My Example of Kolbs Learning Cycle

Subsequent to reading several papers on Kolb’s learning cycle and analysing the four stages of learning, Concrete Experience, Reflective Observation, Abstract Conceptualization, Active Experimentation, which he states may happen in a flash, or over days, weeks or months, depending on the topic, I correlated this to taking a photograph.

Concrete Experience (direct practical) - take the digital image
Reflective Observation (look back) - scrutinise
Abstract Conceptualization (think about changes) - alter the lenses
Active Experimentation (make the changes) - increase the lenses speed Perpetuating to
Concrete Experience - take another photograph.

Using this hypothesise I was able to look back at how this theory relates to my past experiences. I presented with a task while training and more recently I embarked upon a similar task and how learning from my previous experience and how that fits with Kolb theory.

Concrete Experience
While I was studying at the Northern Ballet School, I chose choreography as an area of interest as part of my final module towards my Dance diploma. The reason being, choreography had never been offered before and it was something that stimulated my ideas and captivated my imagination. I feel that I am very good with ideas and I am able to imagine the final product.
The choreography was to be performed on the stage to a large audience that consisted of the dance faculty and dancers in the lower years.
The music was to be composed and performed by the Royal Northern College of Music. This meant I had to listen to what they had composed and link this to a theme and my ideas for the choreography. Part of the process was to select the dancers’ design the costumes and the lighting.
The marking criteria was based on overall choreography, costumes and lighting. This is my concrete experience because it’s something that I have physically and mentally experienced.

Reflective Observation
The music created several problems, in different ways, because more often than not I listen to a piece of music, which stimulates my ideas which in turn inspires me to dance, and create a final product before I have even put the steps together. However I didn’t have a choice or any say in the composure of the music and to make matters worse I never heard the final piece of music until the week of choreography. This was due to lack of communication between the musicians and the Ballet school.
Research and planning for my choreography was virtually none existent as time was limited and the dancers were getting involved in other projects and I was totally in the dark as to what the music would sound like let alone how long it would last.
Nevertheless I choreographed a piece that I thought revealed my ideas and enhanced the music. However watching my choreography live, I was extremely disappointed. It demonstrated little empathy for the music and the choreography unproductive in evoking passion or energy. While producing it I hadn’t realised that I had rarely watched it and what I had imagined in my head was not actually being portrayed.
The feedback from my tutor supported my own observations, that the lack of communication, research and the development of ideas had reduced the potential of my choreography. I was able to scrutinise my work and this exposes my reflective observation about my experience.

Abstract Conceptualisation
As a choreographer and reflecting back on my experience I needed to understand fully why my choreography failed to reach its potential. This is abstract conceptualisation and as I conclude what I have learnt from my observations is that planning is essential, and clear aims need to be set so that they could be used as a constant form of reference throughout, informing decisions. Research is also a beneficial tool as it can help in the discovery of what inspires you and scrutinizing other choreography can trigger your ideas.
Most importantly choreography is an on going piece of work and can happen over days, weeks or months, because to allow it to evolve it lends itself several modifications and can develop into a process of trail and elimination until the desired effect is accomplished. Therefore it is imperative to manage what time you have to the maximum.
In addition when choreographing you can often get carried along with the moment and the atmosphere, therefore it is vital to step back frequently to observe and see if it’s working and developing into what you perceive it to be, hence leading to informed changes. Another important aspect is getting other people to watch and enlighten you with what they think is being portrayed. Furthermore communication is also fundamental when working as a team, if everyone knows what is going on, the better the team work.

Active Experimentation
My active experimentation is solving the problems I had when reflecting back on an experience. Since graduating from the Ballet School and working for The Glenda Ann School of Dancing I have frequently had to choreograph and experiment with ideas.
Recently I choreographed several dances for a performance at the Middleton Arena http://www.link4life.org/ a showcase for a few select students. It was important to choreograph dances to reflect the student’s potentials but also to consider the nature of the audience and what genres to use to keep it entertaining. I had to think of the costumes for the best effect, the running order so that they could recover from one dance to the next leaving room for costume changes, and the overall performance to make sure it was the best that it could be.
Consequently I put Kolb’s theory into practice and made use of my reflective observations so that I did not repeat my previous experience. Therefore I utilized my abstract conceptualisation to put my active experimentation into place.

