MA Presentations May 29th 2015

You are warmly invited to attend the

MA Professional Practice, Dance Technique Pedagogy

Finalist Presentations

May 29th 2015

College Dance Studio (CG60)

Middlesex University London

Schedule of the day:

12.30 arrival / coffee and finalists set-up

13.00 – 14.30 Presentations  - 2 finalists presenting their Research Projects, each presentation is approx 30mins with questions, comments, invited afterwards.

14.45-15.45 – Assessors questions/discussion with finalists

Please confirm attendance via email to Helen Kindred h.kindred@mdx.ac.uk

Presentation and Submission of your work...

As you approach the stage of preparing work for submission I thought it may be helpful to re-post this blog offering some guidance as to the presentation of your work in line with the University's expectations.  Whilst the content and expression of your experiences for each essay is most important, presenting work for consideration by the University also expects you to adhere to certain protocol.

Some guidelines:

Presentation of Essays

Guidelines

Essays should be typed, 1.5 or double spaced. 

Please justify the margins on both sides. Fonts: use Times New Roman, Arial or Garamond. 

The cover page should include; 

your name

student number

programme and year

module number and title

module tutor - PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU STATE HELEN KINDRED, SENIOR LECTURER IN DANCE (TG55) to ensure any hard copy work submitted gets to the correct office.

full title of assignment and date written and word count.

Please do not use bold type or underlining in your essay, but italicize any foreign words as well as book titles and titles of choreographic works, plays or films. Use single quotes (‘and “double quotes” inside single quotes’).

1)            References in bibliography:

A bibliography is a list of all source material you have used, whether or not you have quoted from it. It is important to show that you have extended your knowledge by referring to other texts/works/authorities. A bibliography should be presented in alphabetical order of author’s surname. There are various ways of setting out a bibliography, but the details should always include:

Book:

Surname, Initial(s). Date of publication. Title in italics. Place of Publication: Publisher.

For example:

Ostwald, P. 1999. Vaslav Nijinsky. A Leap into Madness. London: Robson Books.

Edited book:

Surname, Initial(s). (ed.). Date of publication. Title in italics. Place: Publisher.

For example:

Carter, A. (ed.). 1998. The Routledge Dance Studies Reader. London: Routledge.

Book chapter:

Surname, Initial(s). Date. Chapter title. In Name of editor (ed.), Book Title. Place of Publication: Publisher, pages in book.

For example:

Carter, A. 1996. Bodies of knowledge: Dance and feminist analysis. In Patrick Campbell (ed.),Analysing performance. A critical reader. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 43-55.

Journal articles:

Surname, Initial(s). Date. Title of article. Title of journal volume (issue no.), page numbers.

For example:

Gill, R., and Pratt, A. 2008. In the Social Factory? Immaterial Labour, Precariousness and Cultural Work. Theory, Culture & Society 25(7), 1–30.

Videography / DVDs (a list of videos /DVDs you have used):

Name of choreographer. Date of work. Title of work in italics. [DVD/video, etc]. Place of distribution, distributing company.

For example:

Khan, A. and Cherkaoui, S.L. 2008. Zero Degrees [DVD]. Sadler’s Wells on Screen. Axiom Films International Limited.

Media broadcast, e.g. television programme

Title. Year. Type of media. Originator (e.g. channel). Exact date and time of broadcast.

For example:

The Culture Show. 2013. TV. BBC2. 13th March, 2200 hrs.

Live performance:

Choreographer. Year of premiere. Title in italics. Company (optional). [Location. Date seen].

For example:

Ashton, F. 1948. Cinderella. [Royal Opera House, London. 13 January 2004].

Newspaper articles:

1)    Printed:

Surname, Initial(s). Title of article. Title of newspaper, day and month of article, page number.

For example:

Rae, B. 2008. Mozart dances at Civic Theatre. The New Zealand Herald, 25 August, 11.

2)    Electronic:

Surname, Initial(s). Year of publication. Title of Article. Title of Newspaper in italics [online]. Day and month of article. Page number of article - if applicable. Available from: URL of database supplier [accessed date].

For example:

Dickson, Andrew. 2011. Immersive Theatre: It Was a Ghost in the Library with a Violin. The Guardian [online]. 4 July, 14. Available from:http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2011/jul/04/immersive-theatre [accessed 2 January 2012].

Internet References

Electronic references should contain the following elements:

Surname, initial(s) of author (if known). Date. Title of document [Type of resource, i.e. Online]. Organisation responsible (optional). Available from: Title of Website [accessed date].

