Dissertation Surveys

Ladies please take a few minutes of your time to fill out my surveys. They both must be completed, please be as honest as possible.

If you know other ladies between the ages of 18-35 who will be interested in these surveys please feel free to direct them to my blog to take part.

our form

Take my Perceptions of Sport Online Survey

online surveys

Take my Perception on Pole dancing in relation to participation Online Survey

Project Diary 1

So, I have finally started to make progress on my project.
I have designed my two questionnaires and will be sending the link within the next day or two. I have also started to write up my literature review, as I found a lot of literature for my proposal I have just got to write why it is useful and of course why it isn't.

I am struggling with my introduction, as i am unsure if I am writing it as something I want to do, or if I am writing it as something that I have done? So if anyone can answer this then progress can be made here to.

The next few weeks will be difficult as Peter is away so he will be unreachable, therefore I will be requiring the help of other advisors and the rest of my fellow blog buddies.

I plan to get my questionnaires up and running so I can collect and analyse the data so I can start to plot questions for my focus group session.

So far I am pleased with my progress however I have barely scraped the surface of what is expected of me.

The Cost of Injury

I am officially injured, for the past six weeks I have been dealing with a bad back, so I took myself off to the chiropractor http://www.gonstead-uk.com After my consultation and an x-ray it is apparent that my pelvis has been rotated. This means the left side of my body is slightly twisted putting a great strain on the position of my spine and the nerves attached. I also found out that my left leg is 7mm shorter than my right, so it’s already altering the alignment of my body. Diet is also a really important part of my visits to the chiropractor, I have to produce a diary of what I eat! I don’t think he will be impressed. Grahame the chiropractor then explained to me what adjustments he will do to alter the alignment of my spine and start to relieve the pain. Great.

Adjustments.

The adjustments don’t hurt, however If I’m honest I find the whole process horrific. The noise of the cracking of my bones made me speechless. As a dancer it’s something I’m used to, I also have complete control over what’s cracked, at the chiropractor’s you don’t, and when they want to alter your body complete trust is required.

Being injured costs, not only general costs of specialists e.g. the chiropractor but the cost of reducing your workload. The chiropractor so far has cost me £205, and its £40 per visit from now on for 6more visits, enough to make me feel ill . Since being injured I have had to reduce my workload as its adding stress to my body, I have had to cancel hours of pole classes and parties and reduce the hours at my part-time waitressing job that keeps me going through the summer when there are no dance classes.

Being injured is stressful and affects your self esteem. The worry of the never ending costs to heal but the need to work is a constant battle. You would think that it would make you motivated, to get on with things that need doing; things that you never get round to doing or starting when you’re not injured, however in my experience I don’t think that it does.

I understand why some people come out of the profession as the need to make money is essential and the cost of being a dancer is expensive. I am a workaholic and not being able to work much is something I have not adjusted to. However I am hoping that because I am fit and healthy my treatment will not be for long. Fingers crossed!!!

Back to school!!!!!!!!!!

Ok people, it's time to get down to the serious stuff. Project time.

So it's been a lovely few months chillaxing and not doing anything that involves the word 'project' or 'proposal' however now I feel it's time to get a move on. I have been putting off doing anything because of the pressure I feel to do well. I have high expectations of myself and I dont think this has helped the situation.

However, I have been busy with some basic foundations to my project. I have landed myself some more pole teaching work. I now work for three pole dancing company's.

1. Pole Confessions http://www.poleconfessions.co.uk

2. Northern Pole Divas http://www.northernpoledivas.co.uk

3. Poletastic http://www.poletastic.com

So, I have been busy, busy, busy. What’s great about my new jobs is I get the opportunity to work with girls aged 14-16 and get them interested in vertical pole training, because if Pole dancing does become a future Olympic sport they will need to be trained from a young age. At Poletastic It's great as I get to access the latter age group that I want my project to be focused on the 30-35 bracket.

I get booked for regular work with Poletastic and mainly Pole parties. Pole parties are commonly for lady’s hen nights or women’s birthdays that want to see what it’s like. They are great fun, the women get a great experience, gain some confidence by being surrounded by their friends and get an idea what it's all about.

