Award Specialism Title

I have spent some time reflecting on my work in order to propose an award title for my degree. I have put this work into the Award Specialism Title Form. Below please find my reasons for choosing the specialism 'Musical Theatre'.

 I have chosen the specialism of Musical Theatre within my degree title by considering my previous expertise and knowledge, the basis of my inquiry and the plans I have for my future work as a practitioner.

I have previously trained within the Musical Theatre field, studying for three years at a Trinity London approved college gaining a level 6 diploma in professional Musical Theatre. I therefore have a detailed knowledge of the work and skills required within the field. As a result of my previous training I am now working in the Musical Theatre industry and because of this have directed my inquiry to aim to specifically increase my skills as a practitioner within this area. My inquiry with look at the rehearsal process when working on Musical Theatre repertoire. Through this inquiry I aim to improve my skills as a dance captain and assistant to the choreographer in the company I currently work for, to improve the efficiency and productivity of the rehearsals for the entire company.

Further to my current position, my intentions for my future work are to continue within the Musical Theatre field. I am set to purchase an established Musical Theatre and Dance School in the coming year. The skills and knowledge I hope to acquire within my inquiry, I plan to continue to develop in the rehearsal environments that will take place within the school.

Any feedback from my fellow BAPP students is appreciated.

Group session with Paula 25/11/16

On Friday I rushed from rehearsal and managed to make it to a group session on 'Tools of Inquiry' with Paula and two fellow BAPP students, Megan and Lauren. I'm so glad I managed to make the session as it was not only useful to touch base about section 6 of this module but to start to think about consolidating my learning in the module as a whole.

We spoke about the tools of inquiry available to use to gather data and information to support and guide our inquiries such as interviews, focus groups and surveys. We were asked whether we had made any decisions about tools we would use. I had given this some thought and shared my initial ideas of using a focus group to discuss ideas with my current cast about their thoughts on the rehearsal process we take as well as interviews with practitioners working within the Musical Theatre field in different productions and companies. I also mentioned that I had considered how relationships within my company may effect question responses and had therefore decided to carry out a focus group with my current cast but separate individual interviews with our choreographer and our production co-coordinator. I have chosen to do this as I would not want the presence of management to effect my cast members willingness to answer questions and share opinions freely. Also, vice versa, I would not want the management to feel unable or unwilling to answer questions due to the presence of the cast. Paula added that when conducting these interviews and focus groups it would be important to stress that they are confidential and anonymity could be used where wanted and required. This would also help to remove any feelings of unease people may have at answering questions related to work within a work environment.

Looking at the tools I had chosen to use so far they were all tools that would acquire qualitative data. I intend to do further research and thinking into whether collecting quantitative data would be useful to my inquiry, if collecting some figures and data numbers will be useful in proving or disproving the effectiveness of rehearsal methods.

The session was useful as it reminded me that it is important to not only consider what you can learn from your inquiry but also what you already know about your subject. In order to evaluate how much you can learn from your inquiry you need to know how much you knew already. My inquiry topic on the elements of preparation required in a Musical Theatre rehearsal came about due to a change of job role in the company I currently work for. I have been involved in rehearsal processes from a young age, for instance for my local dance school production shows and nationwide competitions. Therefore I know what is expected from me as a performer in that environment. However when I was made Dance Captain and assistant to the choreographer, I realised how different it is from being part of to taking a rehearsal. I therefore chose to carry out this inquiry in order to improve my rehearsal practice and improve the rehearsal experience for everyone that I work with, now and in the future.

Another important realisation I had is that it is important for me to keep in mind throughout this whole process what my aim is. It is important that I have a narrow field of inquiry and to focus on a particular subject. This not only means that the work load is achievable in the time given but that the work I produce will be to a high standard and the most useful to myself and my peers.

Now as I move forward in the module I am looking forward to consolidating my work and putting myself in a positive position to continue with the process and begin module 3.

Inquiry Design

When thinking about designing my inquiry I have first tried to relate aspects of inquiry to other areas of my professional life in order to gain further understanding.

