Past Qustions, Further thoughts of Inquiry and Youth dance

I haven't blogged for quite a while and i admit i'm a bit confused about where to start. Do i start where i left off or do i wipe the slate clean and use the experiences I've had since to build a new line of inquiry or maybe re evaluate the lines of inquiry i had previously used and build on that with my new experiences?...I hope you're following.
Previously, i had been focusing on creating a dance syllabus within my own community dance company and many of the questions i asked reflected this.
Questions such as;

• Are dance exams important?
• Is formalizing a dance form important?
• What are the alternatives?
• How do i connect with people?
• How do i get a support system?
• What is the role of an Artistic Director?

I was trying to understand my role within community dance without really looking at the foundations of it.

What IS community dance and how does it connect to Youth dance?

Over the last few months i have been focusing on running my own dance classes, i wouldn't call A3 Dance a full fledged  company yet....but it's getting there. Since opening I've had to face my own challenges. The business and management side of things have been a little testing but i'm managing. It did have me thinking though. How will i ensure my students don't face the same tests as me if they ever want to pursue a career in dance management. Right now my classes focus on building confidence, learning dance routines and most importantly fun, but do i need more? In order to sustain a successful company do i need to offer more than just dance?

Already, i'm finding it hard to hold my older students so many reasons they have not to attend classes!! College work, other engagements or appointments or simply no motivation and can't be bothered. Does that reflect my teaching or is it something more than that. My A3 juniorz are booming, with more new students almost every week. So is it the age group? 

Just when i thought my older class (A3 Starz) was at the point of possibly no return i was offered a lifeline. An amazing opportunity to be project leader of a new Youth Dance programme created by Irie! Dance Theater called 'Steps Together.' http://www.iriedancetheatre.org/

 The programe offers young people aged 14-18 the opportunity to be part of a creative dance programme which will allow them to experience choreography, events management, industry links, administrative skills, performances and much more.

This also meant that a new partnership could be formed between A3 Dance Company and Irie!dance theater and as i have recently learnt partnerships are vital for longevity and provide a far bigger network. 

• Why are partnerships important?
• How will it help my company?
• How will it affect my company?
• Will it be successful?

This weekend myself and project assistant Stevie Brown were invited, on behalf of Irie! dance theater to attend the ACE (African Cultural Exchange) http://www.acedanceandmusic.com/ Symposium focusing on Youth dance both in England and internationally. There is such a large network of Youth dance companies throughout England and we have to start utilizing these networks. It was here that i started to realize perhaps i had been jumping ahead of myself. Before i could consider those questions previously asked, i would have to consider how i got to that point. What route did i take in order to reach those questions.

I have now begun to propose new questions and thoughts of inquiry.

Questions such as;

• How will i attract people/youths to my dance classes?
• What do i want them to get out of the dance programme?
• Can the youth lead the programme?
• How do i plan on keeping them?
• How will i sustain the programme?
• What else should i offer in addition to dance?......Arts award??

Questions such as;

• What does dance do for young people? were followed by
• What can young people bring to dance?......Honesty, Directness, their all.

Young people are not afraid to take risks and they are the ones who will pave the way for dance in the future.

Soon, it may be so that dance companies will no longer be able to continue, having to "tick boxes" in order to keep obtaining funding. It does make me wonder where my place is within the Youth dance network in England and what challenges i'll face trying to make A3 dance Company and Steps Together a successful Youth dance company that offers opportunities as well as dance.

Critical Reflection on Pilot Survey

As a starting point for collecting information on my chosen topic, i think doing a pilot survey was a great idea. It helped me to see how many people had taken a Street Dance exam, how many had taken any dance exam and how many had never taken an exam at all. Most importantly, the survey allowed me to see how many had thought an exam was beneficial to enhancing their dance careers and how many disagreed with this. I was able to get the personal opinions of those who completed the survey which was definitely a bonus.
 From the results, i was able to see that only 20% of those who had taken the survey, had taken a Street Dance exam compared to the other 80% who had taken an exam in another dance style. The 20% who had taken the street Dance exam explained that it was Freestyle, meaning it did not focus on any one area of the Street dance Technique.
Questions such as, "do you feel (taking an exam) has enhanced your development as a dancer," allowed each participant to give a qualitative answer, effectively allowing me to receive more in depth answers that could be analysed like those of an interview.
Using social networking sites such as Facebook and the Ba Professional Practice Discussion page, i was able to share my survey and generate a greater response. I think this tactic is a lot better than trying to approach dancers on the street as firstly you can never be sure who is and secondly this tactic would involve time, which many people do not have. This would also mean the dancers filling out the surveys would be from a much smaller demographic. By posting the survey to a social networking site, i was able to get answers from males, females, dancers of all ages and most importantly dancers from different backgrounds.
The most interesting finding from this survey was the fact that the majority of those who answered, were all in favor of exams for various different reasons. This was exactly what i wanted to find out. Are exams needed in order to enhance your development as a dancer?
The general census i got from this survey is YES exams are beneficial. So how does this this relate to Street Dance? I have seen that exams enhance so many different dance styles but what about Street Dance? Although as a dance style it may not be right for it to conform to formal exams, due to containing self-expression and creativity, I am starting to discover that there must be a way of giving Street dance students something to focus on, develop their technique and retain the fundamentals of their style, whilst still fueling their creative and choreographic skills.
In doing this questionnaire, i have have already gathered some much needed and very important information which just shows how effective a pilot survey can be. I still think that most of my in depth research will come from my pilot interviews but i will definitely use surveys as a basis for research in the future.

