Delicious site

This is the link to my Delicious Page http://www.delicious.com/jessicalouisehunt

Reviews of my Three Chosen Articles

1.    The first article I discovered was by a woman named Francine Russo titled “Dance: Hot Wheels: Classical Ballet in New Position”.

The reason why I chose this article was because after I read the first section of it, it was the founder of the dance company that interested me the most.  Infinity dance Theatre is a “mixed ability troupe” which was founded by a woman called Lunn.  This extraordinary woman was formally a principal dancer with the Washington Ballet Company until she suffered from an accident which left her legs paralysed.  Seven years later she decided to create this dance company.  The article does not state how long this company took for her to create so we cannot be certain how much of this seven years was spent in despair, determination to carry on, experimenting with physical therapy, etc.  This woman was still able to carry on, make a success of herself by devising her own company and to add to that, she was even able to continue in her chosen profession.  Although she went a different way about it, technically she is still dancing, and still performing.  A quote from the article which I thought was so unusual yet refreshing to hear which was in relation to a dancer and their wheelchair was “It's her partner. She supports it, and it supports her."

   From reading the article, it seems the company like to shock their audience.  The following quotes from the article back this notion up:

·         "She'll be barefoot in the snow with a wheelchair," Pucci says. "It goes against what people expect."

·         Not all Infinity's pieces are for wheelchair dancers. "That's not what we're about," Lunn insists. Yet she enjoys upsetting stereotypes about the disabled

·         The Last Night of the World, a love duet between Lunn and a standing male dancer, is a "lusty, sexual dance," she says with a laugh. "At the end, you know these people are gonna go off to do it."

Just by reading this article, it is clear to me that Lunn looks upon her company and dancers with admiration and pride, she states “"Each stands out in his or her own way, which gives the company texture and richness."  For example, their newest member of the company is a lifetime wheelchair user who is now a weight lifter.  His strength is used to lift the seven able-bodied dancers.  Everyone in the company is considered a principle and is shown off to their best ability.  The fact that everyone in this company is treated as an equal in this company I believe symbolizes the idea that we can all live together in the same world and be treated as equals within it, no matter what our stature.  This had made me question something. Would this company have had the same morals, principles and ethics if it had been created by an able bodied dancer?  Would they have chosen to show all dancers as equals?  Or would they have had the main focus on one and not the other? 

    This article has broadened my knowledge of morals and ethics of this company, therefore, improving my knowledge of the topic of my enquiry.  I believe that this is the first example I have found of someone (who is injured/ disabled) being able to continue with their chosen profession.  However, there are still many restrictions for a disabled dancer, so there may not be many who agree with this statement.

http://iipa.chadwyck.com/quick/displayMultiItem.do?Multi=yes&ResultsID=12EF2B46CB3&&QueryName=articles&ItemNumber=1&ItemID=iipa00237032&FormatType=raw&journalID=JID00426180&logType=fulltext

2.    The second is from an article in the “Candis club and magazine”, titled “Dance UK to open new clinic for injured dancers thanks to Candis Big Gifts Funds”.  What drew me to this article is that it immediately relates to my own enquiry.  I have questioned whether having a positive mental attitude can improve the recovery process of an injury, however, where does this attitude come from?  From there I questioned if anyone was aware of any support programs for dancers?  The majority of those who answered this question on my survey were not aware of any.  This article however, is a perfect example of the type of support programs I was referring to; however, not everyone knows they exist.

It's little wonder why many performers spiral into depression when injury forces them to stop working.
The charity Dance UK aims to improve the conditions in which dance is created, in order to prevent injuries and provide better treatment for performers.

Their aim is to open a new NHS based dance medicine clinic in London.  The clinic will carry out research and aim to improve access to specialist care for all dancers across the country.

