Wednesday's zoom session had me really thinking about what my practice is. I was struggling to even comprehend my practice, but I am so glad I vocalised this very early on in the session as it led to other peers also communicating their struggle of what their practice is. Helen made it very clear that it is ok not necessarily know right now.
I felt so much at ease when Helen vocalised this.
A thought of mine that kept coming into my head was am I going about this the right way? Am I overthinking the word practice already?
Then I realised that feeling like this is okay.
Sam briefly mentioned the link between Practice and identity and how it seems to be an occurrence that your practice has to be your identity and I came to the realisation that isn't always the case or it shouldn't be anyway.
I do find that it is very useful and important to know the difference between a discipline and practice. (To be honest I didn't even realise that there was a difference prior to the zoom session)
Helen mentioned that practice is more of the process and it may or may not always be the same. Discipline is our background/training and where most of our knowledge lies. I think I was getting this mixed up and I defintely thought my practice was my discipline.
I could easily tell you what my discipline is but my practice... it is something I'm going to have to sit and think on and explore outside of more than just my niche of performing.
At the start of this course I would have said my practice is transitioning from a dancer/performer to dance education/teaching.
I am still not 100% sure this is the correct answer, as I'm still trying to understand it all. I feel re reading the handbook to explore and look at my practice from different perspectives will help.
Already after this zoom I feel that I have to think differently and in time I know I will get there.
''It's not how you start, its how you finish...''
Portia
xoxo
Hi Portia, I completely relate to this! I have found articulating my practice hard! I like how you have been able to differentiate between a discipline and a practice as that has helped me to see that yes it is not a tangible thing at times!
ReplyDeleteHi Cass,
ReplyDeleteI am so glad I wasn't the only one who found it hard to differentiate!! I'm just now trying to take all factors of my life into consideration in regards to my practice.
Will be interesting to see how our journeys progress throughout the course.
Portia
xoxo
Hi Portia! it was lovely to read a bit about you from your from previous post and how you would like to see dance education as a part of your practise in the future. It seems you have a built in passion for teaching/ becoming a teacher and I believe doing research about something that you are truly passionate about will make the journey more enjoyable. Teaching has so many interesting aspects to it there is always room for more research if that is the path you end up taking! Teaching is also something I would like to do in the future so looking forward to further discussions about the topic and always happy to brainstorm! Anette xx
ReplyDeleteHi Anette,
DeleteAfter our last couple of zoom sessions and reading through the handbook and starting to reflect I feel that my practise may not be towards teaching or dance education in detail as I haven't had a lot of experience in this as of yet due to the pandemic and just lacking in my faith and availability and feeling like the qualifications hold so much more value than myself. I feel that as of right now my practise is 'continuing to find ways to develop as a dancer/performer in the current climate/day and age.'
However I love dance education and it is something I hope to do once I have completed this course.
Any views on my reply, please feel free to challenge my way of thinking.
Portia
xoxo
Hi Portia,
ReplyDeleteI was unable to attend the zoom meeting last week, so I have just listened to the recording (I couldn't find it for a while!) and I am glad that I found your post. I can fully relate to you when you express the difficulty you have been having in understanding the difference between your discipline and your practice. I feel exactly the same! In fact, before this zoom meeting, I assumed that they were the same thing, but to be honest, I'm not really sure if I have even thought about it before. In my professional life, I have always been a part of the dance industry (as a performer and a teacher), and now I am excited (and nervous) to peel back the layers to find out what's really underneath, and at the heart of my practice.
Happy brainstorming!
Catherine
Hi Catherine,
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad I wasn't the only one!! Will be interesting to see how we really continue to narrow down our practise and use this to develop our research further
Portia
xoxo
Hi Portia, something else interesting that I noted from the discussion was about every aspect of our life contributing to our practice. As performers, we tend to try and remove or ignore the more mundane aspects of life, for example any non-performing work we do is "real life" or muggle jobs. I found it very interesting to hear Sam and others comment on how these experiences can, and are, part of our practice. We can either see how skills from our performance side help and support us in non-performance work and the opposite, how skills and experiences from non-performance work support and better us in performing. I have been working for a cruise line for a few years before the pandemic. Whilst back home I worked for Test and Trace and then as Quality Assurance at the call centre. Initially I thought of it as a disaster that this was where I was when I should be dancing. Having recently come back onboard and beginning rehearsals, I have noticed a huge shift in my confidence and a much more positive mental attitude. I am attributing this to my time at the call centre as I was pushed out of my comfort zone, learned new skills, lead training sessions etc. I also found the people to be so supportive and encouraging, going out of their way to show and tell you how much belief they have in you and what a great job you are doing. This is something I think we miss as performers - often the only feedback being notes for improvement and always striving to do better. Every once in a while we should reflect back at what ways we have succeeded and what we have achieved.
ReplyDeleteHi Ryan,
ReplyDeleteI completely agree I don't understand why as humans we detach our 'muggle' jobs to our love and passion for performing. I don't think we realise we do it! That's great Ryan, I also find that we do lack that praise in the industry and how our 'muggle' jobs can give us skills that performing could never. I do try now and reflect more in my everyday life and think of the skills and positive feedback I receive from work and now that I'm auditioning again I do try and think of the way I feel when receiving praise from children or family and I find this does help.
Portia
xoxo