The Student Dancer

Monday 30th September 2013

Having been ill and off work I have managed to make a good start with week one. I have produced my page of work ready to send to my adviser... making final alterations/additions as we speak! 

I have also finished reading ‘The Student Dancer’ by Julian Buckroyd. Here are some of my thoughts...

   A really interesting read and extremely informative. Her ideas and questioning are exactly as I feel and it has been relieving and exciting to know there are others out there who have the same approach to training and thoughts behind how the vocational systems work. I would recommend the read to all students, past and present. I found it fascinating and have learned things I never knew and also questioned myself over matters.

   Through reading her words I noticed comparisons to myself as a trainee dancers and of those I studied with. For example, when interviewing male dancers from vocational schools, they quoted that “their social lives were spent very largely with other dancers” (Male Trainees, page 138) and “that their childhood and adolescence had been taken away” (Male Trainees, page 139). The first quote is the same for many, we learn, eat, breathe and sleep amongst other dancers, especially if a boarding school and there is no escaping. We spend evenings and activity time with dancers as they become our friends and it is hard to gain social groups outside of the dance world. In my own experience it seemed that my life was dance, all conversations with friends revolved about our day, auditions, dance related topics and more than often people would gossip about other students. It was as though we were in a ‘dance bubble’ and I feel that students need to be able to escape this and see the real world. 

The second quote I can not refer to completely on a personal level. I feel that I did have a childhood - a very enjoyable one, but having gone to boarding school at 14 my adolescent years became those of a dancer. New pressures started and it was a whole world apart from the life my friends from my previous state school were living!

   It is alarming how similar we can all be and how many of the same emotions we go through, yet, at the time of training, we do not realise this and do not share our thoughts. This is something which Buckroyd discusses and something in which needs to be noticed in professional dance schools to enable students to feel open and at ease.

   There were a few chapters in the book that I feel are irrelevant to my inquiry yet still a good and useful read! Although ‘Eating Disorders in Trainees’ are a major problem amongst students, and one of the stresses that come with training, it is not a route I wish to go down for my inquiry as it opens up many further questions and topics. Likewise ‘Dealing with Crisis in the Life of a Dance Student’ is important yet another subject that leads onto more than I wish to research at this stage. As previously stated, it does not mean that they are not big factors of the state of mind of dance students but within my inquiry they are purely triggers or subjects that cause negative approaches to training. They will of course be mentioned during my studies but not explored in extreme detail. 

  The final chapter ‘The Way Forward’ shows that there is life beyond dance, so many options relevant to dance training (amongst everything else out there!) “Identification of the transferable skills provided by dance training will help students develop a sense of their capacity to succeed in other fields beside dance” (The Way Forward, page 205). In the previous chapter she also mentions options for dance students such as “coaching, fitness instruction, physiotherapy” and “stage/costume design, stage management” or “acting, mime, music, singing” (Transition and the Dance Trainee, page 197) There are so many possibilities for dance trainees, the experience and development as a person is enough to set them up for life. For me, I should love to go on to Julia’s previous career as a student counsellor for dance trainees and that proves that even though a dance career doesn’t always work out (as for many), there is always life beyond the stage.

   

   

And so it begins..

Saturday 28th September 2013

Having read over my feedback from Rosemary on my Module 2 work again, I feel that I am moving my work forward in the correct way. My main focus is to have a clearer time scale of how I should like to work and what I am to produce each week during module 3. I did create a weekly plan in my 'Professional Inquiry plan' but having looked through the Module 3 handbook I should like to produce a more detailed plan, which takes our weekly tasks into consideration. Having done so, I shall share this with my adviser to show what I have gained and developed from my feedback.

I am pleased that my previous literature review and ethical policies were of a good standard and I wish to develop them even further for this final module. As mentioned in  earlier blogs, I am certain that 'The Student Dancer' will play a large role in my literature referencing and production of new ideas - it already is!

I should love to hear feedback from all students on my blog as it is excellent to compare or argue ideas. Here is an example of how I am already interacting with others to challenge ideas and see where our inquiry paths may cross over:

http://emilysarahhunt.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/a-few-favourites.html (under 'comments')

Having read through the hand book, there is a lot of work to be done and I must keep up with reading all of your blogs and commenting also. I look forward to the challenge ahead...

A few favourites...

Monday 23rd September 2013


Just a few quotes from 'The Student Dancer' that have caught my attention so far:

Buckroyd talks about dancers "ignoring pain or discomfort" 
(Introduction, p.g. 15) 

"..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)

"Dance is a universal and powerful instrument for the enhanced expression of feeling" 
(Physicality, Dance Training and the Sense of Self, p.g. 31)

"She will be hungry for feedback and encouragement, for ideas, information and images"
(The Emotional Uses of Dance Training, p.g. 37)

"The student at a vocational school has an extremely busy life." 
(Adolescence and Professional Dance Training, p.g. 63)

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

"We prepare them by providing a supportive and encouraging environment"
(The Dance Teacher, p.g. 75)

There are many many more but I thought I would share a few from my reading so far. 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. 

The two in red are those that I feel most strongly about from the list. During my personal training, I did indeed ignore pain and therefore never allowed myself to fully recover. I was and am aware of many others that did and do the same through out their training.. this then stays with them during their dance careers, often cutting them short due to their bodies not being able to handle any more.

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.

Back on track

Sunday 15th September 2013

The summer has flown by but I'm ready to get going with the final module. I have started my reading and already discovering some interesting facts and information. "The Student Dancer" by Julia Buckroyd explores so many of the same thoughts that I have myself. She looks at the way in which students are trained and how important it is that how they are taught really effects their physical performance during training but also their lifestyle and adolescent development.

I am only part way through the book so far but it is interesting me that Buckroyd is looking at the age of the students and the changes etc that they are going through in life alongside their training. Changes such as puberty, gaining/losing self confidence, starting relationships. There are natural, life progressions to deal with as well as the stresses at school.

I agree with many of Buckroyd's thoughts and have been getting my way through her writing (with a highlighter in hand) and picking out key points and those that interest me. I shall, of course, share these in due course.

Now, back to the book...