Helen Laws, Healthier Dancer Programme Manager, says: "Dancers are elite artistic athletes who place demands on their bodies similar to our Olympic athletes and premiership footballers. They need similar levels of support to keep working, which most don't currently have.   Like sport, dance can be extremely beneficial to our health and we need to make sure that people participating at all levels are able to do so, knowing they're doing everything to maximise health benefits and minimise risk of injury.”

This charity understands that there are dancers who have become injured and feel they cannot continue, they are trying to stop this from happening and at the same time are trying to support those who are out of work because of physical disruptions to their work.  If more people were aware of this, not only could it help them personally, but in doing so, with the help of others, more facilities can be built in other places around the country.  Having one medical based centre for dancers in London is a starting point.  Not everyone who needs these facilities may be able to access them.  What if their injury prevents them from travelling?  What if they don’t have the ability to get there financially due to being out of work?  More facilities like this need to based across the UK to reach out to all dancers. 

http://www.candis.co.uk/candis-news/dance-uk-to-open-new-clinic

3.      The third article is by Imogen Walker, titled “BodyMind: Beating the blues.  My enquiry questions the idea if a positive attitude can contribute to the recovery process, however, what exactly does that entail?

This article pin points all the different things you can do and the stages you will go through.  The accuracy of the article suggests to me that this woman has at some point been injured herself, although she does not confirm this in the article, from the way in which she writes, it suggests that this may be true.  For example “If you've ever been sidelined by injury, then you know how difficult it can be to watch from the wings while your dance  friends bask in the spotlight.”

She states in her article that by acknowledging the emotional side of an injury helps you control your reactions, handle rehab and dealing with any setbacks that might occur during the healing process.  From her writing it is clear she is a very positive and determined person, e.g. “Remember, most  injuries  aren't career threatening, and professional dancers return from serious  injuries  all the time.”

In her article she states different methods and explains in details how to go about these.  These methods are as follows:

·         Set Goals

·         Practise Positive Self-talk

·         Relax

·         Stay involved

·         Seek support

·         Take control

The details that she includes in each of these methods has been well researched  and well written.  Personally, I found the article very inspiring, it spoke out to me, I felt I could relate to it.  Also, what the article continually states is that it has to come from you.  In order to recover from an injury, you must motivate yourself and you must power on every single day.  For example, “It's important to fill your life with activities that will help keep everything in perspective. While it's OK to be sad, realize that worrying and wallowing in self-pity is a choice. Allow a few weeks to feel sorry for yourself, then move on.”  This article is not just stating facts, it is reaching out to those who read it, it speaks directly to them, telling them they can get through this.  It is firm, yet fair and helpful.  From experience, injured people don’t want pity and people feeling sorry for them, it only makes them frustrated and then they end up feeling sorry for themselves.  This article gets straight to the point, there is no pity, but there is understanding.  I believe this article is completely beneficial for anyone who is suffering from an injury and would strongly recommend people to read it.  I highly doubt someone would be able to write this unless they have experienced an injury for themselves, which again questions the idea “Can you only have a true understanding of an injury if you have experienced it yourself?” 

This is very favorite article of the three, I’ll admit that I am letting my own personal ethics base my decision on this, but personal ethics is one of the strongest form of ethics, but I believe mine compliment my professional ethics.

http://iipa.chadwyck.com/quick/displayMultiItem.do?Multi=yes&ResultsID=12EF25D8D81&&QueryName=articles&ItemNumber=1&ItemID=iipa00420373&FormatType=raw&journalID=JID10940588&logType=fulltext

Thoughts on my Focus Group

I had thought about the idea of conducting an Observation, but I could not find an area that directly relates to what I am doing and I don’t think it would help towards the development of my enquiry.

  I decided to create a focus group for those who have been injured, or who are still suffering from injuries.  I was able to find a good mixture of different situations and peoples opinions on how it has affected them. 

