Our Annual Dance and Writing Professional Practice Summer Intensive is now booking!!
http://www.mdx.ac.uk/courses/short-courses/dance-and-writing-professional-practice-summer-intensive
5 days of transitioning between moving and writing, communicating, connecting, sharing...
The summer intensive is open to any movement practitioners and we strongly advise all MAPP students to attend during their MA journey (it doesn't matter what stage of the MA you are at and as students you book through the concessionary rate!)
Through the intensive we will move together, starting each day with morning class alternating between GYROKINESIS and Bartenieff Fundamentals (Release) followed by looking at and discussing key texts, developing thoughts and ideas around literature reviews, making connections between our movement practice in the studio and our expression through academic writing.
Plus it's a great way to connect with each other in person, develop friendships moving, thinking, talking, writing together and spend a week in London with social events and performances on and off campus to enjoy!
At the end of the Summer Intensive programme we will move into our Dancing & Writing Professional Practice Symposium 'Wright-ing the Somatic' - a coming together of artist/practitioner/researcher/academics through the sharing of papers, workshops and performances looking at how we articulate and capture our embodied experiences in dancing, in writing. 'Wright-ing the Somatic: Dancing & Writing Professional Practice Symposium is open to all attending the summer intensive for just a small top-up fee to cover catering.
Booking for the symposium will be open shortly!
Reminder for now that we have our monthly Skype this weekend - SUNDAY APRIL 3RD,
1100 AND 1700 (London Time)
Thursday, 31 March 2016
Tuesday, 8 March 2016
Tools for learning...
Good to check-in with those of you on the evening Skype at the weekend.
A thread I picked up through the conversations was the notion of having, needing, seeking, support in your learning and we talked about referencing across the modules of the MA in order to re-engage with specific tools like reflection, when needed.
Reflective practice is introduced in the first module and very much forms the basis of the analysis and writing you are engaging with there as you compile your portfolio of prior learning (annotated CV, Job Description, Area of Learning claims, Review of Learning essay). The tasks you get to grips with through the Introductory handbook (reader) in module one, are offered as tools for your learning beyond this module however. The notion and value of reflective practice is something that runs throughout the MA and we believe is important as we see ourselves as embodied, living, sensing, experiencing beings.
In Module two, you should feel as though you are perhaps more forward-facing as you identify and area of potential research and plan for how you might undertake this. Time for reflection (as a considered 'act') may not seem as pertinent here, but should still be flowing through your practice, notes made in journals, blog posts to share your experiences and thoughts as you process your engagement with extended literature, research methodologies, revealing your questions around your professional practice.
As you delve into those research questions on module three, and remain open to others that may come, you should find yourself looking back in order to move through your research. Coming back to and re-analysis theories, viewing your practice through the lens of your research, reading, considering, forming responses to others through blogs and linked-in discussions are all methods of you continuing to engage in reflective practice and should all feed your research, your journey.
With reference to Adesola's blog this week on distance, something that I was aware of through our conversations on the Skype call was a sense of immediacy that seemed to come with the action of 'reflection'. Making notes immediately after an event, or in-situ particularly through your observations is important, but consider perhaps that these notes have not experienced any space/time/distance yet from the event to which they relate and so 'reflection', I would suggest has not yet been possible. Try not to look at the MA, your research, your practice as a linear journey from a beginning to an end, but more of an interweaving thread of connections that go back and forth and around in their journey of knowing and understanding, with plenty of 'not-knowing' on the way.
Beginning to see reflective practice as something of a rhizome underpinning, flowing through the MA is perhaps more useful that addressing it as a specific 'thing' one module at a time.
What are your thoughts?
Helen
A thread I picked up through the conversations was the notion of having, needing, seeking, support in your learning and we talked about referencing across the modules of the MA in order to re-engage with specific tools like reflection, when needed.
Reflective practice is introduced in the first module and very much forms the basis of the analysis and writing you are engaging with there as you compile your portfolio of prior learning (annotated CV, Job Description, Area of Learning claims, Review of Learning essay). The tasks you get to grips with through the Introductory handbook (reader) in module one, are offered as tools for your learning beyond this module however. The notion and value of reflective practice is something that runs throughout the MA and we believe is important as we see ourselves as embodied, living, sensing, experiencing beings.
In Module two, you should feel as though you are perhaps more forward-facing as you identify and area of potential research and plan for how you might undertake this. Time for reflection (as a considered 'act') may not seem as pertinent here, but should still be flowing through your practice, notes made in journals, blog posts to share your experiences and thoughts as you process your engagement with extended literature, research methodologies, revealing your questions around your professional practice.
As you delve into those research questions on module three, and remain open to others that may come, you should find yourself looking back in order to move through your research. Coming back to and re-analysis theories, viewing your practice through the lens of your research, reading, considering, forming responses to others through blogs and linked-in discussions are all methods of you continuing to engage in reflective practice and should all feed your research, your journey.
