Learning as a Circular, Reciprocal Force...

This week I have been really working on using my key texts to help me learn about Mental Health within the Arts. The book I am reading at the moment is called ‘The Authentic Performer: Wearing a Mask and the Effect on Health.’ It is mainly aimed at artists and discusses the life of performers, but the author very cleverly relates things back to everyday life, reminding the reader that often all of us feel like we are wearing a mask in some way, no matter what our profession or practice. 

In the introduction of the book the author talks about how by writing it, she hoped not to answer a specific question, but to provoke more questions to herself and her readers. I found this very interesting as that is exactly the aim of this course and our inquiries. She included a quote which I wanted to share…

‘as soon as man understands that, for him, the ladder of comprehension has no end, he can find comfort in the realisation that consequently there is no limit to his possible progress; no matter how advanced his wisdom, he remains capable of yet another step forward.’ Hans Selye P.320

I think at times we can become too goal-orientated, too fixed on the idea of a specific target or achievement. I do think that goals and targets are crucial to our development - they help to motivate us to reach a dream, kind of like a road map. They drive our effort and perseverance and encourage new ways to enhance our development. But if we get too fixed on one thing we risk loosing the circular, reciprocal forces of Art itself. We need to focus on what will happen after we reach our goal, where will this lead us next, how can we keep developing, questioning & growing. 

This quote really resonated with me and has helped me to understand the teaching & learning methods of the BAPP. And this is also very closely linked to my inquiry - as I learn about Mental Health with the Arts I am finding more and more questions that lead me to more and more answers…but then further questions. It’s a circular, reciprocal force that should never stop. 

It would be boring to live in a world where everything was already known, wondering about things and asking questions is a really great thing! Having a goal or target is a great way to add structure to that wonder but it should be open-ended to allow the learning, in this case, my inquiry, to take me in whichever direction it wants to!

Three Identical Strangers - A Documentary

I recently watched a very moving documentary called ‘Three Identical Strangers’. 

It was about triplets that had been separated when they were 6 months old. They were each adopted by separate families who thought they were single babies in-need of adoption and without any siblings, which obviously wasn’t the case. It later came out that the children had purposefully been separated and raised by different families who had different beliefs, financial situations etc. all as part of a study into Nurture Vs. Nature. 

The babies all suffered from separation anxiety when they were adopted by different families. The children were watched, studied and tested throughout their childhood to see how they were developing, and how this development differed from their brothers. Later in life, as adults all of the children suffered from mental health disorders in some way, and very sadly even one of the brothers ended up committing suicide. 

This documentary is loosely linked to my inquiry as there is an obvious presence of mental health issues. However, I am mostly sharing this because I am looking at it from an ethical side.

The choice to separate family members as children to study their development, to me and many, seems very morally and ethically wrong. The families were unaware of why the children were been studied and the study obviously caused a lot of pain to the participants. 

Through investigation it was later revealed that this family of triplets was not the only case and that this had happened to many babies who were either twins or triplets. 

The case has been deeply hidden and even the participants, now grown adults, are not allowed access to there own data that was collected and recorded about them.

It leads me to question how and why this was allowed, where the data has gone and who would do such a thing? It is shocking to me that people knew this was going on and happily took part in leading or carrying out the study!!

It is a very interesting documentary and I advise people to watch it if they can. It has lead me to really focus on the ethical side to carrying out my inquiry as it really highlights the importance of data protection, informing participants fully, getting consent and following ethical guidelines that are there for a very clear reason.

If any of you have chance to watch the documentary or have heard of other similar situations I would love to hear your opinions!

An insight to my Inquiry

I wanted to share a little of what my inquiry is about.

My inquiry is based around Mental Health within the Arts...what support systems are available to us, how accessible they are and how many of us actually know they exist! 
I am looking into the psychological-emotional demands of being a professional dancer. I want to map the facilities that are available to performers - including mental health care and emotional support. I also want to look at the possibilities of making dancers more aware of the support that is available, as well as making the profession aware of the possible need to support dancers better in this way.

I am carrying out interviews with 5 professionals who are at different stages of their careers within the arts. I am hoping to learn from them, information about the facilities available, whether they have experienced them for themselves and how they heard about them. Do they refer their students or employees? Do they have to pay for these services?


I am also doing a lot of book and internet based research into these facilities to really learn what is out there. I am finding a lot of interesting things that I am excited to document and share!!

I feel as though my professional artifact is going to be a great way for me to share my findings and really spread the word to other performers about what is out there. I need it to be something that will really speak but I am struggling at this point to decide on what to do and how to best format it??

Due to my schedule out at sea, I am not often available to attend the Skype discussion. However I really want to get involved in the community and share information. I would love to hear about other peoples inquiries. I would also love to know if anyone has any information or experience about mental health within the arts...any useful websites, journals or blogs that may support my inquiry?

Thank you in advance :)

Module 3

We are a couple weeks into the term now and I have been very busy with my Module 3 inquiry!

Unfortunately I have been unable to attend the Skype Sessions due to being at sea. Although this has been frustrating, browsing other peoples blogs from the course has proven super helpful in keeping me in the loop of what has been discussed and helping to guide my personal learning. 

I have spent time going over my inquiry plan from Module 2 and using the feedback given to consider any changes that I want to make. I am pleased with my plan but I do think it is important for me to be open to the fact that my inquiry might inspire questions that I hadn't even considered, leading me to further questions in other areas! This is something that I have noticed is highlighted a LOT in my Module 3 Handbook...to be looking for my research to lead me to ask more questions, rather than looking for a closed answer. 

I have also completed my Study Plan - I think this is such a helpful tool in making sure I keep on top of my work. I am starting to see already how easy to is to get so deep in amongst carrying out the research that it is hard to know when to 'stop' and start analysing. So the plan is a great tool at staying within time limits.

