Dance scholars!

Part of my module 2 feedback was to look more at dance scholars work on topics related to my inquiry to open up my view and prevent myself from working in a vacuum. I have begun drafting interview questions and topics for discussion and I can already see how it could be easy to become wrapped up in my own actions with my company and my inquiry rather than looking outwardly at other researchers and their discoveries. 

This is why I have decided to do lots of reading and try to do a brief literature review as I go along. On the Dance UK website I found an article called Strength and Conditioning in Dance: Power, performance and rehabilitation which is a write up of a conference at Elmhurst School for Dance where Dance UK’s Healthier Dancer Programme (HDP) and the National Institute for Dance Medicine and Science came together for the last ever Dance UK meeting. This training session was deemed very useful but what I found most interesting about reading this article was not what they did but what they learnt from it. Something that is very relevant to my professional practice and my inquiry was the theme that there should be more resources for independence dance artists who don't have the benefits of facilities and trainers. This can be directly linked to my working environment because as a touring ballet company we don't have a base studio or any dedicated area or allotted time for conditioning and supplementary training. Although we have time for warm up before class we don't have any facilities or equipment with us so if for example we wanted to use the cross-training before class this would be impossible. This triggered thoughts about alternative ways to gain the same effects of traditional exercise forms.  

'In particular, there is a need for more research tailored specifically to dance, and a need for more forums to share high quality research and best practice for experienced practitioners already working in this field.' I agree with this quote because as someone who is researching this topic it is difficult to find any sort of forum where ideas are being shared on this topic. 

At the end of the article it is stated that the most important message to arise from the day is understanding the individual dancer's workload and performance schedule.  


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I've found some interesting links on YouTube about the Royal Ballet and their physio Greg Retter.
They were very interesting videos and I think it is important for me to look at other forms of media rather than just articles. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlvJrXvTBrk


INJURY PREVENTION;

Unexpected - lifting heavy weights. Better strength 

Strength program, cohesive approach towards Pilates motor control through to strength train and good nutrition and physiological support and making sure dancers are fit and able to withstand the strain as possible.


INOVATION:


There's no good evidence about how much is a dancer loaded through a day, through class, through rehearsal and performances. How can we look at the program and start to predict when there might be injury spikes along the way. 

Quantify the loading characteristic across the repertoire of the royal ballet. Interventional strategies where there might be the risk of injury spikes.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0uVH62QPXo

Inside the Royal Ballet healthcare suite.


In the video with Greg Retter he talks about collaborating strength and weight training with Pilates exercises to form an effective training program for dancers.

Module 3 first steps

The second step in module 3 is to start looking at literature and after reading my feedback from module 2 I think a good area of literature for me to focus on is research inquiry methodology and also to read other scholars literature reviews so I can compare them to my own and look for differences and areas for me to improve upon. 


Here I have quoted some areas of interest from Reader 7 about literature reviews.


A literature review is a common feature in academic and professional writing. Often, the review operates to prepare you about you topic in order to carry out more effective practitioner research. Hart defined a literature review as:
The selection of available documents (both published and unpublished) on the topic, which contain information, ideas, data and evidence written from a particular standpoint to fulfil certain aims or express certain views on the nature of the topic and how it is to be investigated, and the effective evaluation of these documents in relation to the research being proposed
(1998, p. 13).
Hart goes on to states the purposes on a review, which he says are not ranked in order of importance:
1 distinguishing what has been done from what needs to be done;
2 discovering important variables relevant to the topic; 3 synthesizing and gaining a new perspective;
4 identifying relationships between ideas and practice;
Middlesex University@2016 5

5 establishing the context of the topic or problem; 6 rationalizing the significance of the problem;
7 enhancing and acquiring the subject vocabulary; 8 understanding the structure of the subject;
9 relating ideas and theory to applications;
10 identifying the main methodologies and research techniques that have been used;
11 placing the research in a historical context to show familiarity with state-of-the-art developments (1998, p. 27). 