  There were:

·         some girls who have been injured and were still going through the recovery process

·         some that had been injured but were still working in their chosen profession

·         some that had been injured and were still trying to work in their chosen profession but struggling due to their injuries

·         some that had been injured and decided to stay in the same profession but gone in a different direction with it (e.g. the more creative side, behind the scenes, etc)

·         some who had been injured and had eventually decided to go down a different career path

What was interesting to me was that those who had decided to go down a different career path admitted that they had been considering getting back into the industry in some way or another, and that the focus group had inspired them to pursue it more.  One of those people was Steph Hunt.  I have been in contact with her since then and she has gone to great lengths to change her career path.  I am meeting with her in the near future to discuss how she has gone about this decision and the steps she has taken to do so.  I will be blogging her feedback to my questions as I feel this focus group has been a success in inspiring others to pursue their ambitions.

Thoughts on my Pilot Survey

I would like to thank all those who managed to find the time to complete my survey.  My survey consisted of 8 questions.  I decided on this amount because once I drew up a series of questions, these were the ones I felt needed to stay in my survey.  Plus I felt 5 was too few and 10 would be too many for my particular enquiry.

  The results I received were just what I was hoping for.  Some of the questions received the same response, however others differed which is what I was hoping for.  I wanted this so that I could research/ interview more people in order to discover the true meaning of the answers.  An interesting response I received was to the question “During your training, were you fully educated on the topic of injuries and how to prevent an injury?” The results were 50% for each answer.  This to me questions the idea that, hypothetically, half the performers working in the industry at the moment have not been fully educated during their training on the topic of injuries.  Therefore, are they more vulnerable to injuries in the future?  And could this jeopardise their career for their chosen profession?

   Question 5 in my survey stated: “Would you be able to approach a company you currently work for or wish to work for in the future about an injury?”  I received 75% for “Yes” and 25% for “No”.  That means ¼ of performers out there are hesitant to confront their employers about a physical disruption to their work.  If this minority are unable to confirm the truth about their injuries, then by doing so, could they be making their situation worse?  Or are they saving themselves from unemployment?  This is something I wish to find out more on which is why I am conducting another interview in relation to this issue.

  Question 7 of my survey stated “Are you aware of any support programs for injured/ disabled performers? And if so, please state which ones.”  For this question I received 37.5% for “Yes” and 62.5% for “No”.  The only program that people were aware of was “Candoco”, which is a dance company for disabled and non- disabled performers.  This company does show evidence that dance is still possible for disabled dancers, but not everyone is aware of it.  I also wish to investigate further if there are any specific services just for dancers, such as dance therapy, helplines, etc.  If performers were more aware of such organisations, would it make a difference if having to face the decision “Do I give up, or find a way through?”

Finally, the last question “Can a permanent injury stop someone from continuing with their chosen profession?”  This question is the key point of my enquiry.  The questions beforehand in my survey are helping me to figure out this answer.  For this I received 91.7% for “Yes” and 8.3% for “No”.  In most cases, once a dancer finds themselves permanently injured, they do feel it is the end of their career, what I want to find out is if that is the only option.  I have read some truly inspirational stories whilst carrying out my research, but I still am yet to find the true answer to this question, and for others to know it too.  I am interviewing a friend of mine who trained as a dancer and is now in the 2^nd year at LIPA studying “Music, Theatre and Entertainment Management”.

Overall I am very pleased with my result’s, I am discovering new things, developing more questions and adding more steps to the development of my enquiry.

New Award Title

After recieveing feedback from my last award title, I have decided to change it.  The previous one I had was too specific, so I'm hoping this one will open up more possibilities for where this inquiry can go.

"BA HONS Professional Practise (Challenges of the Profession)"

Any feedback would be much appreciated.

Pilot Survey

I have now managed to create my own survey in relation to my Inquiry.
Although I have decided to change my award title, I still feel that the basis of it comes from the topic of injuries, but from there is where I hope to discover more about how it can challenge you as a performer.
It only takes a few minutes to fill out so I would really appreciate it if you could take the time to complete it, thankyou.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/39R5BTV