Research as mapping and building understanding

Research as mapping and building understanding

Developing areas of 'wonder'

Initially when I found my topic I was absolutely certain on it as not only is it entirely relevant to my professional practice I am also hoping by researching further it will help me to improve as a dancer. The slight problem I have come to realise is that I have so many questions about so many things within the topic I need to do a little fine tuning and narrow down my inquiry.

The topic I am most interested in is ‘does the context a dancer performs in change the way they dance’ in particular in the area within a classical ballet company as that is my professional practice. Although I do also feel it would be useful to begin with a wider research base and open up my inquiry to that of other dance styles and companies.

The reason I have chosen this as my research topic is because I would like to know how professional dancers are able to maintain the standard of their skill whilst performing so that it does not fluctuate so drastically and how to optimise my performance. Researching into intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and the relationship between those and also by keeping a diary as an ongoing reflection of this will help me to explore this topic further.

The areas of wonder I came up with in relation to this are: 

-       What are dancers thinking about in the moment whilst they’re actually performing the steps?

-       Does a competitive atmosphere change how a dancer performs?

-       How do dancers prepare for a performance and does this affect their success of the performance?

-       How you relate that internal compassion for dancing to that external product of performance?

-       Does the context a dancer performs in change the way they dance?

-       Are dancers motivated to perform more so because of something external like the audience, theatre, where you are, what time of day, what show it is or is it more internally driven?

-       What impact do different audiences have on a dancer's artistic performance?

-       What dynamics are produced from different audiences watching the ballet and how does that affect the dancer? 

-       Does the status which a dancer holds/ how important their role is in that particular show affect the context in which they dance?

Moving the source of the map beyond my immediate source of inspiration and beginning to look at the different facets of it. What are the conditions, the notion of how you prepare for something, what drives you and how you relate that inner sensation of dancing to an external product of dancing which is then received by an audience and how they balance for you.

Comparing the process of research to the choreographic process in dance. You don’t know at the start exactly what that piece of choreography is going to end up looking like; you’ll have an overall idea and you’ll have intentions maybe something thematic or narrative but until you start working with dancers developing material and then going through that process of refining the material getting rid of the sections that you don’t need or doesn’t work for that particular piece or isn’t as important only then can you get to the essence as to what the piece is and what it’s communicating. Be curious to explore it rather be in a hurry to know it. After discussing this when concluding our Skype session today, I was motivated to research this further and read sections of the book ‘Researching Dance: evolving modes of inquiry’ by Horton Fraleigh and Hanstein. Below are a couple of extracts from the book that I found particularly interesting and relevant;

All research begins with questions. The questions you ask reflect what interests you about the field of dance and how you see the world of dance. (pg. 27) 

This creative and imaginative engagement with ideas is what initiates research and ultimately results in the researcher making a significant contribution of new knowledge to the field. Like dance making, initiating research is a cyclic and improvisational process that eventually spirals inward towards a specific research purpose, which is not unlike the artistic concept for a dance work. (pg. 28)   

Bibliography

Horton Fraleigh S and Hanstein P (1999) Researching Dance: Evolving Modes of Inquiry, London: Dance Books
Module 2 Handbook (2018) BAPP ACI, Middlesex University, London: Middlesex University