When looking at the four main research methods explained in reader 6 and thinking about my workplace, my immediate thought was on the methods used by my company to gauge audience reaction to our shows. They use both qualitative and quantitative measures. An example of a quantitative measure used is the company producing short surveys for audience members to fill out once they have watched a show. The questions asked cover aspects such as personal enjoyment and chance of returning to watch another show. Audience members are asked to answer the questions by choosing from five options covering very good - very bad. The number of each answer to each question is then added up by management and used to decide the popularity and success of a show. In contrast a qualitative approach they use is encouraging cast members to talk directly to audience members on their reactions to a show and then the cast members feedback their comments to management.

Looking at the both methods used I can see positives and negative aspects in both. The surveys allow for a larger range of opinions to be gathered, examined and compared. However by speaking directly to clients they are able to gain more in depth answer and opinions. I think in this instance it is a good idea to use both qualitative and quantitative measures in order to gain a fuller perspective on the audience mood.

My initial thoughts on my inquiry are to use qualitative measures of interviews and focus groups in order to gain information however I will not rule out considering the positives that collecting quantitative data could bring to my process.

Literature and more

Over the course of this module I have been researching literature in order to help me decide on an inquiry topic and then to use as resources to guide and inform my inquiry. My research as well as the rest of the work in this module has meant that I have chosen an inquiry topic of the elements of preparation of performance in Musical Theatre work and the obstacles this can face.

This is relevant to my current practice as a performer as I currently work for an Entertainment company that produces Musical Theatre shows to perform in various venues around Spain. I have worked for the company for 18 months but have recently been promoted to dance captain and the choreographers assistant. My role involves taking rehearsals with the cast when the choreographer is not there and to offer advice and help to the choreographer when needed. I aim to use my inquiry to increase my knowledge on the rehearsal process in order to improve the rehearsal experience for the entire cast and to act as a greater aid to the choreographer. In my future career I aim to own an independent dance school in partnership with my Sister, a fellow performer and dance teacher. The school will teach children from the age of four through to adults. Although my inquiry will not focus on working with children, I intend to use what I learn about the rehearsal process and input it in the future teaching of my students so that they are used to and can benefit from a good working rehearsal environment.

I plan to look at what elements are present in a rehearsal of Musical Theatre work that gets the work from rehearsal stage to performance ready. As anyone who has been part of a rehearsal process knows it can take hours and weeks of rehearsal for a few minutes work on stage.

I plan to follow an active inquiry in my own place of work, observing rehearsals and carrying out interviews with my fellow cast members and managers. However I wish to look at other elements too. I plan to look at rehearsals of work throughout the age of Dance and Musical Theatre. I will compare examples of rehearsals from different eras to the rehearsals carried out by professionals today in order to see how the elements have developed. I hope to see what elements have stood the test of time and see what is is about them that enables them to help achieve what is necessary with the work to put it on stage. An example of the literature i will use is work by Jennifer Neville on the rehearsal process of opera theatre in med-seventeenth-century Italy. She mentions that there has been evidence found that rehearsals used to entail  practicing in the performance space, the use of costumes in rehearsals and the importance of communication between the creative collaborators. (Parergon Volume 28, 2011 pp. 135-153)

Another focus of my inquiry will be on the element of ethics within the rehearsal. I plan to investigate what elements are present in a rehearsal due to ethical reasons and how much they contribute achieving what is needed in the rehearsal. I have been looking at different companies and organisations codes of conduct. One example I have found is that of the RAD dance education and professional organisation. Although its focus is more on teaching certain elements are still valid for a rehearsal environment. Please find a link to the document below.

https://www.rad.org.uk/documents/about-docs/code-of-prof-practice-for-teachers-en-web.pdf

I intend to look at what work has already done on my inquiry subject in order to see whether my work finds similar results and also what is different and what this means to my findings. An article of interest to me is 'Practicing perfection: How concert soloists prepare for performance'. Although this is not directly based on Musical Theatre work I believe their findings will show similarites to my own. For instance they talk about an element of rehearsal is the extensive repeating of work in order to memorise what will be performed. (Advances in Cognitive Psychology Volume 2, 2006, pp.113-130)

I am continuing to research and read relevant literature to my inquiry. I appreciate any feedback from my fellow bloggers on the work I have done so far.