With reference to Adesola's blog this week on distance, something that I was aware of through our conversations on the Skype call was a sense of immediacy that seemed to come with the action of 'reflection'. Making notes immediately after an event, or in-situ particularly through your observations is important, but consider perhaps that these notes have not experienced any space/time/distance yet from the event to which they relate and so 'reflection', I would suggest has not yet been possible. Try not to look at the MA, your research, your practice as a linear journey from a beginning to an end, but more of an interweaving thread of connections that go back and forth and around in their journey of knowing and understanding, with plenty of 'not-knowing' on the way.
Beginning to see reflective practice as something of a rhizome underpinning, flowing through the MA is perhaps more useful that addressing it as a specific 'thing' one module at a time.
What are your thoughts?
Helen
Thursday, 18 February 2016
Mdx Dance Lecture Series
IF YOU ARE ABLE TO GET TO OUR HENDON CAMPUS AT ALL, YOU ARE VERY WELCOME TO ATTEND THESE TALKS, THEY'RE ALL FREE AND OPEN TO THE DANCE COMMUNITY
presents
Professor Joanne Butterworth
University of Malta
HAMLET,
THE BALLET: EXAMINING A CHOREOGRAPHIC PROCESS
What are the considerations and conditions for
the creation of new narrative ballets in the classical genre? Northern Ballet,
based in Leeds, has a constitution which specifies that the company should
create, produce and perform such ballets. This paper investigates the creative
and rehearsal processes of one ballet, David Nixon’s Hamlet (2008). The work was set in 1940s occupied Paris, and
challenged the company to explore and create a tragedy, in ballet, where
believable characters play out their lives under extraordinary and fearful
conditions. How was a Shakespearian text transformed into dance? What influences were pertinent and how
were the interdisciplinary elements perceived?
Jo Butterworth is Professor of Dance
Studies at the University of Malta, where
she set up a new Dance department in 2010 and was founding Director of the
School of Performing Arts. Formerly Head of Dance at Bretton Hall
College/University of Leeds, she initiated the BA Hons Dance and MA in
Performance Studies programmes. Her research interests focus on dance making
and its applications; she co-edited
Contemporary Choreography: a critical reader with Liesbeth Wilschut in
2009, and published Dance Studies: the
Basics in 2012.
Tuesday 23rd
February
1pm
Grove Dance Theatre
All interested members of
staff, faculty and students are welcome.
Wednesday, 17 February 2016
Opening doors...Allowing space...
Letting things simmer before they change.
Finding comfort in the uncomfortable.
Accepting uncertainty before expecting transformation.
These were all themes that emerged for me from our last groups Skype on Sunday Feb 7th.
Tara shared with us an experience of a past teacher who would pose questions and leave (what felt like a very long, uncomfortable) amount of time before a response was offered. I felt as though many of us have had this, or a similar experience. Allowing space in teaching I believe is crucial to nurturing independent thinking, learning and growth. It is in that 'time' which can feel like hours, that 'space' which can feel like a barrier in the distance between student/teacher or students and each other, that we reach a real state of not-knowing. In the process of learning (seeking new knowledge) we need first to recognise what we know of ourselves (module one - reflection). We need space to do this. Time to reflect. The uncomfortable space Tara recounted offers that space for growth through self-regonition, time to think and feel a little lost, rather than being fed with an answer to move on. It is perhaps our expectation of teaching/learning and being 'fed' that makes this space uncomfortable. It does not meet with our expectations. It offers an alternative and we need to take time to consider this in the context of the MA.
The role of the teacher (I would argue in any capacity) is not to feed but to open and hold spaces for independent learning. In the context of teaching dance, whilst there may be a codified language in the movement, a vocabulary of steps, a discipline of the body to be learnt by the student dancer, I would still suggest that this learning is most valuable when it is owned by the student.
In posing questions, and allowing space for responses (not answers) to emerge the teacher is opening what can feel like an uncomfortable space where the student is faced with uncertainty, a need to 'know', a sense of their own response to openness in learning. Much learning takes place in this space. The student may or may not attend to, but will likely notice thoughts that come into their mind, notice the space around them, others in it, notice reactions in their body. This noticing offers the ground for reflection later on in their journey.
Accepting uncertainty, being unfamiliar with something in order to get to know it better is all part of learning. I will share here an excerpt from a previous blog I have written on this theme as it seems relevant here also.
Allow space...see/feel/sense what you think.
Finding comfort in the uncomfortable.
Accepting uncertainty before expecting transformation.
These were all themes that emerged for me from our last groups Skype on Sunday Feb 7th.
