Making Connections...

Two interesting Skype conversations yesterday and great to hear many voices coming through to recognise, give space for, and begin to find our way collectively through some shared observations...

In the morning conversation I was drawn to people's thoughts on navigation essentially, how we work things out, patterns of teaching and learning.  A few of you spoke about different teaching strategies for different learners.  How we approach the teaching of dance; be it through 'technique' as the building blocks, or seeing the 'dance' and working backwards to unpack what it is and how it can be learnt.  

In the evening conversation the discussions were largely centred around reflection; as a mode of learning, a process, a thing in its own right. We spoke about different methods for reflection, questioned what it is and why we engage in it and talked about the act of looking back to move forwards (reading your feedback from the previous module as you move into starting the next).  I am interested in the notion of patterns and feel both conversations yesterday spoke to me in terms of the way in which patterns once revealed may become useful in connecting our learning and development, both within us and within the wider context of our professional communities and the world.

For me, it is important to recognise that learning doesn't have a 'one size fits all' pattern.  As teachers we can usually understand that in our teaching of others, knowing that we need to adjust, re-think, deliver differently in order to engage the different learners to our classes.  But we tend, I think, to seek a clearer pattern, something more known, in our own learning.  This possibly is tied up with patience and our own expectations of ourselves, but I would like to suggest that rather than the drive to look forwards, to see results, achievement, progress we begin to look all around us...seeing ourselves in a pond rather than on a road perhaps.

Gary Peters (musician/improviser/philosopher) speaks of the practice of improvisation as a way of marking (time).  He suggests that when we improvise, we mark the past in the present.  Acknowledging the 'nowness' of improvisation, happening in the present moment, Peters suggests that far from being a spontaneous act only deriving from the present, we are, through our improvised performances (teaching for me being just that), drawing on our past.  Our backgrounds, cultural heritage, own training, experiences are given a voice in some way through our actions in the present moment.  In my own research, analysing the conversations I see revealed between the practice and performance of improvisation in dance, I see improvisation as a mode of reflection.  Not as a process of getting somewhere else as such (not travelling on a linear road) but swimming in a pond, aware of what has come before (my past) what is all around me (my present practice, students, colleagues) and how these things affect my present understanding of me as I am in relationship with them.

Finding different methods for doing something, be it baking a cake or teaching a dance class, needs to embrace trial and error in our learning.  Making adjustments, looking at what we know in order to contextualise what we do not know.  Something I adore about improvisation in dance is the not knowing, and with that not looking (for answers, for the correct movement, timing, aesthetic...) but accepting and enjoying the movement between what has come before (recognising and validating past) and what may come next (future) whilst being in the moment of consciousness (present).  

The conversations amongst us as a community of learners at the start of a new term yesterday evoked in me these musings on improvisation.  How improvisation can be a mode of reflection, can be a way of getting into something, offers the essence of trial and error and an acceptance of process as product.  It allows us to be open to possibilities.  

Being open to what the experiences of the MA might offer is key to its value.  Whether engaging in reflective practice as a mode of articulating your past learning in the present in module one, planning your research inquiry in module two or conducting interviews and gathering data in module three, it is important not to shut off possibilities for what might be there, instead we encourage you to swim around, notice, acknowledge, question, re-think in order to (re)locate yourself in transaction with the flux of your environment (your practice, your research, your community) acknowledging the fluidity of process rather than seeking the fixity of product perhaps.

Love to hear your thoughts, please do comment... and look forward to reading your own blogs this week...

Starting...

So today is the start of the new term on the MAPP programme!!

Welcome back to all returning students and welcome to all new practitioners to the MA community...


Whilst today's date marks the 'term start date' on our calendars it is important to recognise that starting something isn't usually as quick as a calendar date suggests.  

Starting out for the first time, or starting back to re-join something after a break can mean a re-balance of patterns, schedules, spaces and places...finding how study is integrated / (re) integrated into your work/life patterns.  We think it is important that you begin to find some kind of 'home' for your study, this might be clearing a physical space in your house to work in, finding a café that has a good vibe to you to be able to work there, checking out libraries or other spaces that may feel good to you.  Looking at your schedules...it may be that you are able to block out one day per week that you ring as your 'MA day', it may not...You may prefer to set aside an hour each morning / an hour each evening and decide that you;ll dedicate that to your studies.  You may see already that you have a particularly busy period next month and so no you will not be able to dedicate time to your studies then, but can free-up some time either side of that period.  Whatever the pattern, whatever works is individual to you, and important for you to recognise and commit to.  Adesola and I are pretty flexible with our work/life patterns too and so we can work with you in terms of appointments for one-to-one Skype calls, responding to emails etc, and this is where the blogs are a great way of communicating...you can blog whenever you feel like it...2am, 6am... and others will engage with this when they feel like it, quite possibly in a different time-zone altogether!