Personal, professional and organizational

When considering ethics and my inquiry there are lots of levels to consider. I must of course ensure that my inquiry is carried out ethically correct in terms of my interaction with the participants of my inquiry. For instance I must handle all data I collect fairly and safely, I must ensure that partcipants understand how I intend to collect the data and then how it will be used. However there are many other ways how ethics will effect my inquiry. My own personal ethics will effect how I choose to carry out the inquiry, the environment that my inquiry will take place in will have ethical implications and the ethical values of other people involved is a factor that must be considered.

In order to begin to consider how my own ethical values may effect my inquiry I first brainstormed what I believed to be the the values I hold and work towards in my life as a professional performer and general person in society.  This then created the premise for my own personal 'code of conduct'. I can use these points to refer back to when carry out my inquiry to ensure I uphold ethical standards. When looking at reader 5 it mentioned the teaching of Aristotles believing that morals are human standards created between two extremes. I decided to create a spider diagram listing my morals and also listed what I thought the two extremes were, shown by the different colours of pen used. I chose to do this as I felt it would work as a good warning method for myself. If I begin to see any of the ethical extremes in my inquiry I have a visual tool to help remind myself what I should be aiming for within my work. Below is a picture of the diagram I created:

Next I considered the environment that my inquiry will take place in. Firstly, the immediate environment of my place of work. As I will be investigating the elements present in preparation of the performance of Musical Theatre work I will base some of my observations and interviews within my own rehearsals and company. I will also want to branch out further and look at practitioners working in other companies. Therefore the ethical values of the performance industry as a whole as well as organisations within the industry will play a part in my inquiry. Below is an initial brainstorm of the factors that I believe will be relevant to my inquiry:

 I have also found my jounral extracts helpful when considering the ethics of my inquiry. I have been able to reflect on incidents that have occurred during my rehearsals and consider the ethical implications. A good example is considering the thinking of Hobbes (1651) that in order to have a good working society there must be a set of rules to follow. I can relate this to a group of performers working together to put a piece of Musical Theatre work on stage as their own small society that functions due to the rules that they follow. An avenue that I will focus on in my inquiry is one element of preparation of performance is the relevance of a 'code of conduct'.

Another example relatable to my rehearsal experience is the beliefs of Immanuel Kent (1779). He writes that a set of moral rules are not breakable. That a person must follow them even if their personal opinion does not agree. This I can relate to a cast having to follow the instructions a 

choreographers instructions no matter what. An example of this was shown in my journal. Recently 

my cast lost our main male singer in rehearsals and shows for a week due to illness. We only had a short time, an hour and a half, to implement changes throughout an entire show in order to perform without him. I wrote how well my team worked together despite this adversity as they all were focused, listened to all instructions given by the choreographer and quickly implemented them. This meant that the show was able to be completed and performed that evening well whilst missing one key cast member.

My reflections on ethics have formed a good base for my inquiry. I plan to blog shortly on the inquiry title and sub title that I have decided upon and the work that will follow. Any thoughts from my fellow bloggers are greatly appreciated.

Talks about preparation for performance

After my last blog I wanted to develop my ideas on preparation for performance further. I decided to share my thoughts with my Sister and gain some ideas and information from her on the subject. My Sister is a professional dancer and now dance teacher. She danced on board cruise liners for seven years for Carnival cruise lines as well doing many other short term contracts for other companies. She has now transitioned into teaching dance full time at various schools, teaching both children and adults.