For the show, at the Arena I thoroughly planned all of my choreography setting myself achievable aims. I made comprehensive notes when I listened to the music and captured my initial inspirations which I reflected upon repeatedly throughout my choreographing. I also researched dances from www.youtube.com to deepen my understanding of what I like and others interpretations of themes. I made notes and sketched diagrams so I could incorporate sections into my own choreography. I used many genres to demonstrate to the audience that both the dancers myself and are diverse.
The running order I constructed to give the performers maximum time for costume changes but I also worked out that the dancers could wear tracksuits that were loose fitting for their first dance so they could layer their costumes underneath for subsequent dances, hence saving time hence fluid running.
Communication was evident this time. I communicated with my dancer’s in depth as I had discovered it was vital. We shared our ideas and discussed our opinions and this made me feel they were secure with the choreography and happy with what they were doing which increased my confidence in what I was producing. They shared ideas on costumes and discussed what they felt comfortable wearing, which is essential if the performance is to look professional.
To Summarise
Learning using Kolb’s theory is a continuous loop; I received lots of praise and positive feedback about my choreography and can now reflect and use the knowledge and repeat the process. I can now correlate this to choreography.

Concrete Experience Choreograph a dance
Reflective Observation Scrutinise the dance
Abstract Conceptualization Plan the adjust and amend the dance
Active Experimentation Implement the changes
Concrete Experience Choreograph a dance etc……

Make-Up

Yes for all those Ladies and Gentlemen out there that wouldn't dream of leaving the house without your mascara on get a load of this.

http://www.makeupgeek.com/

Marlena, a freelance makeup artist located in Michigan has designed this website for all you make-up lovers. As a dancer i love make-up, it not only gives you a presence but i also like the way make-up can be used to change the way you look, this can be very effective on the stage, take for instance Cats the musical, yes you would know they were cats as the movements are portrayed so well, but would it be as interesting if they didn't actually look like cats?

For others make-up is "isn’t just paint for the face, something to cover blemishes, or even something fun to do" (Marlena) it can be used to power boost for self-esteem.

A brand of make-up Marlena and I like to use is MAC. MAC make-up is well and truly amazing if you like your make-up. I agree it's slightly pricey but believe me whats inside of that wonderful black box is well worth it.
As I'm used to wearing quite a lot of make-up from dancing on the stage I have honestly got to say that MAC always looks the best, stays on the longest and actually lasts longer than I thought. The other best bit about MAC is they have a range of excellent brushes to apply the make-up and a good range of skincare when you want to remove or replenish. Take a look at www.maccosmetics.co.uk for more on MAC.

I thought I would share both these sites with you as make-up for dancers is essential and getting the right make-up and applying it properly is also important.
Marlena has cleverly designed her website to show you how to apply make-up and what brands she likes to use, and believe me she knows her stuff, I found it really interesting to watch her videos as I learned new ways of applying my make-up, i also got some handy tips on applying those must have false lashes. Take a look for yourself.

Reflective Practice

The importance of reflecting on what you are doing, as part of the learning process, has been emphasised by many investigators. Reflective Observation is the second stage (in the usual representation) of the Kolb learning cycle.
At the induction day at Middlesex it was stressed to us quite a lot about reflection and reflecting on what we do and what we have achieved, and it was confusing as it's not something we would normally do on a day to day basis. However since researching reflection I now understand it's importance. So I thought I would share this bit of information on reflection and hope to help others understand what it's all about.

Why is it important for me to reflect on my learning?

-To help you see a clear link between the effort you put into your development activity and the benefits you get out of it.

-To help you see more value in each learning experience, by knowing why you’re doing it and what’s in it for you.

-To help you 'learn how to learn' and add new skills over time.

How do I reflect on my learning?

Reflecting on your learning enables you to link your professional development to practical outcomes and widens the definition of what counts as useful activity. Quite simply, you need to keep asking ‘what did I get out of this?’
As a reflective learner, you’ll think about how you’ll use new knowledge and skills in your future activities – so learning is always linked to action, and theory to practice. It’s also useful to reflect on how you learn best. This may be through private study, networking with peers, formal courses, mentoring, or a combination of techniques.