RESEARCH INQUIRY METHODOLOGY:

I have found a book about research inquiry methodology and it raised some interesting areas of thought.

https://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=hZ9wSHysQDYC&oi=fnd&pg=PA2&dq=research+inquiry+methods&ots=1r-etBb1H6&sig=CYlFbwu6nk_6s2DZf1230cvMlUA#v=onepage&q=research%20inquiry%20methods&f=false

Research Methodology: Methods and Techniques

By C. R. Kothari

Identify objectives and and motivation for research. The main objectives of research is to find out where the truth is hidden and how to discover it. I will be trying to approach my topic of inquiry through different angles in order to gain results through a different perspective to other existing studies. My motivation for research is more of a fundamental one because I am undertaking a research degree, but I will also reap consequential benefits to my work through undertaking this research which is the whole purpose of this degree. My motivation is also to have a beneficial impact on an area of my professional practice by broadening my own and my colleagues knowledge about injury and supplementary training. 

Different types of research:

Descriptive vs analytical - 
Descriptive - using surveys and fact-finding enquiries of different kinds. 
Analytical - use facts and materials already available and analyses these to make a critical evaluation


Applied vs fundamental - 
Applied - finding a solution for an immediate problem facing society.
Fundamental - associated with generalisations and the formulation of a theory

Quantitative vs qualitative - 
Quantitative - based on measurement of amount. 
Qualitiative - investigating human behaviour, finding underlying motives or desires by using in depth interviews.

Conceptual vs empirical - 
Conceptual - used by philosophers to develop new theories related to abstract ideas.
Empirical - relies on experience or observation alone often without regard for system or theory. 

Handbooks & Readers

Whenever I start a new module I know that the best thing for me to do is read the module handbook and the readers. Usually I read and reread them until I am confident I know what I am meant to be doing.

In module 3 we have three different components to submit.

1) A critical review of your inquiry


Intro.
Evaluation of inquiry process.
Evaluation of data, literature and experience.
Critical reflection.


2) A professional artefact 

Created to communicate with others in industry. More informal and less academic style.

Different format.

DVD, audio, poster, book, leaflet.



3) Oral presentation

Submitted after parts 1 & 2


10 mins long and then 10 min Q&A. Campus based.


I am going to start module 3 by looking at work based learning research methods and get some tips about planning and information gathering.

Hello module 3!!

So here we are. Module 3 has very quickly approached and I'm sure it will fly by as the other modules have done!

After having a bit of a break from BAPP over Christmas I have come back to looking at my work and inquiry with a fresh outlook. After re-reading my module 2 inquiry plan and looking over my feedback I can identify areas I need to work on.

These are:
- Ethical considerations - Although I feel a lot clearer about this topic than I did initially I obviously need to do further work in this area because this was one point Adesola identified in my inquiry that wasn't so in depth.

- Reading more scholarly articles about research inquiry methodology.

- Making sure I don't trap myself in my own bubble and continue to look at other literature regarding medicine and science in dance while not solely focusing on statistics.

- Take an EMBODIED approach towards my research.

I am looking forward to arranging a Skype session with Adesola to talk about her feedback and how I am going to use it constructively to help me profess through module 3.

I found this interesting link about gantt charts to help with organisational skills of Chloe's blog so I will try to incorporate this in my planning of my work throughout module 3.

http://www.gantt.com/index1.htm?utm_expid=11664174-46.EjGD5xWgTOia25IJzkiv2w.1&utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.co.uk%2F

In the module 3 reader there is a very interesting diagram which I have found helpful in terms of seeing where my work should be heading throughout this module of study! 

Stage 1:

Review feedback from inquiry plan. Read module handbook and reader part 7. 

Stage 2:

Literature review and gaining permission to carry out inquiry and any associated activities.

Stage 3. 

Carry out inquiry and activities.

Stage 4:

Analyse findings.

Stage 5:

Complete assessment - critical review, professional artefact, oral presentation.

I am going to make an in-depth plan of action for module 3 so I can manage to juggle my work load with my performance schedule on tour and make sure I can gather all of the necessary literature I need for my inquiry.

I am excited for module 3 to start and to see where myself and other fellow BAPP student end up on our journeys of discovery.