Thinking about an Award Title.....

Looking at the type of questions asked in both interviews, i have tried to make the questions as relevant to the subject of inquiry as possible.
These being:
Can a dancer develop without the use of exams?
Is a syllabus needed to further development of Street dance within the community?
Should Street dance be formalized within education?

Award Title thoughts:
Ba (hons) Professional Practice Community Dance Development?
BA (Hons) Professional Practice Street Dance Development?
BA (Hons) Professional Practice Developing Dance in Education?

I focused my award title on the word development as i feel that my inquiry is leading me into the development of a dance form and trying to take it places through progression.
I do teach dance in schools but also in community and private settings. I don't want to limit myself to just education as this could become to formal. Instead, i want to focus more on community and the development of Street dance learning and it's progression.

Proposed Interview questions for Ricardo Small

An Interview with Ricardo Small

Artistic Director of ABYSS Street Dance Crew

(Questions)

What inspired you to create a Street Dance crew?

How was ABYSS founded?

What is your role?

What skills are needed to be an Artistic Director of a Successful Street dance Crew  such as ABYSS?

Have you ever taken a dance exam in any dance style?

Would you say it is important to be a member of an examining body such as the IDTA, in order to run or teach within a dance company? Please explain your answer.

Do you think exams are important to measure the development of a dancer and what are the alternatives?

As a Choreographer and director of ABYSS, you have assisted your dancers developing them technically and mentally. How is this achieved?

Throughout the past years, Community Street Dance teachers have managed to maintain their art form without any major support from the industry and without being able to gain a qualification to prove their level of competence in their field of expertise.

If you were to create a Street Dance syllabus, what would be the most important fundamentals included?

Is formalizing a dance form within the education system the best way to maintain the real history of the pioneers and their contribution to dance?

Proposed Interview questions for Beverly Glean

An Interview with Beverly Glean

Artistic Director of Irie! Dance Theatre

(Questions)

What inspired you to create a community dance company?

How was Irie! Dance Theatre founded?

What is your role?

What skills are needed to be an Artistic Director of a Successful dance company such as Irie! Dance Theatre?

Would you say it is important to be a member of an examining body such as the IDTA, in order to run or teach within a dance company? Please explain your answer.

Do you think exams are important to measure the development of a dancer and what are the alternatives?

Can you talk briefly about how the Foundation Degree (Dance FDA), created by Irie! Dance Theatre, in partnership with London Metropolitan University, was put together?

Is formalizing a dance form within the education system the best way to maintain the real history of the pioneers and their contribution to dance?

PILOT SURVEY AND INTERVIEWS SO FAR

Within the last few days i have conducted a pilot survey and have proposed questions for two pilot interviews.
So far, i am happy with the information gathered but still feel that i need to know more in order to aid my line of inquiry, hopefully the the pilot interviews will do this.
By conducting a survey i have managed to gather varied information, more so as statistics. This does help my inquiry in a way but i know i need more in depth answers if i am to get any closer to solutions.

I have conducted the pilot interviews via email which has allowed my interviewees time to read through the questions, answer them and then email them back. I will then be able to analyze and evaluate each question asked.
I chose to interview Beverly Glean Artistic Director of Irie! Dance Theater and Ricardo Small, Director and Choreographer of Street Dance Crew Abyss. Both are at different ends of the spectrum in terms of Community dance. Glean, has already founded her company and gone on to co-create a Foundation degree which focuses equally on Ballet, Contemporary, African and Caribbean dance forms. Small directs and co-choreographs a community Street Dance Crew which over the past few years has progressed immensely and is still growing.

Once the interviews have been returned to me, i will be able to blog fully about which research method i found most suited my inquiry.

http://www.iriedancetheatre.org/

http://www.streetdancers.co.uk/video/abyss-on-the-street-dance-xxl

SURVEY

Hey, i don't think the link to get to my survey was working in my last blog, so i have reposted it again.

Thanks

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/BMXLGLQ