided in Reader 4), I started to think about the learning organisations that I have been involved in. At college I was surrounded by very experienced teachers who all had incredible amounts of information regarding dance and musical theatre. Although during class they would share this knowledge, I now look back and realise that I could have used their knowledge to enhance my own. As Senge mentions 'As people talk, the vision grows clearer', the more I communicated with my teachers the clearer my vision of being a performer would have been. 

Reflecting back on my college days has now made me more determined to use the knowledge of others to further my own capabilities. I am also happy to share my knowledge with others as discussing thoughts helps to grow and develop new ideas. 

Developing lines of professional inquiry

I have come up with some bullet points on developing lines of Professional Inquiry: As a learner I find it quite difficult to digest large amounts of information that are presented in long paragraphs. So I decided to note down the key points and add to them for my understanding. 

• The main outcome of a professional inquiry is so you can further investigate, research, analyse and understand your professional workplace and the people within it. 
• A professional inquiry is based upon the information and the experiences that I have now, in my place of work. 
• Developing lines of professional inquiry within the BAPP arts module extends and relates to the learning we received in module 1
• Helps to identify your specific learning needs (What are my specific learning needs, how will identifying them help me further my career and become more practiced within the job I have now?)
• Research and knowledge is key to developing your professional inquiry.
• A way to learn about what you are doing whilst you are doing it. (Critical reflection is a big part of this.)      

I have started thinking about my workplace and what aspects I would like to research and develop my knowledge on.                                                                     

Module 2!

Feels like ages since I have blogged on here! Had a hugely busy peak season down here in Devon so I'm glad we had a break from this Degree work! However it is now time to crack on and open up module 2! Good Luck everybody :D xxxxx

Task 3d: Critical questions and issues that emerge

A very specific idea that has emerged from studying this course reader is how important my professional networks are. I have always known that networking is key to success within the performing arts industry, I thought that I was good at networking, but from working on this module I have found that I need to be more organised with my networks and use them fully. Reflecting on my engagement with my networks has shown me that I need to cooperate more fully to gain useful information that will further my career. 

Beginning to use critical reflection within my every day working life has proved to be quite difficult. It has taken a lot of time for me to really think about my day and what actions were helpful and which actions could have prevented stress. 

Since embarking on this module, I have found that I take much more of a back seat at work and observe situations more thoroughly before jumping straight in to try and fix things which I do not have the ability or authority to fix. 

Task 1d: 2d pictures new ones!

Tried to get some pictures of myself performing like Paula suggested, not the best quality but hope you like them!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/120534985@N06/

Task 3c: Sources of information

In any industry it is so important to know where you can find reliable information to help further your career. In this task  I have been looking at the sources that I use to gain knowledge on the entertainment industry, dance diet and fitness, auditions etc. 

The main and most widely source is ofcorse the internet. I use it to find out about auditions 
www.thestage.co.uk
www.spotlight.co.uk
www.dancerspro.co.uk
www.dancecast.co.uk

All of these websites are well known, but not all of them post jobs that are of equity pay. I am a member of equity and this is also another source of information. I regularly recieve magazines from equity with information on dealing with taxes, being self employed etc as well as interviews with professionals and advice on all aspects of the industry. I am not good at keeping hold of the information I find most useful, However after reading Pip Spaltons Blog pipspalton.blogspot.co.uk she talks about keeping everything in a ring binder. I think this is a great idea to keep organised and find information quickly without having to route around in the bottom drawer of my desk! 

I wouldnt say I read a huge amount of books but there are a few that have provided me with invaluable advice. Firstly Linda Hamiltons Advice for Dancers, is written in a simple format but gets straight to the point regarding all sorts of issues that occur in the dance world. I also find Robin D Chmelar and Sally S Fitts's Diet for dancers a great starting point for performers who struggle with their diet. Again I do not log any of this information, I do feel like I should find some key points in each of those books so that I can recall information I need as quick as possible. 

Other sources of information I use is ofcorse the people I meet, everyone that I have met within the entertainment industry have some advice they are itching to share, sometimes I disagree with what people inform me with, but there are other times when people share some invaluable advice and I think I should write that down, and I never do! So from now on I think I'm going to start a mini journal consisting of what people share with me (only the bits I find helpful though!). My agent is also brilliant at letting me know what is changing in the performing world and how I need to adapt to make sure I am fitting in.

A slightly unreliable source I use is Facebook, there are lots of castings that go up on different entertainment pages but not all are genuine, so knowing who to trust is a big factor of using a social networking site as a source to find auditions etc. 

Finally, when I was living in London, I was regularly going to see different shows, the opinions myself and my friends made of each show would be another source of information. Critiquing the shows helped me to see what I needed to do to get to where I want to be, unfortunately now working so far away from any theatres has meant that I havent been able to go to the theatre in quite a while. However there are lots of clips on www.youtube.co.uk that enable me to watch others perform and learn from them. 

In terms of sourcing the information I gain, I would say I'm only good at separating my emails, I have a different folder with all my agents emails in so I can access them quickly. I need to start keeping the magazine clippings that I find useful and also keeping a journal of peoples advice. Looking at other peoples blogs they seem to be similar to my own sources especially regarding the internet.