End of Term Two

Tomorrow, I finish my second term of my second year, which means I'm over half way through my time here at Coventry University.  For the past couple of weeks, I've been writing my Movement Studies essay on how my moving and witnessing has developed during my second year.  I thought this was be quite an easy thing to write about as it is about my personal experience but I'm finding it a bit more challenging.  My moving developed lots in my first year, and I know it will continue to develop in my final year but trying to put down on paper exactly how I've progrssed this year is difficult.  I feel like I've written how I've developed but trying to expand on this is proving tricky.  This does slightly make me worry about my Viva next term, where I have to talk for 5 minutes about this.  Hopefully, I'll be able to work hard and do well

Deadlines!

With modules coming to end, I have loads of different deadlines to meet.  Having three pieces of coursework all due in the same week is hard work.  Its difficult having to switch between Artists in Education and Community Settings,  Movement Studies and Dance Analysis.  It always comes as a shock when we have this much written work to do because most of our time is spent in practical sessions.

Having this blog is really helping with my Movement Studies essay.  I've found it a lot easier to blog this year which is great when it comes to reflecting on what I've done.  I would have never guessed I'd actually enjoy having a blog!  I will definitely keep posting in future. 

My Movement Studies Aim

At the beginning of this term, Katye asked us to identify one thing that we would be working with during our Movement Studies 2 module.  The image below is from my journal (form 9th January 2012).  This has been my focus in each Movement Studies class.  Yesterday, in a Skinner Releasing class with Polly, I felt that the idea of finding space and opening the back and spine was really prominent in my movement.  The curling and uncurling exercises began opening the spaces of the back and the work we did with axis (imagining an axis running directly down the centre of the body) helped me explore the full range of movement of the spine.

Placement Complete

This weekend I finished my placement with Jenna at Kenilworth Creative Dance.  I've really enjoyed my 5 weeks on placement and Jenna has said that I can continue with the classes next term.  

The first class has children between the ages of 2-5 years old and their parents.  The sessions are very creative and involve lots of storytelling.  These classes are so much fun and the children have a lot of say in what they want to do.  One participant made an 'Ideas Box' so the other children can submit ideas for future classes. 

The second class is for 5-7 year olds.  Most of the children in this class have some kind of disability and parents also take part.  This class can be more difficult at times.  It seems that there are good days where the children are very interested and keen to take part but there are also bad days when one or two children decide they do not want to be there so it can be struggle to make progress in the session.

I've loved every minute of my placement and it has most certainly reminded me why I want to be a community dance leader.

First post of 2012!

I am now well into the second term of my second year and things feel back to normal after the craziness of Performance Projects last term.  This term we all do our optional modules and I have chosen 'Artists in Education and Community Settings'.  For this module, I have to do a placement for 5 weeks and write an evaluation.

My placement is on a Saturday morning in Kenilworth.  It is 2 creative classes for children and their parents.  I started my placement last Saturday and I really enjoyed it.  Before coming to Coventry University, I had spent 6 years teaching these kind of classes so it was great to get back into it.  I was meant to spend the first session observing but when I got there, it felt more valuable to join in so I could really get a feel for the class and the children in it. 

The first classes went really well and I can't wait for next week.  Being back in that creative, playful environment instantly reminded me what I love to do and that it is definitely where my future lies.  I've thought for a while that coming to University has taken me back 10 steps.  I felt that what I was doing during my gap year was my dream job and that spending all day dancing around a studio here at Coventry was disappointing and a waste of my time.  I know that sounds harsh but coming from working for companies like DanceXchange and Youth Dance England doing project management and teaching classes with DanceFest, to suddenly being a student and having to spend all my time in class and not 'out there' has been tough.  Taking part in this module and being able to be back out in the community has been great. 

Hopefully the next few classes go just as well, if not better than the first!

Have Fun!

"I always retain the capacity to laugh at my own serious intentions, even while those intentions remain serious."

This was something we were regularly reminded of while working with Matthias.  I really like this idea, as it reminds me to enjoy what I'm doing and have fun, instead of concentrating on getting it perfect.

Influx - Voice Tasks

Here are the some of the 'tasks' in our piece that involved using our voices...

1. "Round the Chimneys!" - We had to shout this while dashing around each other to get into our places.
2. Groans - We had to groan while crawling under a shelf.
3. "Spritely!
     Tightly!
     Slightly!
     Nightly!
     Sightly!
     Brightly!
     Rightly!
     Politely!" - We had to complete this sequence of words 4 times by saying a word each, getting faster.
4. Describe an object for the audience to guess while performing 'turntable'.
5. "Over the Rooftops!" - We had to shout this while dashing around each other to get into our places.
6. Tongue Twisters - We were each given a tongue twister from the list below and had to challenge each other with them.
                                 "Red Lorry, Yellow Lorry"
                                 "Eleven Benevolent Elephants"
                                 "Six Sleek Swans Swam Swiftly Southwards"
                                 "She sifted thistles through her thistle sifter"
                                 "Which wristwatches are swiss wristwaches"
                                 "Plain bun.  Plum bun.  Bun without Plum"
7. "Here" and "There" - A sequence of movement, adding different sequences of the words layered on top