'The Student Dancer' by Julia Buckroyd

During my research I came across 'The Student Dancer' by Julia Buckroyd. I was aware previous students has used Buckroyds work as a source of literature during their inquiry and initially I did not want to use it because of this reason. I wanted to find my own literature. However the read was compelling and all of the points Buckroyd mentions in her writing I could draw relation to from my own training. My career aspiration to help dancers in professional training stemmed from my own experiences or struggles however since further research into the topic I can see that I am not alone in this quest. It was so comforting to find such literature that I could relate to and draw from to support my inquiry process.

Although I have not finished reading the book I have begun to extract quotes which stand out to me and could be used to support my hypotheses. I also came across Sarah Hunt's BAPP blog and found that two quotes which were of great importance to her from 'The Student Dancer', were also ones that I had noted and highlighted myself.

"..by ignoring her own pain or tiredness or hunger...our problem student demonstrates how little she has internalised the capacity to take care of herself..." 
(The Emotional Uses of Dance Training, p.g. 43)

"Truly effective teachers are realistically positive, supportive and enthusiastic"
(The Dance Teacher, p.g. 67)

Sarah comments "I am really enjoying reading words from some one who I see eye to eye with in regards to vocational training and how it should be compared to the reality. She has interesting thoughts on the behaviour of the dance teacher themselves, not something I have previously looked into much depth but it is all adding more questions into my mind and creating more fuel for module 3."

I can completely agree with Sarah. I strongly believe that the influence and power of a Teacher is underestimated. As a training dancer you spend endless hours listening to your teachers instructions, feedback, guidance, taking on their professional knowledge and advice. If this is negative feedback, poor instruction, or even bad practice, this has a huge influence on the dancer who looks up to the teacher and relies on their supportive practice.

Here Sarah also supports this thinking. "I like the use of 'realistically' that Buckroyd has used.. in the real world, the majority of teachers are not positive and enthusiastic, often they can be supportive but I really feel the need and importance of creating an exciting and happy environment for all students to train in and it is the teacher's responsibility to do so."

Although so far my reading has not been directly related to my inquiry concerning the physical and psychological help available for injured dancers in professional training, Buckroyd makes significant comments on the need for support and good practice within vocational training which, in theory, should effectively decrease injury and the after effects of injury. I therefore, hold that 'The Student Dancer' will not only to support my inquiry and university study but also impact my personal outlook and professional practice.

After BAPP, one thing I will definitely do is keep researching and reading into my field of interest. You can always learn and develop yourself personally and professionally despite what stage you are at in your life.

I'm sure I will have more to say on this after further reading!

Starting a Literature Review

After reading the 'Starting a Literature Review' study advice from Reading University I decided to take their guidance on board and start with a spider diagram.
 
"Note down all your initial thoughts on the topic. You can use a spidergram or list to help you identify the areas you want to investigate further. It is important to do this before you start reading so that you don't waste time on unfocussed and irrelevant reading."

Having written lines of Inquiry surrounding my topic of injury and its physical and psychological effects for professionally training dancers (Blue) I then thought about what other research might be relevant to my investigation and who I may need opinions/data from (Red).

What research has already been done on this topic?
What are the sub-areas of the topic you need to explore?
What other research (perhaps not directly on the topic) might be relevant to your investigation?
How do these sub-topics and other research overlap with your investigation?

I also found this diagram of an inverted triangle useful to depict how my research can start broad and gradually sift through to firstly, selected literature that overlaps with my research, and finally, those that are directly relevant and significant to my inquiry.

I have used Summon through MDX Unihub and have found some very interesting full articles surrounding my topic as well as external literature that I have sourced from books and websites.

In my next blog I will share my literature reviews.

Just a thought...

Onwards and Upwards...

I can't believe we are here at Module 3 already! Scary but exciting! I've started to realise how much reflection I keep to myself within my own thoughts and I am really going to push myself in Module 3 to keep blogging and sharing my BAPP journey.

I come up with blogs in my head  about my experiences during the course and yet never write them down. After spending much of January reading other peoples blogs and experiences however, it has inspired me to share mine with others.

I seemed to struggle in Module 2 to define my inquiry and my feedback reflected this. Unfortunately for me I seemed to have a revelation post hand in that all I had to do to specify my inquiry was to look at sub-topics and pick ONE which interested me the most. HINDSIGHT. That is just my nature to try and take on the whole world! - What was I thinking preparing an inquiry that looked into every single pressure a dancer faces in their training!? It would simply be unmanageable for a small scale work based project! 

To begin with I found it very frustrating. Why could somebody not have told me this was what I needed to do?! As performers, we strive for the best - its how we work and how we've been trained. This meant although I wasn't expecting my best module grade I was still disappointed that I had slipped below my goal. A few days later I looked back and thought about the process. Although I had been frustrated that I was unable to refine my inquiry pre hand in I began to notice that this whole process had actually been a huge learning curve for me. I now feel like I can take on board the feedback from my tutor and begin an inquiry which is manageable and hopefully achievable.

I would definitely recommend reading other peoples blogs and journeys and also to communicate with fellow students who may not necessarily be doing the same inquiry to you but whose research, literature and discussions may support/inspire your own. I did find that I was almost traipsing through hundreds of blogs to find this information so I thought I would share my TOPIC or AREA with you now so if you are reading this you can decide whether or not my blog may be of use to you!!

For my inquiry I am looking into the physical and psychological effects caused by Injury for a dancer in professional training.

I have kept a list of blogs and discussions which will help me with my own research and those which although unrelated to my topic, will be useful for the structuring and 'putting together' of my project.

Good Luck everyone!!