How often should I reflect on my learning?

Reflection should become a routine part of working life that is more or less instinctive. If you see learning as an intrinsic part of your job, you don’t have to interrupt your work to do it. People who routinely plan, record and reflect on their learning tend to see more opportunities for personal development. It’s a matter of capturing the moment. The fact is, the world becomes a richer, more stimulating place when you embrace reflective learning, because you switch on a kind of intuitive radar that’s tuned to pick up useful opportunities.

http://www.learningandteaching.info/learning/reflecti.htm

Forms of Knowledge and the Learning Cycle

Click on the picture to reveal the four quadrants

The four quadrants of the cycle are associated with four different forms of knowledge, in Kolb's view. Each of these forms is paired with its diagonal opposite.

 Broadly speaking, he suggests that practitioners of creative disciplines, such as the arts, are found in the Divergent quadrant.

 Pure scientists and mathematicians are in the Assimilative quadrant

 Applied scientists and lawyers are in the Convergent quadrant

 Professionals who have to operate more intuitively, such as teachers, are in the Accommodative quadrant

 There are also differences in the location of specialists within the more general disciplines
This would suggest that different subject areas call for different learning styles, and raises the usual chicken and egg question as to whether the discipline promotes a particular learning style, or whether preferred learning style leads to adoption of a discipline, or of course, both. (All of the above assumes that there is some validity in this conceptualisation of "learning styles".)

I strongly believe that people learn in different ways and that there isn't one way of learning. As teachers we recognise the way our students learn and adopt our teaching methods to the student in order to help them learn. This should mean that we need to adopt all of our teaching methods into the classroom, this then should only make teaching and learning a lot more interesting

Elaborations of the Experiential Learning Cycle

Click on the picture to reveal Apprehension & Comprehension

Not all forms of skill and knowledge emphasise all the stages of the Cycle to the same extent, and Kolb has carried the argument further by relating topics and subject areas to the cycle in the following ways:

Concrete Experience corresponds to "knowledge by acquaintance", direct practical experience (or "Apprehension" in Kolb's terms), as opposed to "knowledge about" something, which is theoretical, but perhaps more comprehensive, (hence "Comprehension") and represented by Abstract Conceptualisation.

Reflective Observation concentrates on what the experience means to the experienced, (it is transformed by "Intension") or its connotations, while Active Experimentation transforms the theory of Abstract Conceptualisation by testing it in practice (by "Extension") and relates to its denotations.

So it all sounds pretty complicated and that’s because as people in the arts we don’t put things on paper. We are “doers” however once it has been digested it starts to show clearly that we do all parts of the cycle we just don’t realise it.

Kolb, A. and Kolb D. A. (2001) Experiential Learning Theory Bibliography 1971-2001, Boston, Ma.: McBer and Co, http://trgmcber.haygroup.com/Products/learning/bibliography.htm
Kolb, D. A. (1976) The Learning Style Inventory: Technical Manual, Boston, Ma.: McBer.
Kolb, D. A. (1981) 'Learning styles and disciplinary differences'. in A. W. Chickering (ed.) The Modern American College, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Kolbs Learning Cycle “ The center of learning is experience”

Some of the students that attended Cat Hill campus at Middlesex University recently looked at the Learning Cycle process by David Kolb as shown above. They were given extracts from an anonymous peer's blog, which they separated into the relevant stages of Kolb's system. This then gave them a better understanding of the cycle.
As I was unable to attend due to an extremely busy week in work I have done some of my own research on Kolb and his cycle of learning.

David A. Kolb is Professor of Organizational Behaviour in the Weatheread School of Management. He joined the School in 1976. Born in 1939, Kolb received his Batchelor of Arts from Knox College in 1961, his MA from Harvard in 1964 and his PhD from Harvard in 1967. Besides his work on experiential learning, David A. Kolb is also known for his contribution to thinking around organizational behaviour (1995a; 1995b). He has an interest in the nature of individual and social change, experiential learning, career development and executive and professional education.