For example:

With author:

Cvejic, B. 2010. Xavier Le Roy: The Dissenting Choreography of One Frenchman Less. Available from:

http://www.xavierleroy.com/page.php?id=4b530eff077090c4cdd558852f04f24fb0840bae&lg=en[accessed 28 July 2013].

Without author:

BBC News. 2008. Factory gloom worst since 1980 [online]. Available from:http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7681569.stm [accessed 10 June 2012].

Note: Dates are not always available for web pages. If this is so use (n.d.) to represent no date so that the reader knows you have omitted this element. In the in-text quotation, please reference as follows: Cvejic, 2010 (first example); BBC News, 2008 (second example).

Students should only use internet references when no other possibility for gaining this information exists. This is sometimes the case with current dance performances or choreographers. Dance students are not allowed to use Wikipedia or quotation websites for their assignments. They frequently provide incorrect and plagiarised information or quotations taken out of context which are not a means to find relevant academic information. 

Other source material may be listed e.g. ‘Interviews’; there are no definitive guidelines for the presentation of these, but please give as much information as possible. For interviews give the name and role of person you interviewed, date and place of interview.

2)            In-text quotations

References should follow the Harvard style whereby references are cited in the text as (author, date: page) with full details in the bibliography at the end of the article. As a rule, page numbers should also be present unless the quotation refers to a very general argument or idea. Quotations of three lines or more should be indented in a separate paragraph. Please note that in-text quotations do not include the initial(s) of the author, but initial(s) should be stated in the bibliography.

Examples

Direct quotations:

- Phillips (2002: 43) noted that ‘contemporary dance in New Zealand is evolving rapidly’.         

- ‘Contemporary dance in New Zealand is evolving rapidly’ (Phillips, 2002: 43).

If author is not known:       

- This was obviously not the case before 2001 (Beating the Millenium Bug, 2003: 14)

- In Beating the Millenium Bug (2001: 14), it is claimed that this was not the case before 2001.

Secondary sources:                                                                                                          
- Smith (cited in Martin, 1991: 152) stated that one medium can be used in many different ways.                                                                                                                     
- One medium can be used in many different ways (Smith, cited in Martin, 1991: 52).  

Indirect quotations/paraphrasing a passage from a text:                                                                                                                            

- As the economy heated up, the government support for the arts cooled down (Horosko, 2002).                   

- Horosko states that as the economy heated up, the government support for the arts cooled down (2002).

When paraphrasing, you need to state the page number as if it were a direct quotation. If paraphrasing an argument that extends over several pages, you need to state this page range in full (e.g. 58-61). In the above example we can assume that this is an online source as there is no page number stated.

Submission:

You must submit your work via the Turnitin drop boxes on UniHub PLUS via email to both Adesola and myself (regardless of who is your advisor, as we both need to review your work for assessment).  <adesola@dancingstrong.com> <h.kindred@mdx.ac.uk> 

Module One portfolios, Module Two Research Proposals and Module Three Critical Reviews you must also submit via hard copy either in person to the UniHelp Desk in the Sheppard Library on the Hendon Campus or my post to:

Helen Kindred, Senior Lecturer in Dance

School of Media and Performing Arts (TG55)

Middlesex University London

Hendon

NW4 4BT

Ensuring that you mail your work by the submission deadline.  Please note that we will take the date of submission from the date of posting, do not worry about it getting to us on the deadline, but posting it by the deadline.

To submit via UniHub:

Login to UniHub and go to MyUniHub / MyLearning / MA Professional Practice Dance Technique Pedagogy

Within our programme page you will find all the folders including your handbooks, resources and submission.

Open the folder titled SUBMISSIONS MAY

You will see there a checklist of submission content for each module and a Turnitin submission icon.  

Click on the turnitin icon for your Module (one, two or three) to upload your work.

Please note that Turnitin cannot accept work saved through PAGES.  You work must be saved as ONE DOCUMENT as a word file.

Should you have any technical problems with UniHub and turnitin please follow this link for advice.

uniHelp (http://unihub.mdx.ac.uk/unihelp) for technical problems 

Dance and Writing Professional Practice Summer Intensive

We're really excited to let you know the dates of our first Professional Practice Summer Intensive, with more details to follow very shortly.

The Dance and Writing Professional Practice Summer Intensive will take place August 17th-21st 2015 and will be held at Middlesex University's Hendon Campus, London.

The programme has been designed in response to feedback from students on both the MAPP DTP and the BA Professional Practice (arts) programmes concerning the transition from vocational training, performance work, independent practice, studio teaching into studying within a university environment and being able to confidently share rich bodies of experiential knowledge through academic writing.

