Module 2 - 'Developing lines of Professional inquiry'

Module 2 begins our process into developing our professional inquiry for module 3. In Reader 4 it describes Professional inquiry as "an approach to learning that acknowledges the central role of the individual to the process of learning", which means that in this module we will be making our learning and our practice more personal and relevant to what we find important and of interest. 

Creating an inquiry at this moment in time seems rather daunting , however the tasks help to break it down and create a path towards our end goal. In task 4a, we are asked to create a set of questions surrounding our practice, that we find relevant to our possible line of inquiry. I began my making a spider diagram about my practice, this may not be the most sophisticated tool but i've always found it an excellent way to organise my ideas,  and start thinking of questions as I built on it. I started by making 4 legs (north, east, south and west) with 4 key thoughts I had on life as a ballet dancer, be it currently, previously, or in the future. The points that came to me were:

 

1) Well-being - the health and well-being of dancers is the key to a long career and getting the most out of your body.

2) The Education of dancers - ballet requires many years of training, the education of dancers is very important in my eyes and it is something that is often raised as a concern. 

3) The short manner of the career - As we all know the career of a professional ballerina is very short so looking into the next step of your career is something that needs attention.

4) Supplemental training- Dancers don't just dance to maintain their physical condition but there is a whole load of alternative forms of exercise that they must do whilst working and during their breaks. 

I then expanded on these elements and below is a picture of the completed mind map. 

As you can see this really does fall under the label of mind map as it really is just regurgitated thoughts with little structure! I did, however, begin to link similar points together and intertwine my categories slightly which enabled me to find common ground between areas. I honestly believe the '6 degrees of separation' rule applies to all areas of life and when it comes to the arts, it is almost more the case than any other field. Links can constantly be made and often one issue can lead to another and this is what I found particularly interesting when making this diagram.

When I decided to take the course, I had a clear path in mind as to what my inquiry would be based on. As someone who has always had an interest in science, in particular biology and the human body, it seems only natural for me to take my route in that direction. The human body fascinates me and when looking at it through a dancers eyes, I can appreciate what it can do.  One of the reasons I put a section on the diagram for "career future" is because it is something I have given a lot of thought about in recent years. My body is particularly injury prone, so I am very aware of how short and fragile a dance career can be. With my knowledge and experience of injury and my passion for biology I have always wanted to pursue physiotherapy post dance career. I find there are very few dance specialist physios around and bringing my knowledge of dance to that could be invaluable. This may all seem a little off track, but it means that my ideas around my inquiry should be linked to injury in dancers to incorporate my interests and future plans.

Taking a few steps back, I want to have a look again at my diagram and create some relevant questions to both my practice and my plans for my inquiry.  I thought a good way of doing this would be to come up with a question for each of my 4 sub-topics.

1) Do you feel there is enough support and advice for injured dancers both physically and psychologically? If not, what do you think could be done to improve it? (Well-being)

2) Do you think dancers receive enough education about how to prevent injury and how to keep their bodies in peak physical condition? If not, what more do you think can be done? (Education)

3) Do you think there is enough emphasis on preparing yourself for life outside of dance? If not, what more do you think be provided? (Career future)

4) Do you think it is important to build strength and stamina outside of the studio as well as in training and performance? If so, why? (supplemental training)

I am now going to take these questions to a few colleagues and dance friends and see what their responses are. I will blog about my findings soon! If any of you reading this have any thoughts, I'd love to hear what you have to say.