The cycle basically suggests that there are four stages in learning which follow from each other: Concrete Experience is followed by Reflection on that experience on a personal basis. This may then be followed by the derivation of general rules describing the experience, or the application of known theories to it (Abstract Conceptualisation), and hence to the construction of ways of modifying the next occurrence of the experience (Active Experimentation), leading in turn to the next Concrete Experience. All this may happen in a flash, or over days, weeks or months, depending on the topic, and there may be a "wheels within wheels" process at the same time.

You can see a video of David Kolb and Alice Kolb where he quotes “The center of learning is experience” If you learn quickly by watching and listening as opposed to reading lots of text this will be helpful to you. It was for me.
http://www.learningfromexperience.com/

People I Admire-Glenda Ann

Glenda Ann is my manager, I admire her because she has provided an excellent school of dance that accommodates every age, gender, class and ability. She opened her school in 1970 and she is Royal Academy of Dance accredited. Her school has over 12 members of staff who are fully qualified to teach all genres such as RAD, ISTD Ballet, Tap, Modern and Street dance. She has many students that attend all of these classes and the special thing about this school is it’s not based in one building.
Glenda Ann school of Dancing uses the facilities of schools, nurseries and church halls, this way she can broaden her school and place her name and reputation in and around greater Manchester. Some of her schools are in Prestwich, Middleton, Bury, Holmes Chapel, Bolton, Ainsworth, Didsbury and right in the heart of the city of Manchester
Glenda and her staff work extremely hard to train and teach her students to the best of their ability where they are then entered for exams, the results without fail are always exceptional.

I appreciate the speciality of her school and the way it reaches out to all children, there are no favourites and anyone is welcome, experience or no experience, good or bad backgrounds, wealthy or poor backgrounds Glenda offers her assistance everywhere. She also offers her schools work in many nurseries and primary schools as a way for children and toddlers to explore and enjoy dance, this way children can start dancing at a younger age and grow to understand dance developing technique at the same time, not forgetting that it’s a great way of keeping children fit and healthy.
Many, many performances have been produced by Glenda and her staff from Panto’s, May Day performances, Christmas light shows, productions at the Middleton Arena and yearly Summer schools, she works hard to show the public and the parents the hard work and high level of dance from her school.

She is an inspiration as she has run her school for nearly 40 years, as an employer I don’t notice all the behind the scenes work that she does. It’s not just teaching the classes for Glenda, it’s running a business, fees, rental for dance space, uniforms, letters, parents to deal with, organisation of performances, costumes, exams, invoices, staff the list goes on. Work doesn’t end when she’s finished a class, it goes home with her. I admire her for building on her long-term goal which was to own her own successful school. She is an inspiration to those who wish to do the same in a very competitive environment.

A little info on Broadway tickets

I have written quite a lot about my experience in New York and I thought I would just give you a little information about accessing show tickets for Broadway shows. Whilst there Sarah and I got all of out tickets from a ticket booth which was redesigned and rebuilt in 2008. The new TKTS booth in Times Square is located "under the red steps" in Father Duffy Square at Broadway and 47th Street.

This is the main Broadway discount ticket booth, which is right in the heart of New York City's theater district. Here you can purchase the cheap seat tickets. There are many screens that show what shows are available to see and what tickets are available. Basically they are the seats that they have been unable to sell, this way everyone can see the shows and the performers get to perform to a full audience. But fear not, not all tickets mean bad seats, every show that we went to see came with great seats, i suppose it's a lucky dip.
When you see a show you want to see you need to queue up for it. These queue’s can be very long if you go at the wrong time and sometimes when you get to the window they have sold out so you end up seeing something else.

Many shows are not for sale as some theatres always sell out. The Lion King and Tarzan were two that we had to buy from the actual theatre.
Just as we were leaving New York Wicked came out, there was no chance of getting a ticket, not even a full priced one as the tickets were pre-booked for over 6months by people in the business, dancers and celebrities!!
So if your going to New York's Broadway and there is a show you are desperate to see do your research or you could be very disappointed.

Links Of Interest- Doing A Class

I love to go and do a dance class. It’s a great feeling to reverse the roles and be the one listening to the teacher. When teaching the amount of actual dancing is minimized as you spend a lot more time observing and correcting the work performed by your class. Therefore when I can I like to get out and dance my heart out.