The programme intends to address these transitions through a mix of studio (practical) dance classes and classroom sessions;  accessing and developing literature reviews, citation methods, academic writing structures and written expression of physical experiences, engaging with social media and web 2.0 online developing confidence in online learning and sharing.

Each day will begin with a movement class followed by sessions looking at text, research skills and writing to help students develop confidence in what they have to offer as academic students and to encourage students to draw on their somatic knowing of movement to inform their ideas and writing.

The Summer Intensive will be open for booking and a full programme available through the MDX online store by the end of the month, we just wanted to flag up the dates to you now appreciating that you're probably in the process of planning your summers!

Provisional Details:

Dates: August 17-21, 2015

Costs: £350 (Full) £250 (concessions/unwaged)

Venue: Middlesex University London NW4 4BT

Facilitators: Adesola Akinleye and Helen Kindred

Bookings and Payment online: www.mdx.ac.uk/onlinestore

 
The programme is open to all current MAPP DTP students, alumni and enrolling students for the coming academic year, and would be a great opportunity to come together and learn more whatever stage you're at.

Any questions in the meantime please do comment here with them,

Helen

Spring...

Hope everyone is well and enjoying the first few signs of spring.

Just a quick blog - reminder that as it is Easter Sunday this weekend we will not have our monthly group skype call, the next group call will be on Sunday April 12th, with the usual option of an AM and PM (UK) time.

Whilst we will be taking a short break over the next couple of weeks, you can always email us with questions, or to arrange a one-to-one skype as you move through your thinking and beginning to write for your modules now.

Assessments for this term are all due in on May 11th, as a guide we suggest the last date you send us anything in draft form is April 24th, in order that we may have time to read and respond ahead of final submissions.

Helen

Accepting uncertainty...

Following our skype conversations yesterday I said I would blog something of my thoughts around our discussions of knowing and not knowing and the place of uncertainty in our journeys. 

As a choreographer/researcher this feeling of not knowing but being curious to explore is definitely something that drives and excites me when embarking on a new project.  It is the not knowing that offers the possibilities for something to happen, for experiences, for learning.  Dance improviser Nancy Stark-Smith refers to this area of not knowing as ‘the gap’…

 ‘that momentary suspension of a reference point where the unexpected and much sought after ‘original’ material (in dance making) can be found. (Stark-Smith in Tufnell & Crickmay 2006:64) 

Improvisation as a practice in dance offers a space for exploration.  This is not to say that you simply enter a studio and ‘just dance’, but that you work with a frame or score of some sort, that offers some parameters, boundaries perhaps, but within which there is open space to explore, to experience.   Improvisation is research, exploring the embodied experiences of mind-body through a frame of reference.

In teaching dance technique I draw on the work of Irmgard Bartenieff, and use her language of the body, the system she has developed (referred to as Fundamentals) as a frame for improvisation and a structure for building classes (Hackney, 2002) .  The improvisation I guide by using anatomical reference points, an articulation in language of specific body patterns, allowing for/encouraging individual interpretation of these through movement.  I do not consider that I am ‘teaching’ these body patterns in a traditional sense, rather my intention is to facilitate the autonomous learning of others of, (from within) their own bodies.  Bartenieff Fundamentals offer a frame to this learning experience, points of knowing or points to connect with to explore the unknown. 

Not knowing, being uncertain, feeling lost, I believe are all positive states of being, as a dancer/artist/researcher.  They are the states that I feel need to be inhabited during any process of creation; be that choreographing new work, planning a research project, writing a paper, teaching a class.  Life is largely unpredictable and that it is within the complexity of our capacity as humans that we are able to respond to change and accept it as a necessary condition of growth and progression.  In teaching dance we are putting ourselves constantly in places of uncertainty.  When we meet a new class of dancers for the first time (or even subsequently down the line) we cannot know entirely how they will respond to our teaching.  We have to offer something (plan exercises, choreography) and wait (in the unknown) to see and sense their response…then we react.  Our reactions, I would suggest, are largely intuitive (Atkinson and Claxton 2008), based on prior experience, in response to what we see and feel happening in that moment.    We don’t know everything that will happen in that class until we are in it, but we know enough about our selves, our practice, our art form to be able to be responsive to the environment at any given moment and we trust ourselves in this.