The access to these women will benefit my project as I can get my questionnaires filled out by plenty of women, some who will want to experience the fun of the lesson, some who are there because they have to. It will also be a good way to meet people and invite them to my focus group.

So, Although I have not yet started anything on paper for my project I have been busy laying the foundations. So watch this space................................................

Reflection or Curiosity?

Many, many months back, whats seems like nearly a lifetime ago, we had to write about something in three different writing styles. If you remember my chosen subject was Andrew LLoyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera. My academic piece touched on Phantom's sequel Love Never Dies and if a sequel would ruin Phantoms reputation?

Well, as it was something I was genuinely interested in, I have took upon myself to continue and complete what I started by reading some reviews of the sequel to possibly summarise the publics thoughts.

I personally haven't seen it as time is always against me, however I would love to hear from anyone who has seen it to share your views.

Love Never Dies, The Papers v The Fans

So what did the papers say?

There is no doubt that Love Never Dies seems like a relic of another age. Gloomy-doomy, largely through-sung musicals like this have in recent years been superseded in public affection by a welcome return to musical comedy in such shows as Hairspray, Sister Act and the latest hit, Legally Blonde. In the midst of a recession, will audiences fork out top dollar for two-and-a half hours of dark Gothic imaginings, seething passion, and in the final scene, sudden violent death?

I haven’t got the answer to that, and only time will tell. What I have no doubt about whatever is that this is Lloyd Webber’s finest show since the original Phantom, with a score blessed with superbly haunting melodies and a yearning romanticism that sent shivers racing down my spine.

Charles Spencer from the Telegraph 9th March 2010

There is much to enjoy in Andrew Lloyd Webber's new musical. The score is one of the composer's most seductive. Bob Crowley's design and Jack O'Brien's direction have a beautiful kaleidoscopic fluidity. And the performances are good. The problems lie within the book, chiefly credited to Lloyd Webber himself and Ben Elton, which lacks the weight to support the imaginative superstructure.

In short, the show has much to commend it and the staging is a constant source of iridescent pleasure. But, as one of the lyrics reminds us, "diamonds never sparkle bright unless they are set just right". Although Lloyd Webber's score is full of gems, in the end a musical is only as good as its book. With a libretto to match the melodies, this might have been a stunner rather than simply a good night out.

Michael Billington from The guardian 10th March 2010

Love may never die but West End shows will come perilously close to disaster unless they have some oompf and bongo — and preferably a decent tune — in the first 15 minutes.

Love Never Dies, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s sequel to Phantom Of The Opera, is as slow to motor as a lawnmower at spring’s first cut.

It doesn’t really smoke into life until the 20th minute and even then it splutters for a while. Finally, the singing and the ingenious staging combine to show the Lloyd Webber orchestration to its full glory, but, boy, it takes an age.

Quentin Letts from The Daily Mail 10th March 2010

So what did the fans say?

http://www.loveneverdies.com/members-area/phan-reviews/

What do you think?

The Half Way Point

So guys, 60 credits gone, 60 to go, we're half way there now, no turning back (you must be crazy if you do) this is where the real fun begins. THE PROJECT!!

So, after a well deserved break it's that time again and for some reason this time i have found it the most difficult to be motivated. I just want this pre-summer holiday to keep going I really think it's because i have scared myself into a position where i feel my whole grade relies on my project, it has to be fantastic. So no pressure or anything right!!

I also know that the end few months of completing this project are the busiest for most people on the BAPP course and things could get a little stressful, for me having three jobs, xmas shows, xmas bookings and my degree project could quite possibly make me unpopular in my house!!

So, what am i going to do about it? Well this post if a first, and many people have been asking me about my project as it was the main subject of conversation a few months ago, whats good is Jess has even booked herself on a pole course so i was having some effect on the public. I am off to get some questionnaire questions down as that is the first thing i said i would do in my proposal, i'm sure things will go from there. I have done well so far and not prepared to let myself down, so here goes, good luck everyone

Abbi :-)