I think taking part in a class is also a good way to maintain and improve my technique, because I am not dancing as much and I teach mainly young children in the week I rarely get the chance to dance to my full potential or for a decent amount of time.

Some places I like to go is http://www.sunshine-studios.co.uk/ They do classes from Ballet, Hip-Hop to Pole dancing. They have a timetable Monday-Saturday and open from 5.00-10.00, so there’s always a class I go to.

I was also lucky to have the opportunity to do classes at Steps on Broadway http://www.stepsnyc.com/ Here in New York I really improved my technique I did comtempory with Julie Bour, Ballet with Kenny Larson, and Jazz with Richard Pierlon. They were amazing teachers and the competition in the class was so high I danced as if I were auditioning for a Broadway musical.

Doing a class lets me go to a place where I just think of dancing and performing, something I don’t do very often anymore so I love it, at the same time its keeping me fit and exercising and strengthening my body.

I think its important as teachers that we do take part in classes as we are demonstrators and our technique and performance will be copied, technique can be lost very quickly and bad technique = bad results.

Here is a video from sunshine and steps

Links of interest-Broadway New York

I went to New York with my best friend Sarah in August 2006 for a month. Whilst we were there we lived in hostels all around Manhattan, we traveled by Subway and always ended up in Times Square.

Times Square is addictive, the bright lights and the buzz of the streets is electrifying. Seeing the billboards highlighting all the musicals on all the stages made us so excited we couldn’t keep still.
Whilst there we saw many musicals and I took pictures of all of the ones we saw.

I loved all of them, Spamalot was new to Broadway whilst we were there and it was brilliant, very funny and all about the English! But my most favored would have to be the Lion King at the Minskoff theatre.

I love to watch shows, they motivate, excite and give me ideas for my own choreography. I have seen some excellent shows from local dance schools to those on New York’s Broadway.
Tarzan was amazing and again I am fascinated how the choreographers Meryl Tankard with Aerial Movement by Pinchon Baldinu captured realistic movements of Apes. I am waiting for it to come over to England and I will defiantly see it again. Heres a clip of Tarzan on Broadway

People I Admire-Liz Cartledge

Liz Cartledge

I met Liz at Northern Ballet School, she was technically brilliant, worked herself hard and she was friends with everyone. At the Ballet school she did all her associates and then followed me to Preston where she turned them into Certificates in Dance as her dream was to set-up her own Dance School.

Whilst she was studying her parents moved to Knoxville Tennessee and her partner moved to Birmingham leaving her alone with a handful of friends that were still in the country. This was a tough time for Liz as she had a very close relationship with her parents and her friends. After some time she weighed up her options and chose to leave her home town to be with her partner. In Birmingham Liz had to find her way around a new town, find a new job, make new friends and deal with her friends and family being so far away. As an adult this is much harder than it sounds as your personality tells you to be very aware of new people and environments.
I admire Liz because it took some time for her to find her feet again, she had to start from scratch and develop new relationships and most importantly find a dance school where she could teach and be happy.

The best thing is after Liz found a dance school that she liked she met a girl that has become a good friend and they are now starting their own dance school called Silhouette Dance Academy; she is on the RAD Course and also doing a DTLLS course so she will be able to teach A-level and BTEC Dance.
I am so pleased for her after everything she went through. Her dedication to make her dream real finally came true even when she was going through the most stressful, emotional time of her life.
I am confident that Liz will be successful, and her Dance school will be the best it can be because she won’t settle for anything less.

Observation is the Key

I recently watched a class taken by one of the teachers that I work with and I can’t get over how much I learned.

Sophie teaches a lot of nurseries and I’ll be honest the kiddies are not my department, however she is great with them. I was observing her class because I do now and again cover some nurseries for her and wanted to know how I can make the most out of them for the children and for myself. Sophie makes every class different by bringing in props and costumes such as feathers, shakers and crowns. She always uses a lot of imagery like fairies and soldiers and makes up stories like “at the beach” or “what’s in the pond”, she tries to be as creative as possible.

