“Allow it to be what it is….” skype chat pm

This evening skype chat was great. In both am & pm chats we were speaking to people all over the world. Today the chats have extended across UK, Europe, Australia, Canada and the Caribbean.

This evening we talked about time managing and integrating the MA work across your daily activities. Helen and I are researching methods of constructing the world as an embodied experience and in doing so we are rejecting/questioning the usefulness of the notion of ‘time’. We have been looking at Tonga culture and philosophy which helps us to see time/space in terms of Relationships and Rhythms. So when starting back it might be less about ‘time’ and more about negotiating relationships between the work of the MA and ‘other’ things and/or noticing the rhythm of your day /week so that the MA work is part of your rhythm.

We also talked about change (again rejecting the disembodied concepts certainty of measuring and objectifying, in other words embracing change and not looking for certainty), and how change from the expected route you might take can actually allow you to find a flow and sense of response that generates deeper more meaningful experiences and learning.

We talked about the data collection process and how the ethics we look at in Module Two becomes embodied when you have a ‘real’ person in front of you talking about their lives to you.

Please have a look at the different threads people are sharing from the conversation:

Maria http://mariaranden.blogspot.no is going to post about getting going once you have a moment to do some MA work. She said she has a list of things to do and that way if she has a moment she can choose something from the list and not spend too much time trying to remember where she last left off.

Sarah www.sarahsulemanji.blogspot.com is going to post thoughts about change and responding to change.

Tara http://dancetara.blogspot.co.uk is going to post on ‘allowing it to be what it is’ and starting out on Module One developing a sense of being a part of the group.

Ainsley http://ainsleymsudds.blogspot.ca is going to post on data collection thoughts.

Louise www.louisedubai.blogspot.ae is going to post on time management and thoughts for getting working on MA tasks.

Tamzin www.tamzinhoward.blogspot.co.uk is going to post on ‘finding time’.

Cathy www.cathieingram.wordpress.com is going to post on doing new things, for instance the workshop she is planning.

Looking forward to reading your comments here too.

Adesola

  

“Now make it your own…” Morning group skype chat

This mornings skype chat went well. We had people from each Module chatting. We talked about the many ideas that start to manifest as you begin module two. And how it is exciting to be interested. Then considering that excitement that one comes across at points doing the module as a kind of energy. It is a good guide because that excitement gives you the energy to be brave enough to look at the unknown, to face maybe not finding an ‘answer’ or even a ‘question’. The excitement energy also gives you the vitality to re-consider. We talked about how learning might be ‘looking backwards’ not learning more but re-considering, re-positioning and changing/broadening perspectives about things you have already experienced or done. And that Module One is very much a process of doing this. We also talked about how the processes in Module One can feel as if a sense of inquiry, reflection, self-evaluation is awakened and these will nurture the activities of the later Modules, (your practice in general) and contribute to you being able to navigate the excitement energy of learning.

It was a really inspiring conversation hearing everyone’s ideas and gentle considerations. We are each going to write a little further on parts of the conversation.

Suzie www.zsurcy.wordpress.com  is going to post about the thinking process from Module One through to Module Three, and how she sees it as captured through a sense of questioning.

Amanda www.alawford.blogspot.com.au  is going to post about the sense of awakening (learning) that began in Module One and how it is developing now she is in Module Two.

Samantha www.samanthakettle.blogspot.com is going to post on ‘looking backward’ – changing perspectives as you question and find ways to articulate your experiences from the past in the new context of Module One.

Helen http://www.helenkindred.blogspot.com   is going to post on the holistic approach to the whole course and how it is like this because throughout it is connected for you by the fact you are in it. It is connected by ‘us’.

When we talked about the activity of Module One (from the perspective of doing it as Samantha is doing, and the perspective of it being a grounding for the next two Modules as Suzie and Amanda described) we talked about the opportunity one has in the dance studio when rehearsing or in class, to try out different approaches to a step, and get feedback. I am always suggesting to my students to come in with a particular thought for the day a colour, a focus: “point my feet”, a line of a poem and as well as listening the classes corrections on steps the student should try on how that approach manifests in their work. I am there to give feedback on this: to say “I don’t know what you are thinking about today but your arm work is so much more considered and connected to your back.” Just as we are used to this in the studio we can think of the blogs as the same tool. They are there to post ideas, views to try things out and get feedback. They are not their to make definitive finished statements about what is but they are there to have the opportunity to try different approaches, and receive feedback.

Lastly I also left the conversation with an image. I tried to find images to help describe the one in my head…

A question is not looking for answer like a two jigsaw pieces. You have a piece with a whole in it (a question) and you want to fill the hole. Such as below:

Consider that it is not a hole you want to fill with another piece of jigsaw (as above) = Question filled by answer.

It is a ‘hole’ that you want to change from being a ‘hole’ to being ‘something’, in other words the question is not an empty space to fil with an answer. The question is a way of noticing something. 

Noticing the ‘empty’ space is just finding a doorway to know more about the question. (Sometimes an answer is like slamming the door shut, and sometimes stepping through a door way can feel like stepping into a whole new infinite world and that is scary)

 becomes

becomes 

Feedback…comment…what do you think?

Adesola

Why we cite

Here a great short video on why we cite...
What do you think?
please comment
Adesola

https://youtu.be/mkn4SyhjylM

Group Skype times for the new term.

As we get ready to start the new term, I thought I would put up the times and dates for group Skype chats. We will of course remind you nearer the time when you can 'comment' back which chat you want to attend. But just for your diaries here they are:

September 20th 2pm (London time) - Induction Skype for new students only

October 4th 11am & 5pm (London time) - everyone
November 1st 10am & 5pm (London time) - everyone
December 6th 11am & 5pm (London time) - everyone

Wrote this for the BAPP's

Working with the full time students through the summer: we have been talking about data and analysis when working within dance research (or other arts based practices). Remember that within an arts practice research project data and analysis look different from a more 'traditional' research project. This is because what we see as an 'artistic process' is analysis on one level.

As we are creating a piece of choreography or interpreting a dance instruction in class we are in a process of analysis: taking ideas and working out connections for them and finding our own way of understanding them within the context of our unique experience /knowledge.

As you are in the analysis process you are looking at not just reproducing the information you have found as data, you are in a process of interpreting it knowledgeably within the wider context of your whole project/question/inquiry. Just as if you are given a dance sequence as a professional you don't just reproduce it as a flat copy of the steps: you make it your own. You use your skills, strong points, past knowledge, understanding if the whole choreography to interpret with timing and dynamic. At a small level you are analysing the steps in order to better understand them and perform a stronger piece of choreography.

Does that make sense?
Please comment - what do you think?
Adesola

Summer Intensive Info.