What in your daily practice gets you really enthusiastic to find out more about? Who do you admire who also works with what makes you enthusiastic?
I admire the performers who don't give up because for the majority of performers the amount of rejections are considerably more than the number of successful auditions. I also admire performers who prove they are capable of a career in this industry after being told otherwise. For example, Wayne Sleep started a project on Channel 4 called "Big Ballet" and on the programme he spoke about how he was told he was too short and would never make it as a professional dancer, but his reply was it meant he had to "jump twice as high and turn twice as fast as everyone else". This determination is what I admire. The programme "Big Ballet" on Channel 4 was a good representation of women who loved to dance and whose technique was of a good standard. However, all their lives they had been rejected because of their size and the majority of them suffered from low self-esteem because of this. I admire Wayne Sleep because he wanted to give them a chance to perform and do what they love doing without being judged, this could be because he can relate to being discriminated against for his size in the past. This leads me to believe he must have also recognised discrimination in the industry for him to have made the programme.
I feel it is important to write your inquiry on something you feel strongly or passionate about or something you can relate to in your line of work. By exploring your inquiry in depth it should benefit you in your career and also allow you to benefit and help others in your industry too.
I have seen many performers change career paths as the pressure and rejection in the industry is too much. I have also seen friends become psychologically ill as the pressures of being thin have taken over their bodies.
At the moment, I am doing a variety of jobs. I am performing as part of a Bollywood company and have performed at many amazing venues with them in the UK and abroad. I also perform as a backing dancer for tribute shows around the UK. However, I still attend auditions as the shows with both these companies are not regular and I would like to look for a job with a fixed contract, as I am someone who likes stability and knowing how much will be coming into your bank account each month. As well as performing in the shows at the moment I also teach workshops to children aged 6-10. I feel the questions below fit in with my experiences at the moment, as I am attending auditions and also feel it is hard keeping up a good image when you are not in regular work.
I know which direction I want to follow for my inquiry, however there are many avenues I could explore. I would love to hear your opinions and what avenue you feel I should go down.
- Does image override talent?
- Does the prejudiced attitude in auditions lead to psychological problems for a performer?
- Are the standard of shows decreasing due to more focus on image than ability?
- Is so much rejection psychologically healthy for an individual?
- Is it more beneficial for a performer to be skinny or muscular?
- How do performers cope with the pressures of the industry.
- Do the pressures of looking good in the dance industry lead to psychological problems such as anorexia/bulimia?
- Can dancers afford to keep up the "perfect" image?
- Do the pressures of the industry overshadow the enjoyment?
- What are the pressures of being a professional dancer? How do these pressures affect us psychologically and how do we cope with them?
I would be really interested to hear your views on these questions and the line of inquiry I want to explore. Which questions do you think would be stronger than others and more beneficial for me to look into? I am leaning more towards the last question as I feel there are many pressures I could look into and explore and it would be beneficial to know how people cope with these and I could put it into my practice as well as try and inform others. I look forward to reading your feedback :) x
I have given the last question some more thought and would like to word it to say: "What are the pressures of being a professional dancer? How do these pressures affect us psychologically and physically?
ReplyDeleteThe idea of rejection is also something that I have been interested in. I think it can give some people motivation to push harder but it can dishearten others and make them feel like giving up. I wonder if it depends on the individuals personality, the amount of rejection they have faced, self esteem or their drive and passion to want a career in the dance industry in the first place?
ReplyDeleteAlso I have found image overriding talent to be an interesting topic, i suppose it's very subjective but I think that the level of importance employers put on image vs the importance of talent is very noticeable in the dance industry today. How would you go about approaching the topic as it is so subjective?
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I suppose it would be helpful for you to explore whether you yourself have ever felt pressured within the performing industry and whether you think that image plays a part to the hardship of a dancer. Myself, I have never experienced these things to the extent that I could understand and elaborate on these subjects but I think this would certainly be interesting to research current and ex-performers to gain a variety of views and understanding.
ReplyDeleteI think that rejection would be a great way to go as I would consider that as one of the main factors dancers give up their performing career, especially as they get older and dance schools constantly turning out fresh dancers each year to compete with.
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Thank you for your feedback. Yes I have been looking into rejection a lot this past week. I am interested in how it effects people psychologically and also physically. Also the different ways in which people cope with the rejection. Whether it makes them give up or makes them stronger? I feel the topic of the different pressures was a bit too broad so would be better for me to focus on a less broad subject. One of the pyschological and eventually physical effects rejection could have is depression, eating disorders etc and I am very interested in exploring these topics under the umbrella of rejection. I also want to find out about the different coping strategies people use in order to keep positive and stay focused. It would also be beneficial to know about in order for me to help others in the industry as well as put them into practice myself, as it is something I see a lot around me with friends in the dance industry.
ReplyDeleteHave you got any idea which route you want to explore for your inquiry? x
As I have some knowledge and experience of teaching within the private sector of dance schools and within the public sector of Primary schools and then with the aim of progressing my career into secondary or further education, I know that I want my inquiry to somehow connect these varying circumstances in order to help me in my potential future career. I am just not sure what it is I want to know? x
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