After watching her class I realised how important observation is. I have observed many classes before, it was a big module towards my Foundation in Dance Instruction however because I now have my own classes and don’t often get time to drop in and watch other peoples classes I’d forgotten how important it is to a dance teacher to observe from others.

I Love New York

My best friend Sarah and I went to New York to do dance classes and see Broadway. I was still deciding what I wanted to do with my career. I had been auditioning for some time and had started to think about securing my future and the auditioning process was becoming tiresome and I really wanted to make a new start.
As we were sat in the Minskoff theatre Broadway waiting for the Lion King to start I said to Sarah that I thought I didn’t want to dance anymore and that I would find something new to do and that I wouldn’t miss the stage...........
Well then the show started and they sang the circle of life and the lights went down, as soon as they came up again I was covered in tears. I wasn’t ready to give up dance or the stage.
The opening of the show was so powerful and emotional that it made me want to produce emotional strong choreography. The Lion King is what made me find my love for dance all over again, it made me want to choreograph.



New York was a truly amazing place, it’s busy, vibrant and full of talent. If you get the chance to go then head straight to Times Square.

People I Admire-Gillian Lynne

Gillian Lynne, Dancer, Choreographer and Director

If you don’t know who she is then I’ll give you 9 lives…I mean guesses! Character Christine, a mask and a rather big chandelier?
You guessed yet?

Yes she choreographed the iconic musicals CATS and The Phantom of the Opera which is the current longest running show in Broadway history and I was lucky enough to watch Phantom on Broadway in New York in 2006.


Gillian Lynne was born in Bromley, Kent, England, and was a precocious dance talent from an early age, teaming with her childhood friend Beryl Grey while still at school, and dancing to blot out the tragedy of the violent death (in a car crash) of her mother on 8 July 1939 in Coventry, when Lynne was just 13 years old.

Lynne's gift for dancing was discovered by a doctor. Lynne had been underperforming at school, so her mother took her to the doctor and explained about her fidgeting and lack of focus. After hearing everything her mother said, the doctor told Lynne that he needed to talk to her mother privately for a moment. He turned on the radio and walked out. He then encouraged her mother to look at Lynne, who was dancing to the radio. The doctor noted that she was a dancer, and encouraged Lynne's mother to take her to dance school.

I simply admire all of her work, there are many productions that she has choreographed however Cats is my most favorite musical of all, and I thought that how she portrayed the real movements of cats and captured them in her choreography was outstanding.
Both Cats and Phantom received well deserved Tony Awards for best Musicals and Oliver Awards for Gillian Lynne’s extremely creative choreography. In 1997 Gillian later received a CBE.

In her long career as a choreographer and director, she has worked on many productions including those from the Royal Opera House, Royal Shakespeare Company and English National Opera as well as many West End and Broadway shows. In 2002 she choreographed the Sherman Brothers' film musical, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang for the stage. It played in London, and later on Broadway in 2005, both times successfully. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang brought Lynne back to the London Palladium.
She has become a major success in the musical industry and is a tribute to dancers.

Information www.gillianlynne.com
Here is a video of a Cats Documentary choreographed by Gillian Lynne

Cloud of Life

My mum went on a course recently and told me that she was shown this. They encourage the children in year 9 to type their interests, hobbies and strengths into a document and upload it into http://www.wordle.net/. After viewing the cloud the student can clearly see the things they mention the most related to their strengths and interests. This effective exercise has proved to help some students decide their options at school so they choose the right subjects with their interests and strengths in mind. I think this is very clever. I remember seeing one at the Induction day at Middlesex very briefly but after my mum mentioned it i though I would give it a whirl. I literally copied everything I had written on my first three blogs and copied it into the website. It really shows the words that describe me and my interests and actually come to think of it my life's journey. Try one they look really cool.

My Top 5 Resources

1. Contacts books- Published by The Spotlight www.spotlight.com

This book is great for people who are in Television, Dance, Film and the Radio industry. The content of the books have lots of information and contact details for companies such as dance companies, photography companies drama schools etc. I found it really useful when I wanted to send my CV’s to dance agencies. Everything is in one book that fits into your handbag, so if you don’t have the internet at the end of your index finger you can literally pull out your book highlight who you have contacted and off you go work out who’s next and jobs done.

