Inquiry

a) One aspect of dance that I am particularly enthused by is how dance relates to different cultures around the world. Two years ago I was working in Egypt and learned belly dancing and Egyptian folklore dance as part of my job. I was learning variations on dances that had been passed down through the centuries in Egypt, very different to the western styles I was used to such as Ballet, Tap and Jazz. Good belly dancers sometimes become famous, Mona Said and Naima Akef are examples of Belly dancer royalty in Egypt. Folkloric dances from every country have such stories and history behind them that is why I am enthusiastic to find out more about them.

I am inspired by the pop star Shakira because she is as much of an accomplished dancer as she is a singer. She is Latin American, in an interview for 'Tina' magazine she said,


"Yep. I am very proud of my roots. Because they always remind me of who I am and where I come from"


This pride is visible in the choreography she performs on stage. She holds on to traditional dances from Columbia and gives them an up-to-date twist. She also integrates other traditional dance styles from around the world. Belly dancing is often featured in her shows and performances  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJsZR3w776E and she has recently used African dancing in her shows too. We are so used to seeing the same type of 'pop-star' dances and I think that it is good that someone as famous as her is exploring different styles of dance from other countries.

A line of inquiry I am interested in is: in what way have traditional dances from around the world shaped western styles and also whether choreographers are choosing to use traditional styles in their modern works?


b) Unfortunately, I didn't have to consider my answer to this for very long. The aspect of my profession that makes my angry and sad is the sheer number of dancers with eating disorders. I have witnessed friends and colleagues become so obsessed with weight loss and it is very upsetting indeed. I have never experienced a disorder myself but I have often found myself, as I am sure most dancers have, thinking about my weight. Most dance schools/colleges, mine included, give parents and students a guide book on eating disorders and what that particular school's policy is. This excerpt is taken from the Royal Ballet School's eating disorder policy,



'The likelihood of these [eating] conditions occurring amongst students at The Royal Ballet School is increased because of a common tendency amongst young aspiring dancers to conform to a perceived stereotype of the ‘perfect dancer’,'


Students aspiring to be classical dancers like the ones at the Royal Ballet School possibly have the hardest battle to stay thin because of the pressure from the ballet companies they wish to work for. There is a tragic story of a ballerina named Heidi Guenther who died aged 22 from complications connected to anorexia nervosa. She, along with the 24 other corpse de ballet dancers for Boston Ballet, had been told to lose 5lbs. She was already only 115lbs. In an article for the Boston Globe Anna-Marie Holmes who was then artistic director of Boston Ballet and the person who advised the dancers to lose weight said,


"She [Heidi] was looking a little pudgy - her boobs, her hips, her thighs. You see a girl on stage, her butt is going up and down, it's not attractive. It's a visual art. Because it's a visual art, I can advise what looks good."

Source: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/e/a/1999/04/04/MAGAZINE2036.dtl&ao=2#ixzz17RXtz5Po

Now, as shocking as what Holmes said is its no more shocking than things that are being said currently to dancers all over the world. It was just that Holmes was cold enough to be documented saying it after Guenther's death. I was once told to lose 7lbs by an employer. I am slim with a healthy BMI and my diet is good so I wasn't about to become unhealthy by desperately trying to lose weight. Did the suggestion I needed to lose weight make me feel fat? Yes. Am I fat? No! Thankfully, I am comfortable enough in my own skin to know what is right for me and know that this is what employers will say so that you keep an eye on your weight. This, I understand but I do not condone. It is unlikely a dancer will gain weight on a contract anyway because when we are working by the very nature of our jobs we are exercising.

Singer-Dancer-Choreographer, Paula Abdul has spoken very publicly about her battle with bulimia and I hope that more people in the public eye chose to speak out because I am sure there are more famous people with disorders than we know about. Abdul said of her eating disorder in an article from 'Jet' magazine,


"I learned at a very early age I didn't fit in physically. I learned through years of rejections from auditions .... I would ask myself, "Why can't I be tall and skinny like the other dancers?"

It is very sad but very true that in this profession looks count as much, if not more than ability, but why? A line of inquiry I am interested in is why do dancers HAVE to be very thin?

c) The very reason I became a dancer was so that I could perform for a living. Some dancers are very technical and thrive inside a classroom environment and gain the top marks in examinations. I was never this dancer. Yet, when it come to doing shows I come in to my own. I have always had the ability to perform, it just comes naturally to me and there is nothing that excites me more than dancing on stage to an audience.


 I can't give an example of a person who inspired me because I think the desire to perform comes from within. When I perform I feel good about myself and full of confidence. That is all very well and good for when I have a job but what about finding one? I have in the past been so nervous in auditions that I haven't performed my best ans subsequently missed out on jobs. However, I have now trained myself to keep nerves to a minimum. I do this by pretending to feel confident and brave, even though I'd love to hide at the back of the group I force myself to dance at the front. I think nerves are one of the hardest thing to get over as a performer. I am lucky because I do not suffer from severe stage fright like I know many performers do and it would be interesting to find out how others deal with their nerves.

A line of inquiry which interests me is: How do people overcome stage fright and serious nerves in order to succeed?

d) One aspect of my profession I have had little experience in is teaching. I have taught before but not a great deal and I don't fully understand how a good teacher gets the most out of their pupils. This may come from me having to have more experience in the field, a hands on approach so to speak. But I think it is interesting how some teachers just know the right way to help their student flourish and other just don't.

When I was at college I had a teacher called David Needham. I know their are some other Hammond graduates and maybe some Northern graduates doing this course and I'm sure you will all recall your first class with him. I certainly do! I was scared stiff and filled with dread. At Hammond, unless you were superbly gifted, he wouldn't teach you until second year. So, until this point he had just been this scary enigma residing in studio five.

At first I dreaded his classes because I would be terrified of messing up and having to perform the sequence be myself. It certainly was character building thats for sure! However, I have never known myself progress faster in my life. His method of teaching, as frightening as it seemed to begin with, really helped me become the dancer I am today. And given time we all realised that he wasn't scary at all, just passionate about ensuring we left college the best we could be.

A line of enquiry I am interested in is: What makes a good teacher?

e) An experience I have had whilst living here in Amsterdam is how different classes are in the Netherlands than in the UK. At home, if you attend a Jazz class you will expect to do a standard warm up, turns, kicks, corner work and maybe learn a routine. Here, Jazz isn't the same discipline at all, it is closer to what I think of as Contemporary dance. The class has a lot of floor work, relaxation and flowing movements and the routines we learn are all about 'feeling' the music in our bodies. Unlike the arm here, leg there, placed Jazz I am used to. During my career I have worked with dancers from many different countries; USA, Canada, Holland, Egypt, Russia, Ukraine, Latvia, Spain.

I want to know about how dance training differs depending on what country you are from. What a standard class involves in different places too. Could the training in fact be very similar but we just call it different names? Or is it entirely different?

A line of inquiry I am interested in is: How does dance training differ from country to country?