I first started by discussing with her the professional rehearsal environment she was used to and she covered a wide range of points. When we spoke about preparation some of the things she mentioned were:

• Learning the choreography
• Auditioning for roles
• Setting spacing
• Practicing with props/costume/lights/sounds
• Safety briefings - e.g. piro demonstration 
• Cleaning choreography 
• Rehearsing swing roles

When I looked back at the list something that stood out to me is that there is no mention of practicing technique or performance skills. This is something that is already expected of the dancers as they are professional and  have been chosen for the job. You are given the basics of choreography and spacing and then you  are expected to make it a memorable experience for the audience.

We then moved on to talk about her teaching work and how she prepares her students for a performance. We focused on her younger students as she is currently preparing them for a showcase in February. When we spoke about her preparing them for a performance some of the points she covered were:

• Practicing steps from the choreography in exercises during class
• Recapping choreography before adding more
• Practice with costume/props
• At least one rehearsal in the space they will be performing in
• Spending at least 4 months rehearsing as only get 45 minutes a week
• Encouraging the students to practice outside of class

These points show that with children you must give them more tools in order to create a performance. They must be given the knowledge of technique to complete choreography. They need time and opportunity to practice. 

I found it very interesting to talk to my sister as we have had similar careers so far but still very different experiences. I feel that in future research I do for my inquiry she will be a good candidate to interview as she has experience in both a professional rehearsal environment but also in teaching children.

Direction of Inquiry

I recently had a tutorial with Paula to discuss my progress in the module and where I am at with choosing a topic for inquiry. I talked through my initial ideas and that I had decided to focus on the similarities and differences between a dance class environment and a dance rehearsal environment. I came to this conclusion because of the current work I am doing and the work I plan to do in the future. I am currently rehearsing in Spain with Mediterranean Hotels Entertainment. We are rehearsing four, one hour production shows that we will perform in four venues until March 2017. I participate as well as take certain rehearsals as I am dance captain. It is my responsibility to run rehearsals when the choreographer is not there. In previous blogs I have spoken about the teaching work I do whilst I am in England. It currently looks like my future work will be heavily based in teaching as myself and a fellow business partner are currently in the process of purchasing an established dance school by September 2017.

My first thoughts where that I wanted to look at the similarities and differences between a class and rehearsal environment as I want to be able to best prepare my students for the different circumstances they will find themselves in so that they can always work and perform to their highest ability. This came from a place of personal experience. I felt that when I made the change between going to dance school from the age of 4-16 to professional dance college to study for my Trinity London diploma in Musical Theatre, the expectations of my work and the environments I found myself in where a shock. It was very different to what I was used to and I had to work to adapt in order to develop as a performer. I want to be able pin point aspects of a professional working dance environment such as a rehearsal and investigate its significance in order to pass on this knowledge to my future students and possible incorporate changes in my teaching.

When I spoke to Paula about this she pointed out that if I were to look at the similarities and differences between a class environment with children and a professional rehearsal I would need to observe both environments in detail.This would be virtually impossible as I will be living and working in Spain till at least the end of March next year so well into my module three work. After thinking through this I have decided I will need to focus mainly on the rehearsal environment and less on the comparison element. I will still be able to implement my findings in my teaching so the inquiry will still impact my future career. Paula also pointed out that it is very important to consider the age of the participants in the environment I am studying. The type of learning and work of college students would be very different to that of young children. I think now I intend to focus on a professional rehearsal process this is less relevant as the term professional denotes that it will be adults participating, at least in the case of the rehearsals I will be able to observe personally. However thinking about children in the environment is something I can consider with further research without personal observation.

Now it was time to narrow down the inquiry field even further. A word that sparked my interest in my talk with Paula was the word 'preparation'. We spoke about it in terms of what the very nature of a rehearsal is, the preparation of a performance. I wish to look further into what is meant by the term 'preparation' particularly in terms of performance. Questions that I am considering and will research and develop further are:

What elements must be present in your preparation in order to be ready for a performance?
What elements effect the preparation for a performance?
Is preparation the key to a successful performance?

I would very much like to hear from everybody their thoughts on my current line of inquiry. I will now be looking at other practitioners work in order to consolidate my inquiry.