2. The Stage- Newspaper, www.thestage.co.uk.

The Stage is the newspaper or website for the performing arts industry, it features lot’s of reviews about shows and competitions but most important of all the jobs and auditions that are going on. You can subscribe to the Stage so you know that you are defiantly going to get one and not worry that the local shop has sold out and that you’re going to miss out on the week’s auditions. It tells you what the auditions are for, where it is and the company that’s holding the auditions so you can decide whether to go or not. Simples!

3. You Tube

www.youtube.co.uk or www.youtube.com. These websites contain videos of everything you can imagine English and American. I watch you tube to see peoples dance choreography’s whether it’s Beyonce or the local dance schools show. Soon I am going to be teaching pole dancing to ladies that want to lose weight by trying something new and I’ve watched many American videos of pole dancing competitions, they are amazing and they inspire me so much and I am determined to be as good as them.
It’s useful and interesting to see what people have created or just to catch up on what’s going on on TV that you’ve missed so when you’ve missed the auditions for x-factor search it, click on it, watch it .

4. The Student Dancer: Emotional Aspects of the Teaching and Learning of Dance by Julie Buckroyd (2000) Book

This book really helped me when I left home and went in to full time training, it discusses education, welfare, counseling and psychology in relation to dance teaching and training. There’s a lot of information about dealing with injuries and eating disorders as Julia is the director of Obesity and Eating Disorders at Hertfordshire University she likes to study among dancers and teachers.
My mum also found it interesting as I was only 16 when I left home and entered a world that she didn’t know much about. The book is extremely useful if you know someone who’s about to go into dance training but also useful if you want to know more about dealing with injuries and disorders from a professor.

5. The Internet

In general, it’s the most useful resource of all. It’s great for accessing your emails, blogs, internet banking, and information for everything. You can read the news, do some online shopping for when you’re tied up and work unsociable hours or just no hours in the day to nip to the shops for ballet tights and chocolate for your bad days. You can do everything and access everything providing you have a connection.
I like to do my online banking and find it useful to book my train tickets and hotels over the internet as it takes five minutes and it’s done. I like to access the information I need over the internet as I don’t always have time to go to the library and get books.
The internet is rapidly changing and computers can be stressful if you don’t know how to use them but it’s another world at the end of your finger, it’s a connection for people a networking machine that keeps you in touch with who and what’s important to you.

I love this Advert!

I absolutely love this advert, I watch this advert and say "that was me when I was growing up", I used to get up and dance to the theme tunes of TV shows and it used to drive my dad insane, that's why it makes me laugh everytime I watch it! I really think thats when my Dad knew that dance would play an important role in my life! If only he had banked with Lloyds!

You have to watch this!

Hey Guys for you that love raw talent then take a look at this. I saw this and it actually made me very emotional as the young performers are technically brilliant, and really think they are inspiring and would make people want to dance.

The standard of these young girls is so high they would give many dancers their age a run for their money. The choreographer should be very proud, i know i would be.
One thing for sure is that some of these young dancers will go on to dance professionally, however some will also suffer injuries that may stop them dancing full stop.
These girls are obviously been trained and pushed to their limits to produce something as technical as this routine. As their bodies are still developing and their muscles are still growing it is a concern that their bodies will fatigue quicker than those of adults and the stress on their bodies will inevitably lead to injury.

CV Personal Statement

I am by nature inquisitive and I am continually intrigued how dance can be used as a tool to develop confidence, communication skills, posture and fitness. This fascination has manifested itself from an early age, when I first tied my ballet shoes and my love of dance began to flourish.
I developed my skills year by year by attending a local dance school where I took numerous RAD and IDTA examinations in a range of disciplines such as Ballet, Tap, Modern and Freestyle. I enjoyed the relaxed moves of Modern, the speed of Tap and the performance required for Freestyle along with understanding of the technical needs for Ballet. I became very passionate about dance and developed skills that equipped me to become a good all round dancer.

To progress further I auditioned at the Urdang Academy in Covent Gardento become a junior associate. Gaining a place allowed me to benefit from the professional teaching in a professional environment and it gave me an insight of what it would be like to be in a full time dance school. I had to take care of myself, manage a timetable, find my way around and make new friends. I extended my range of dance skills, learning new genres such as Comtempary and Hip Hop.