Tara shared with us an experience of a past teacher who would pose questions and leave (what felt like a very long, uncomfortable) amount of time before a response was offered. I felt as though many of us have had this, or a similar experience. Allowing space in teaching I believe is crucial to nurturing independent thinking, learning and growth. It is in that 'time' which can feel like hours, that 'space' which can feel like a barrier in the distance between student/teacher or students and each other, that we reach a real state of not-knowing. In the process of learning (seeking new knowledge) we need first to recognise what we know of ourselves (module one - reflection). We need space to do this. Time to reflect. The uncomfortable space Tara recounted offers that space for growth through self-regonition, time to think and feel a little lost, rather than being fed with an answer to move on. It is perhaps our expectation of teaching/learning and being 'fed' that makes this space uncomfortable. It does not meet with our expectations. It offers an alternative and we need to take time to consider this in the context of the MA.
The role of the teacher (I would argue in any capacity) is not to feed but to open and hold spaces for independent learning. In the context of teaching dance, whilst there may be a codified language in the movement, a vocabulary of steps, a discipline of the body to be learnt by the student dancer, I would still suggest that this learning is most valuable when it is owned by the student.
In posing questions, and allowing space for responses (not answers) to emerge the teacher is opening what can feel like an uncomfortable space where the student is faced with uncertainty, a need to 'know', a sense of their own response to openness in learning. Much learning takes place in this space. The student may or may not attend to, but will likely notice thoughts that come into their mind, notice the space around them, others in it, notice reactions in their body. This noticing offers the ground for reflection later on in their journey.
Accepting uncertainty, being unfamiliar with something in order to get to know it better is all part of learning. I will share here an excerpt from a previous blog I have written on this theme as it seems relevant here also.
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 mutual 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 a frame of reference – you.
As you enter each new module you are never
completely lost, you have your sense of self, constructed here through your
portfolio claims and ROL from module one, 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 quite content but perhaps 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’.
Allow space...see/feel/sense what you think.
Tuesday, 2 February 2016
New term...
Welcome back all returning students continuing on their MAPP journeys this term and warm welcome those joining us this week too!
So, just a short post from me to check-in on the first week of term. First week back, getting yourselves into study mode again...whether that's after the winter break or after a long break from studying in any formal sense...trying to find space, physically and metaphorically for the MA in your lives, re-adjusting patterns, finding your grove again with all the elements that make up you, your practice, your home-life, your study. Taking some time this week to read through the handbook for the module you're starting, checking in on blogs, setting one up if you're joining us now this term (have a look round at others to get a feel for them), requesting to join our Linked-In discussion group (MAPP Dance Pedagogy) if you're not on there already...maybe posting something of your research interests those of you on Module Three now, to share with others...
Check-in with Adesola's blog -
http://adesolamapp.blogspot.co.uk
she has posted times for our first monthly Group Skype back - It's this coming SUNDAY FEB 7! Please do comment on her blog to indicate which call you would like to join (AM / PM) and make sure you've connected with us on Skype before then also!
aonthephone
helen.kindred2
Any queries around enrolment / re-enrolment please do contact our admissions team <g.ohemeng@mdx.ac.uk> new starters or student achievement team <a.meah@mdx.ac.uk> returning students. For finance please email <stufees@mdx.ac.uk> let us know if you experience any problems though, we don't want administrative issues to delay you getting going on the programme!
Looking forward to hearing from you all on Sunday!
Helen
So, just a short post from me to check-in on the first week of term. First week back, getting yourselves into study mode again...whether that's after the winter break or after a long break from studying in any formal sense...trying to find space, physically and metaphorically for the MA in your lives, re-adjusting patterns, finding your grove again with all the elements that make up you, your practice, your home-life, your study. Taking some time this week to read through the handbook for the module you're starting, checking in on blogs, setting one up if you're joining us now this term (have a look round at others to get a feel for them), requesting to join our Linked-In discussion group (MAPP Dance Pedagogy) if you're not on there already...maybe posting something of your research interests those of you on Module Three now, to share with others...
Check-in with Adesola's blog -
http://adesolamapp.blogspot.co.uk
she has posted times for our first monthly Group Skype back - It's this coming SUNDAY FEB 7! Please do comment on her blog to indicate which call you would like to join (AM / PM) and make sure you've connected with us on Skype before then also!
aonthephone
helen.kindred2
Any queries around enrolment / re-enrolment please do contact our admissions team <g.ohemeng@mdx.ac.uk> new starters or student achievement team <a.meah@mdx.ac.uk> returning students. For finance please email <stufees@mdx.ac.uk> let us know if you experience any problems though, we don't want administrative issues to delay you getting going on the programme!
Looking forward to hearing from you all on Sunday!
Helen
Wednesday, 6 January 2016
Between Modules...
Thanks for your submissions of work this week and WELL DONE!
Just a note to let you know what happens in this in-between modules time now...
