2a: Reflective Journal (Continued)

Throughout task 2 I have been trying to get a grip on which journal writing style would best suit my style of thinking and bring out the most worthwhile results in terms of improving within my practice. I have experimented with a range of forms of reflecting and have found success in a couple.

Diagrams 

I have previously written about my experience in using mind maps which I have found the most helpful in terms exploring a wider range of my reflection. One of my biggest struggles with reflecting on my work is that I seem to limit my thought track and so the method of branching out of each new category further reflection was a huge help. I also experimented with drawing my own  graphs and creating them via an App called "SimpleMind+" which easily allows you to colour code, branch out and highlight each part of the diagram as well as keep a neat storage for future reference when looking at my broader reflection and improvement.

Lists

I have always used lists to organise everything in my practice, though I had never considered using lists as a style of writing a journal and the idea greatly interested me. Much like the diagrams, it allows opportunity to break down my days events into categories and then dive further into every aspect of them, which suits me best. Also, unlike traditional journal writing, it can be done very quickly and without fuss so that the key elements of my day can be analysed.

Evaluation

I used evaluation as a step with every method of journal writing I tried. The evaluation of my experiences and therefore what I can bring with me for the future of my practice being the most important and beneficial in my reflection. It also, of course being the hardest to explore further under the surface of my work. Through forcing myself to look into what I had learned or discovered within my profession, I feel as though I have been able to mature into a more critically thinking dancer. I have always been critical in the sense of choreography and making sure I am as precise as possible and so with this exercise I wanted to explore my practice on a more emotional level. This is something I feel I managed to achieve.

2b: Journal Writing Experience

I struggled with this task as it can be quite difficult to be able to publish something that is really never created with the intention to be shown to anyone else.

Instead what I have decided to to show is how I go about preparing for a filming day.

The day I have chosen is when I went to Bournemouth University to take part in the creation of television production.

Preparation 

Below is the information I have been sent about the filming day.

The link sent to me of the track that is going to be used on the day:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGoCtJzPHkU

As I am responsible for the choreography on the day I wanted to make sure I had notes of the possible movements i could do.

I thought I would try the format of using graphs to plan and reflect on this day as part of my exploration of the different ways in which I could write a reflective journal of my professional practice.

With this I have my choreographic notebook which contains all the work I have learnt in company work as well as what I create for other projects.

Whenever I am having to travel to dance I also always have my checklist of what I need for that day:

Specifics:

Black Leotard x2
Pink Tights x2
Legwarmers
Pointeshoes (Toe Pads)
Hair Pins
Bun Net

Extras

Warm Ups
Flat Shoes
Sewing Kit
Natural Make Up
Hairbrush
Choreography Book


All this is part of how I prepare for any work I am doing within dance depending what is expected of me on the day.