So take this week to observe your patterns, re-jig a little space where needed, feel comfortable in your study environment, locate yourself within the university systems (UniHub / My learning / handbooks) and be sure to comment on Adesola's blog to indicate which Skype conversation you would like to participate in this coming Sunday Oct 2.

http://adesolamapp.blogspot.co.uk



I'd like to leave you 'starting' with a note on beginning from Musician/philosopher Gary Peters;

'The beginning is not the start of the work but the choice of a way into that which has certainly already started'.




Look forward to connecting on Sunday...

New beginnings...

WELCOME to all those joining us in the MAPP community this term...looking forward to meeting you all online on FRIDAY SEPT 16TH, 1200 (UK TIME).

and WELCOME BACK to all current students re-engaging with your MAPP journey this term.

Term formally starts on Sept 26th, and we'll have our first monthly GROUP SKYPE MEETING of the term on SUNDAY OCT 2ND with the option for you to join either the 1100 or 1700 (UK time) Skype calls - remember to let Adesola know which one you'll join so that she can add you to the call!

http://adesolamapp.blogspot.co.uk - comment here with either '1100' or '1700'

Programme and Module Handbooks are online for you now - don't get overwhelmed by them!! But worth taking a look at the module handbook for the module you're enrolling on this term and to have the Programme Handbook to hand to general study / university protocol reference.



To find the handbooks and other MAPP resources;

Go to: Unihub - http://unihub.mdx.ac.uk

My Learning (tab)

MA Professional Practice Dance Technique Pedagogy (tab in the drop down list)
Here you will find resources, guides, handbooks, assessment submission drop boxes and more...

Congratulations all...

Just a short blog to say congratulations to all on your assessments this term, you should all have seen your grades published on Unihub now, and a big WELL DONE and look forward to seeing you at the graduation ceremony on Friday to our finalists!!  

Whilst we wish you all the best on the next step of your journey, do remember you are still part of the MAPP community and welcome to continue to contribute through blogs and our monthly Skype calls, and we'd love to hear what you're up to!

Submitting work...

A reminder of the submission date for all MAPP DTP written work - MONDAY MAY 9th.

All work must be submitted electronically via UniHub AND hard copy (in person or via the mail).



Submission via UniHub:

Login to MyUniHub
Go to MyLearning
Go to MA Professional Practice Dance Technique Pedagogy Programme page
Scroll down to the folder named MAY SUBMISSIONS
Upload your work (as one word document) to the Turnitin drop box for your module


Submission in Person:
Hendon Campus
Sheppard Library
UniHelp desks
Please retain your receipt as proof of submission


Submission via mail/post:
Please send to: (date of posting counts as date of submission)

Helen Kindred, Senior Lecturer in Dance
School of Media and Performing Arts
TG55 Town Hall Annex Dance Office
Middlesex University 
The Burroughs
Hendon
London NW4 4BT
UK


For all submissions - 

Please ensure your name, our names (Helen Kindred / Adesola Akinleye), the programme name (MA Professional Practice Dance Pedagogy) and the module code are clearly marked on your front/cover page.

Module codes: 
Module One - WBS4510
Module Two - WBS4630
Module Three - WBS4760

We look forward to reading your work and seeing you (if possible) at the presentations next week!

Plurality of meaning...

It was good to hear from Alanna and April in this morning's Skype call, both at different places (geographically and in the MA) finding connections through notions of teaching and learning, values, motivations and expectations.  It is always something of a 'push' I think to be asked to articulate to others your research in order to begin sharing it, and this push was well met this morning.

Something that arose for me during the discussions was the idea of plurality.  The idea that there are, and there should be, space for multiple methods, perspectives, meaning, not only in dance but in the world.  There is a need to make this space more visible through research, to experience is one thing, but to be aware of it moves it.  We talked a little about polarities, distinctions around what we are not, but the danger of then 'fixing' of limiting what we are as a result, about different perspectives as we reveal the many voices to our research.  So in attempts to promote a move away from a culture of either / or and advocate instead for multiple alternatives, I am going to share here some research around the practices and philosophies of improvisation in dance. 

"All binaries need now investigating not for their deceptively reassuring ability to be collapsed into stable - and static - units, but the very opposite: that all binaries are 'really' hidden - and dynamic - triads. Because any two terms necessarily postulate the notion of 'relationship' as the necessary - third - factor which simultaneously separates and joins any two related forces or factors ... The crucial factor here is not how many ways two different units can relate to each other, but recognition that this 'third element' is not a unit but an axis, not an entity but a state of being, less a relationship than an act of relating"    (George, 1989: 71-85)

Writing on ambiguity in performance David George posits the need for an investigation of binary terms, a need to acknowledge and I would argue, to value the fluidity of the space between polarities.  In the practice of Improvisation it is in this between space that things happen. The Gap as Nancy Stark-Smith refers to it, between the conscious and the unconscious, the place where you do not know where you are, where frames of reference (of normality, of practice, of visibility) are suspended - this is the place in research, investigation of any kind that you need to experience and to be aware through reflection that you are experiencing it.  It is only through suspending what you know, that you can be open to acknowledging the value in what you do not know.  

