A good day at the office!

Firstly thank you Helen for your response to my 11th September post.... it is a big step from being used to doing what you do to challenging everything that you do and doing things differently as a consequence.  

However; today was a real leap of faith and so positive on so many levels - I had to deal with a ballet class of partied out students who had their Fresher's party last night... I was pleasantly surprised by how focussed they were, but I was challenged by a very slippery floor and no live music.  I took the decision to focus on the legs and feet, as I am aware that I correct lots of different things in a lesson and sometimes the students find it hard to work on everything at once.  One thing led to another and we got to the point where I felt it appropriate to discuss imagery with them in more depth than ever before - actually to stop the class and discuss and experiment.

I had been re-reading and Psychology of Dance on Wednesday night, documenting what jumped out at me and their suggestion of attaining imagery ability seemed appropriate to where we were in the class, along with ascertaining external and internal imaging as a subconscious preference.

So I asked all the students to lie down, close their eyes and visualise an orange, as suggested, recognising everything about it and asked them how easy or difficult they found it.  Responses varied from feeling they could taste it, to realising they were imaging the actual orange they had eaten 2 weeks ago to not seeing an orange at all.

Next I asked them to imagine themselves doing a pirouette and we talked after this - some realised that they were internal imagers, others external imagers and a few a mix of both - with the student who saw the 2 week old orange seeing herself in the mirror in a past class. Interestingly this student struggles to retain new work so we pondered that perhaps she needs to 'reframe' her imaging to new and current events and what is happening at the time rather than in the past in order to improve her capacity to learn new work.  She went on to explain that she sees photographs of things in her mind and can then recall everything she saw in the photograph - a true photographic memory.  Useful for many things I am sure, but evidently not so powerful within immediate retention.

The student who had trouble seeing an orange of any sort also reported that she just went through the names of the steps in her head without seeing herself at all.  Another explained that she saw someone else, always the same person, executing the step perfectly.  We discussed whether or not it might be valuable to aim to replace the perfect other being with herself.

Two students voiced that imaging a pirouette led to fear – which manifested in tension in one and a funny feeling in her tummy in another.  We discussed how that can lead into actual pirouetting and becomes a learned reflex or reaction to the step and how to replace the ‘negative self-talk’ with more positive thoughts.  One said she cannot imagine turning to the left at all – some sort of block about it.  Another said that she has a positive outlook when imaging yet can be very hard on herself and negative when something goes wrong in practice.  I mentioned setting themselves up for class by making positive statements before they start and checking back in with themselves at the end of class to see if anything was different.  I also reassured them all that they would need to practice imaging and not to expect overnight change. 

Finally I asked them to imagine themselves performing a role they would love to perform.  My orange deprived student saw the person who plays the role playing the role and not herself, whilst some students found it easier – one in particular who found it easier than the others as she said she loves performing.  I suggested that she might aim to realise the connection between technical achievements to that love of performance in order to reach her full potential. 

I gently suggested to the student who clearly has poor imaging skills that it might improve with practice outside the studio, and explained the notion of 2/3 physical doing, 1/3 mental rehearsal being seen as a good balance.

It was fascinating to hear their responses and I think they started to realise (they are in the first term of their second year of training) how different they are and how learning to dance is so much more than being in a studio and doing steps.  The class concluded with more discussion about positivity, the power of the mind and some of the other elements involved in becoming a dancer such as focus, concentration and drive which I explained we would be looking at next week when I ask them to fill out profiles for me.  

They all felt that imagery was important, and some of them voiced just how fascinating they found it all, thinking in new ways.  They were grateful for being considered as individuals, and some went on to tell me about CBT they had undertaken as we had touched on how close to CBT positive thinking is.  I found them open, honest, mature, engaged and interesting.  I appreciated their sharing with me and hope that they may be able to progress in a productive manner.  I also learned about them as learners and hope that this may assist me within helping them attain their goals.  I cannot claim to have all the answers but today seemed to trigger lots of thought within the students which can only be a good thing.

All in all – a good day at the office!

Acorns, oaks and other woodland matters

Taking a more focussed look at my work for Module 3, I am going to try and put into words where I was and where I am, and what I think I am about to do.  No point whatsoever in trying to imagine where it will end up because I could not possibly predict!

As I mentioned in my last blog, my interest since day one has been the use of imagery in dance training, sparked by an inspiring read – Inside Ballet Technique by Valerie Grieg – and my personal journey as a teacher.  Since starting the MAPP I have encountered much writing about imagery, and have been introduced to a wide range of imagery related possibilities that I had not previously encountered.