Planning and conducting research isn’t that different.  We have some knowledge (within us, our experiences…think module one), we are interested in and engaged with dance (embodied experiences), and we are curious about things we are seeing and sensing in our lives (professional practice).  There are areas of the known and the unknown, a requirement for us to be curious, to have questions and to be open to and responsive to change as a process of learning.  What is needed perhaps is trust in ourselves as researchers in the same way as we trust in our teaching?

Being ‘lost’ in the unknown is not a place of fear but of possibility.  It does not mean you have no idea, but that you are open to other ideas.  How you navigate your way through this journey relies on you, your sense of yourself, your practice, your feelings on learning, experiencing and knowing.  So you already have an initial frame of reference – YOU. 

As you enter each new module you are never completely lost, you have your sense of self, you have the module handbook as a reader/guide for the next phase of your journey, you have your professional practice.  You feel/sense, you read, you observe and do.  Each one of these trees (if you like – thinking live, slow growing, complex roots and many branches) talks to the others.  You know because you experience things.    If you rely only on one of these trees your journey may feel unstable, vulnerable, unclear.  If you rely solely on intuitive knowing, you may feel a little removed from others, from a wider context of being with, for and of others (Sartre 1958).  If you rely only on your observations and actions in your daily practice without analysis or evaluation of these within a wider context, you may feel stunted in your growth, restricted from moving forwards in your knowledge.  Similarly, there is a tendency because you are enrolled on a module and because that module comes with a handbook, to seek your knowing from this source primarily, at this stage.  Whilst the handbooks for each module are there to support your learning journeys they are not intended to define it…only you can do this.  The handbooks, your advisor, your community as learners/practitioners on this programme at this time can offer you support, guidance, a critical eye/ear, a probe of thinking, reflecting but they do not carry the answers or contain a direct map to ‘knowing’.

I have blogged in the past (within this community) about roads being bumpy.  I believe the more interesting, more fruitful journeys are along the bumpy roads.  By travelling them you give yourself the chance to respond to their twists and turns, changes in direction, to experience patterns and landscape you would miss if you took the straight, high-speed route of the motorway.

The MA fundamentally is about you engaging in a journey.  It is not about finding the quickest way to reach a destination.  Being uncertain is a necessary part of setting off on a new journey, take with you your frame of reference – your self, others (literature, MA community, advisors) your practice, as you journey to explore the gaps between these known points. 

Trust in yourselves.

Helen

New and returning students...

Welcome and Welcome back!

First group skype meetings of the term this weekend for all new and returning students - Alumni always welcome too if you're around!

The meetings will follow the pattern we set up last term to accommodate the growth of our MAPP community, with one AM and one PM session offered one the same Sunday, aiming to keep these running on the first Sunday of each month throughout the term.

Sunday Feb 1st Skype's:

11.00 UK time
19.00 UK time

Hopefully one of these times will work for you, where you are in the world, what your Sunday looks like...

Adesola co-ordinates the group Skype calls so please do make sure you have sent her a contact request ahead of the call so that she can call you. <aonthephone> Please do add a note to your request stating that you are a MAPP DTP student too!

If anyone has not been able to access the module handbook for the module you are starting this term - these are on our MAPP DTP programme page on UniHub - please let me know via email <h.kindred@mdx.ac.uk>

Otherwise, I look forward to hearing from you all on Sunday and to starting this term together!

Helen

Finalist Presentations - updated schedule

Looking forward to our finalists this term sharing their research with us on Monday;

Slight adjustment to schedule to note for those attending or skyping in;

The day will run as follows:

> 9.45-10.30 / 10.30-11.15 - Morning presentations (x2)
> 11.30-12.30 - assessors questions to finalists
> 13.00-13.45 / 13.45-14.30- Afternoon presentations (x2)
> 14.45-15.45 assessors questions to finalists

We will be in the Grove Dance Theatre (G190) Hendon Campus NW4 4BT

Parking on campus is extremely limited, I have requested spaces for those who have emailed me for this, though these are not guaranteed, drive up to the security barrier at the car park on Greyhound Hill and give your name/my name, you will be on their list, if there is space available they will let you know where you can park.  Alternative parking can be found in St.Joseph's Grove (alongside the side entrance to the University) parking is free on the left hand side of the road until 13.45, pay by phone all day elsewhere £4.

By tube - Hendon Central (Northern Line) then a 10minute walk up the hill to campus on The Burroughs.

A couple of our undergraduate student reps will be in the main reception area from 9am to take you over to the theatre.

If you have asked to join us via Skype, please be online 5 mins before the start of each presentation, I will check then and call you.  

Look forward to meeting some of you in person!
Helen