The nature of dance improvisation being that you are making choices in the moment of movements arising in relationship to your self, others and your environment necessitates for me a relinquishing of control, a letting go of fixed ideas around this or that and a move towards taking pleasure in the multiplicity of options available to you.  The body as a site for investigation is infinite in its possibilities.  The ability to play between inner and outer spaces (Bartenieff), offers in itself a site for exploring beyond the binaries of mind and body, body and environment. If we can accept that our self is not limited to a fixed notion of mind and body (as two entities) but take pleasure in negotiating, re-articulating our sense of self through an exploration of the relationships between the two we may move through our research with a similar acceptance of plurality.  

One research question will usually grow to give voice to several other questions (I thought I was looking at one colour, but now I'm aware of the whole rainbow!).  These questions in turn will be addressed through a number of methods as feels appropriate to your field of practice and the context of your research.  The methods used will in turn gather data which is unlikely to offer a singular meaning.  Whilst multiple voices to your research (yours, those of the literature, the participants to your research, the context of your practice) may present conflict and this tension may throw into question what you thought you knew, your sense of stability (we very much hope it does!) the acknowledgement of these pluralities is crucial to change and development.  

April spoke this morning about her research making space for new learning, offering alternative experiences of dance for young children in the primary school where her research js based.  I think it is the responsibility of the researcher to make visible the spaces for alternatives.  If we move away from a need to be this or that, to align with this theory or that one, to see dance as entertainment or education, we are able to offer a voice to many possible meanings.  Making space for alternatives is necessary if we are to give value to the plurality of meanings and reduce the privileging of one over another.

What spaces have been made visible through your research?

MAPP Finalist Presentations...

We would like to invite you all to join us as our MA Finalists present their research this term.

The presentations will take place across May 12th and 13th, at our Hendon Campus in London.

If you cannot attend in person, but might be able to join us via Skype please do let us know and we will do our best to call you in to join on the day(s).  Details below:

MA Professional Practice, Dance Technique Pedagogy

Finalist Presentations

May 12^th & 13th 2016

College Dance Studio (CG60)

Middlesex University London

Thursday May 12^th

Schedule of the day

0900 Space for finalists to prepare.  

0930-1000 – coffee/tea/juice served outside the studio

1000-1130 Presentations 1 -

1000-1040 Sinead Keaskin (skype)

1045-1125 Ainsley Sudds

1145- 1315 Presentations 2 -

1145-1225 April Brown

1230-1310 Louise Warren

1315-1400  Lunch 

1400-1440 Presentations 1  - One-to-one with assessors / Video Booth

1400-1420 – Sinead (skype)

1420-1440 – Ainsley

1445-1525 Presentations 2 – One-to-one with assessors / Video Booth

1445-1505 – April

1505-1525 - Louise

Friday May 13th

Schedule of the day

1600 Space for finalists to prepare.   

1600-1630 – coffee/tea/juice served outside the studio

1630-1830 Presentations 3 –

1630-1710 Hayley Arthur

1710-1750 Sarah Lockwood

1750-1830 Julie Campbell

1830-1900 Light tea 

1900-2000 Presentations 3  - One-to-one with assessors / Video Booth

1900-1920 – Hayley

1920-1940 – Sarah

1940-2000 - Sinead

You will each give your oral presentation / present your professional artefact. Each presentation is 30mins (max) in total (20mins oral plus 10mins for artefact) with approx 5mins for questions, comments, invited from the audience afterwards.

The one-to-one discussions that follow after all presentations are with Adesola and Helen and are a chance for us to raise any questions looking across your critical review, oral presentation and professional artefact as your three modes of dissemination of your research and for you to respond.

Video Booth:

As a way of creating a legacy of your MAPP journeys we would like each of you to come prepared to record a short (max 5mins) video in which you share a bite-size chunk of your research; stating the title of your research project, outlining your methodologies, identifying any emerging themes, and noting any change or impact the research has had on your professional practice.  This is basically the outline of your oral presentation which you are all working on anyway.  We simply thought it would be great to have your research documented in this way.  We will record these in the sound studio (directly above the Grove Dance Theatre where you will be presenting) in the time slots after your presentations allocated for questions/discussions with us.  It would also be nice if you would like to offer any tips or advice for future MAPP students!

Please confirm attendance via email to Adesola Akinleye a.akinleye@mdx.ac.uk / Helen Kindred h.kindred@mdx.ac.uk

If you are travelling by car, please let me know ASAP as parking on campus is limited, I will do my best to book spaces for those that need them.  Any queries about the space, technical facilities etc please do email h.kindred@mdx.ac.uk