Please do make a note and attend if you possibly can (in person or via Skype if you let us know beforehand) our MA finalists presentations on MONDAY JAN 18TH.
These will be held on our Hendon Campus (London NW4) in the Grove Dance Theatre (G190)
and will run from 10am to approx 3pm (UK time) with four finalists, Maria, Sarah, Cathie and Suzy presenting their research.
Whilst Adesola and I are busy marking, you are encouraged to access the module handbook for your next module (all available on our MAPP DTP page on UniHub). Start having a read through to familiarise yourself a little with the next shift in your MAPP journey.
The next term starts on MONDAY FEB 1, with our first monthly group Skype meeting on Sunday Feb 7, for all new and returning students (and any MA alumni very welcome to still join!).
We aim to send you feedback on your work submitted by the end of January, with grades being published on UniHub after the assessment boards in February.
All best wishes for the year ahead...
Helen
Just a note to let you know what happens in this in-between modules time now...
Please do make a note and attend if you possibly can (in person or via Skype if you let us know beforehand) our MA finalists presentations on MONDAY JAN 18TH.
These will be held on our Hendon Campus (London NW4) in the Grove Dance Theatre (G190)
and will run from 10am to approx 3pm (UK time) with four finalists, Maria, Sarah, Cathie and Suzy presenting their research.
Whilst Adesola and I are busy marking, you are encouraged to access the module handbook for your next module (all available on our MAPP DTP page on UniHub). Start having a read through to familiarise yourself a little with the next shift in your MAPP journey.
The next term starts on MONDAY FEB 1, with our first monthly group Skype meeting on Sunday Feb 7, for all new and returning students (and any MA alumni very welcome to still join!).
We aim to send you feedback on your work submitted by the end of January, with grades being published on UniHub after the assessment boards in February.
All best wishes for the year ahead...
Helen
Wednesday, 2 December 2015
Permission giving...
As you are all now in the depths of your respective module's work and busy figuring out how to communicate your thoughts and ideas in writing I wanted to blog a note about permission giving.
Whether you are opening windows to past experiences through reflections in Module One, mapping out the landscape of your potential research project in Module Two, or giving light to the emerging themes of your research through Module Three, it is vital that you give yourself the permission you feel you need to share your voice publicly.
Discussions with each other through your blogs, linked-in and Skype calls are great for bouncing ideas, listening to and processing alternative perspectives, as are the conversations you have through one-to-one tutorials with your advisor, but ONLY YOU CAN DETERMINE WHEN YOUR WORK IS SAYING WHAT YOU NEED IT TO SAY.
We have talked during Skype group calls about the student/teacher relationship that we aim to facilitate through the MAPP DTP, and that not being a traditional - teacher holds all knowledge and student waits to receive that knowledge. Whilst we are happy to offer another voice, a more critical, questioning voice perhaps to your ideas, our intention is really to hold space for your ideas to form, emerging from you as they are intrinsically about YOUR professional practice. You do not need anyone outside of you to tell you when something is 'right'. Please do try and use tutorials and the sending of drafts of work via email as an opportunity to ask questions, hear an alternative voice rather than expect permission to go ahead to come from your advisor.
We do not mean this as 'you're on your own', far from it, in developing the on-line MAPP community we want you to feel supported and part of a community of learners/practitioners on this journey, and as your advisors we are very much walking it alongside you...but not for you.
Give yourself the permission, the space, the muddling needed to know when you're communicating what it is you intend to.
Whether you are opening windows to past experiences through reflections in Module One, mapping out the landscape of your potential research project in Module Two, or giving light to the emerging themes of your research through Module Three, it is vital that you give yourself the permission you feel you need to share your voice publicly.
Discussions with each other through your blogs, linked-in and Skype calls are great for bouncing ideas, listening to and processing alternative perspectives, as are the conversations you have through one-to-one tutorials with your advisor, but ONLY YOU CAN DETERMINE WHEN YOUR WORK IS SAYING WHAT YOU NEED IT TO SAY.
We have talked during Skype group calls about the student/teacher relationship that we aim to facilitate through the MAPP DTP, and that not being a traditional - teacher holds all knowledge and student waits to receive that knowledge. Whilst we are happy to offer another voice, a more critical, questioning voice perhaps to your ideas, our intention is really to hold space for your ideas to form, emerging from you as they are intrinsically about YOUR professional practice. You do not need anyone outside of you to tell you when something is 'right'. Please do try and use tutorials and the sending of drafts of work via email as an opportunity to ask questions, hear an alternative voice rather than expect permission to go ahead to come from your advisor.
We do not mean this as 'you're on your own', far from it, in developing the on-line MAPP community we want you to feel supported and part of a community of learners/practitioners on this journey, and as your advisors we are very much walking it alongside you...but not for you.
Give yourself the permission, the space, the muddling needed to know when you're communicating what it is you intend to.
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