They say that out of small acorns large oaks may grow, (a tree being my favourite image to use in dance class) and my acorn has allowed me to embrace, dislike, tussle with and learn from the work of many new writers and researchers such as Eric Franklin, Drid Williams, Jennifer Cumming (I find her research very stimulating) along with the Phenomenologists such as Husserl.  There have been several ‘lightbulb’ moments – Psychology of Dance by Jim and Ceci Taylor being one, and little phrases, quotes, moments, facts in so much of the literature I have come across that my mind is constantly engaging with new thoughts and ideas and new ways of finding out more.  I started from a relatively narrow perspective, but we all have to start somewhere and currently I stand on the precipice – about to leap into the unknown.  

Working qualitatively, for example, is relatively new for me – I am used to logical and factual analysis of figures both in previous research work and in my current post, so learning to drill down into a more narrative type of data will be an interesting challenge – and a more human outcome I guess.  That’s why I opted for Phenomenology – describing the lived experience.  I will also try and get some factual data as I am interested to see how it compares to the more personal narrative data derived from interview.  I have gained some really useful information from reading both quantitative and qualitative studies and feel that there is something in comparing both and something to be gained from having both.

I think in real terms my research is going to take me more into the realms of psychology:  I am reading about sport psychology at the moment, related to imagery via the notion of positive imaging, along with my current fascination which is that of focus.  I do bounce around a bit – something I read sends me off on another trail, and sometimes I cannot see the wood for the trees but I know somewhere in all of this there is a lot to discover and that I will find a way through.

My first notion was to research how students interpret and utilise imagery, how teachers teach imagery, and how teachers learn to teach imagery within this genre.  It feels at present like a rather huge undertaking and I am currently refining how to approach researching within all 3 areas.  I will be using a profiling system at first, with the students, which should allow me to establish a manageable number of participants between 3 year groups (as I wish to look into differences and similarities as experience evolves), followed by interviews.   I have to work differently with teachers as I am not looking into the same areas as the students, and am currently preparing how I will do this.    I have had second thoughts about trying to triangulate too much externally to my place of work, which may seem narrow-minded, but realistically within the given time frame there simply may not be time to gather enough back from elsewhere – I will save that for the next study.  I will contact other teachers, just not other students as I am aware of just how hard it is to get the participation you require.  The rest I cannot document..... the truth is out there somewhere!

So – that’s it for now – I am looking forward to hearing what your topic is, where you are at, what you are discovering!  

As autumn unpacks suitcases and settles in

It has been an interesting and rewarding summer, and as I reflect I realise that I approach my work in a new way, with broader thinking and raised awareness.

Choosing imagery as my topic of interest was born of a small idea about the way I teach ballet.  This has grown into a much bigger idea about teaching, learning, describing, watching, listening and hearing and I find myself thinking so differently about imagery - for example, I have read avidly for a large portion of my life, but for the first time, in July, I 'saw' a book and related it to the imagery that the words were creating.  That sounds worryingly unaware, but I cannot quite describe the experience......Of course I have 'seen' books before, but never before have I been so impressed by and aware of the skill involved in bringing the page to life.  The book was Rules of Civility by Amor Towles, and it was joy from start to end.  There are 2 paragraphs very close to the end of the book that I could hear as the voice-over for the start of the film; so vivid that I could visualise the scene in great detail and understand the whole concept and genre.  Most interestingly there was a section at the end of the book, a q & a with the author that discussed the use of imagery.  A real treat - and perfect movie material.

Another imagery adventure was creating the musical Footloose with my summer youth cast in Rugby.  This was my 21st youth project - so I am no stranger to the process of creating a show in 8 days with a large cast of varied experience and ages.  This year, however, I was really concious of the power of the words the creative team (myself, choreographer and musical director) used to create the shows opening environment of Chicago and then the repressed town of Bomont.  When working like this speed is of the essence and it is vital to capture the imaginations of the cast so that they 'believe'.  Only when this belief is there can the audience be transported, and it was vital that every member of the cast be they 10 years old and on the stage for the first time or 21 and playing a leading role was part of the community.  I was really aware of the descriptive way we communicated what we needed and the right energy and mood was captured by all the cast members, which led to a really committed and enthusiastic cast who gave a really embodied performance.  I am sure I have worked like this in the past, but it was interesting to be able reflect in this way with a broader vision.

I have also been captivated by reading Psychology of Dance by Jim and Ceci Taylor which refreshed and re-framed my thinking about the possibilities of success imaging and added much to my research ideas.  I am hoping that the participants in my research may find that they have a more positive approach to their training and capabilities once the work is done.  It is important to me to have something to offer them for being brave and taking part - it is always hard to reflect and be open and honest - and to have something to offer a wider audience in time.

I think my research is going to take me to unexpected realms, and I am prepared for this.  When I started this course I was most interested, probably because it was what I knew, in the type of imagery I use when teaching.  Since then there has been a shift and I am more interested in establishing how others feel - students when they are learning and teachers when they are teaching.  Perhaps worryingly narrow-minded at the start, but exciting at the onset of my research.  I am ready to listen, see and hear with open eyes and ears and an open mind and as autumn unpacks suitcases and settles in, I am settling in to accepting the unknown and feeling ready to face it head on.