Something I am struggling with at the moment is waiting on other people! I am waiting to hear back from participants to carry out several interviews - it is proving hard to find times that work for both parties, especially for me being out at sea for the majority of October. This just means that as soon as I get confirmation and the interviews take place, I need to be in a good spot with the rest of my research...allowing me to start my analysis on track.

Has my inquiry changed the direction of my future professional development?

I have always wanted to go into casting when I feel as though I have reached my potential as a performer. I think that this is a natural progression and that I would embrace the ability to cast performers and teach them the shows. But I had never previously considered the impact that a casting director can truly have, not only on someones career but on their emotional well-being. 

Companies are not afraid to advertise that they are auditioning for a certain 'type' of performer. Whether it be your height, hair colour or general physique that they specify, there are always requirements. This has often angered me. Being a short dancer I have frequently been 'un-suitable' for a company. We are judged on our physical appearance and not our talent and that can be infuriating. I do understand the pressure that a casting director is under- they have specific costumes to fill and other factors beyond their control. But the choice to eliminate a performer from consideration without them even getting the chance to show what they can do can be soul destroying. 

This has made me realise that maybe I would not enjoy being a casting director. I would have to choose between organisational culture and my own morals and beliefs. Personally I think that a cast full of different 'types' of dancer fills the stage with contrast and excitement. But my employer may not feel the same and that is where the conflict could prove difficult.

Developing my knowledge on how rejection can affect a dancer has made me realise that auditions form a crucial part of a performers emotional well-being. Being aware of psychological support groups available to performers and maybe advertising them within dance studios holding auditions is something that I now want to try to promote and share the importance of.

My research has also made me realise the importance of my role as a manager when it comes to emotional support. My cast is onboard a cruise ship so we are away from our family, friends - the people that we have choose as our own support system. This can make us more vulnerable than ever. I need to encourage my cast to lean on each other, take the time to notice when somebody isn't themselves and go out of your way to try to make them smile. 

Being more knowledgable about the emotional support available will help me to support my cast better. I want to share knowledge and love and be more than just a manager.

Module 2 Skype, Thursday 12th April - "Imagine you can't do an Interview..."

So yesterday we had Skype Session and it was extremely beneficial! It cleared up a lot of things for me and helped to put me back on the right track so I thought I would share some of the things that we discussed...

- What do you want to learn from your inquiry? -
We need to know what it is that we are hoping to achieve from doing this inquiry. What is it that we want to find out more about and importantly how can this help us in developing within our own practice. Keep thinking this through so that you have a good understanding of what you want to learn. 

- Analysing the data that you acquire - 
You need to know what it is that you will do with the results of your inquiry when you have them. Understanding how they can help you in your own profession is key in this as it helps you to make sure you are learning about something beneficial. If your data is relevant, analysing and using the data should seem natural as it is very clear to you how the information will help you. You need to gather the right information to allow you to get out of the inquiry what you want!

- Methodology - 
Knowing what you want to learn and understanding how you will analyse this data is essential when considering what methodology you will use. You need to make sure you are asking the right questions to get the answers that will be most useful.
When asked about methodology, most of us in the Skype session went straight for interviews. Interviews can be useful but Adesola explained that they are usually the 'go-to' choice. We like them because they are fun to do and we think that asking someone and being told the answer directly is the best way to learn something new. But they aren't always that helpful. If we ask our colleagues and people that we work with it is likely that they will know similar information to us. Interviewing them and learning that they know as little or as much as we do about a certain subject is not helpful. There are many more ways that you can gain more information....going much deeper into a literature review, carrying out desk based research, utilising resources available etc.
Interviews can be beneficial too, but you need to really make sure you are asking the right questions to the right people to get information that will help you in learning something new, not confirming something that you already know.

** - Work in reverse -  **
We have the 6 steps in our handbook to help us in planning our inquiry. Something interesting that we discussed was working in reverse. Obviously you will need to have a set question or area of interest for this to work out. But when you know why you are developing this knowledge and understand what you will do with it...then you can really start to plan the how. The how will be easier to plan effectively when the what and why are strongly confirmed in your mind.

Thinking about planning my inquiry in this way has really helped things to make more sense to me. I now have a very strong basis of what I am trying to learn, why I am doing my chosen inquiry and how I can carry it out to learn as much as possible.

One final thing that we discussed were our blogs. We are all often unsure and would like reassurance from others that we are headed in the right direction. We should all really try to make more of an effort to utilise these blogs...reading what each other have to say, commenting back, sharing opinions and experiences to help each other along. 
Getting into the habit of checking blogs often enough can be tough...however you can subscribe via email. If you don't have this gadget on your blog I do recommend that you add it in. That way people can add there email and 'subscribe' to you so that every time you post something they get an email notification. Hopefully this will encourage people to read it and comment back. If we all did this I think our blogging network would grow and we would all gain a lot more from it!

P.S When you subscribe to someone you should get a confirmation email sent to you. You have to follow this link and make sure to confirm your email address before you have successfully subscribed!

I hope this was helpful! 
:)

What support systems are available to performers?

I am spending time looking into support systems available to dancers.

Is there a place we can go to talk about our emotions and experiences after being rejected at a really tough audition? Are there specific forums, discussion groups, helplines aimed for performers? 

I know that I mostly use my own support system made up of my close friends and family...that is who I would call to vent about an audition or open up to about my disappointment in not getting cast. But do I rely so much on my own support system because there aren't enough advice professionals available to us? Or are they there and I just haven't heard about them yet?

I would love to know what you all think! 

Who do you turn to when our rewarding but demanding career leaves you feeling rejected and not good enough? And do you feel that there is enough support available?

Thank you in advice for your opinions...