A further progression was to become involved in musicals where I particularly enjoyed singing and acting. This then steered me towards the decision to take GCSE Drama and Music. On gaining ten GCSE’s I had no hesitation in selecting Dance as my route of progressing my education and I successfully auditioned for the Northern ballet school.

I entered the school at the age of sixteen; I had to be independent, taking responsibility for myself, living in student accommodation and being accountable for my own finances.
I had a mature approach to my work. Choreography was a substantial part of the training where I particularly excelled with my ideas and my ability to visualise the final outcome. My performance skills in drama and singing improved and I took part in many shows where all my knowledge and experience came to fusion.

Since I graduated from Northern Ballet School I attended Preston College of Further Education obtaining a range of Imperial Society of Teachers of Dance qualifications in Ballet, Tap and Modern and an A level in Physical Education.
The Foundation in Dance Instruction required me to observe other teachers and write about their teaching methods which have influenced my own teaching. For my Certificate in Dance Education I had to prepare lessons plans and my teaching was observed. I was complemented on the varied teaching styles and techniques that I incorporated into my lessons.

Whilst I have been studying, I have been employed teaching Ballet, Tap, Modern and Jazz dance to a wide age range of pupils in both state and private dance schools. Teaching requires a lot of patience and dedication, but I love to see talent flourish. I take pleasure from observing hard work pay off when a student completes an exam/exercise to the best of their ability. I enjoy teaching all ages, from capturing the imagination and enthusiasm of nursery children, to the development of advanced skills in older pupils who attend private lessons.

I have also been involved in delivering “A” level dance in the capacity of an instructor developing chorography skills, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I find facilitating the pupils, to develop their choreography skills very rewarding. I relate extremely well to the pupils and have an understanding of what they want to achieve and what is involved based on my own personal experience.

In order to develop my career opportunities I would like the opportunity to complete the BAPP degree course which will then allow me to undertake a PGCE by doing the Graduate Teachers Programme. .
I am a confident and assertive person and my enthusiastic and committed approach to studying and work will equip me well to take on the challenge of the BAPP and reach my goals.
I feel that not only will the this work based qualification facilitate me to develop further while continuing my professional duties but I feel that everything that I’ve worked hard for will be complete when I’ve done it and I’ll be as qualified as I can be for those who wish to share my passion.

Curriculum Vitae

Training

2005-2009 Preston College, www.preston.ac.uk Preston.
2001-2004 Northern Ballet School, www.northernballetschool.co.uk Manchester.
1996-2001 Urdang Academy, www.theurdangacademy.com/ London. Junior and Senior Associates, Covent Garden
1993-2001 Classic Academy of Dance, Willenhall.


Qualifications

Foundation in Dance Instruction in Ballet and Modern
Certificate in Dance Education in Ballet and Modern
Trinity College award level 6
National Diploma in Professional Dance
A-Level Physical Education
10 A-C GCSE’s


Examinations

RAD Ballet Intermediate
ISTD Ballet Advanced 1
ISTD Modern Advanced 1
ISTD Tap Intermediate
IDTA Ballet Grade 6
IDTA Tap Grade 6
IDTA Modern Grade 6


Teaching Experience

2008 Now Glenda Ann School of Dance teaching ISTD Tap and Modern and Street classes, Rawtenstall and Bacup Grammar School A-Level Dance choreography assistant, Margaret Mary’s Primary school and Moston Lance Primary School freestyle Jazz classes after school.

2006 Pool Hayes Community School, Dance director and Choreographer for “Gifted and Talented” in the Arts show, government funded performance.

2005 Pool Hayes Community School, Choreographing and directing GCSE dance students.

2004 Prince of Wales Theatre, West Midlands. Director and Choreographer for “Gifted and Talented” in the Arts show, government funded performance.

2003 Outreach Project, Parrs Wood. (In conjunction with Northern Ballet School)

1992-2002 Pool Hayes Community School, West Midlands Teaching children aged 6-14 years Dance and social activities.

2000-2001 Assistant teacher, Classic Academy, Teaching IDTA primary and grade 1 Ballet and Tap.