2 April 2009
This is my first web entry since starting my JADE fellowship in September 2008 and so much has happened since then. It’s opened my eyes to many possibilities and areas of interest which is very exciting and I’ve been absorbing so much new information every day. The first few months I was finding my way and settling in to a new working environment in the office but things have really picked up since January and I feel as though I have many projects on the go at once. This is a good thing but at times a little overwhelming as I never anticipated how much work was involved in setting up a project from the beginning and organising my time efficiently has been difficult.
Even though I am more comfortable in the office now, I am still frustrated at the speed in which I work particularly in the writing up of documents and forming schedules etc. This stuff is all very new to me and not sure I’m enjoying it, although I know it will be useful to me in the long term.
The first project I’ve had involvement with is Primary Bankers Choreographic Ensemble (Year 6 pupils) which I’ve been assisting with every week. Initially just joining in the sessions and writing up the evaluations but more recently leading the warm-up for these sessions and I’ve enjoyed the challenge and having more involvement. I learnt a lot from my first attempt which didn’t go so well and it’s helped me to understand how I need to communicate with the children and be clearer about my aim in giving a particular task. This project has been very interesting to see grow from the initial planning stages and to take note of how lessons are structured with learning outcomes and tie in with an overarching theme.
I was also given the chance to participate in a pilot project with Jasmine Pasch (Director, phew!!! arts company) at Richmix in Bethnal Green. Jasmine had worked with the primary school children during the Bank Project exploring movement through play but this time the sessions were for babies and toddlers. This was a fantastic experience and I have learnt far more than anticipated from these improvised play sessions which really supported the children in their movement explorations and choices. It was a great opportunity to observe and learn from the children, trying to follow their lead and it was a real pleasure in seeing them develop physically, gaining control and co-ordination as well as the social development in their awareness of each other over the two month period. Jasmine has great sensitivity to timing, knowing when to intervene and when to give freedom to explore which I realise (in hindsight) would have been very useful when leading a week of open classes for the third year students at Laban recently. These classes were held during the last week of term and an opportunity to develop my own teaching ideas with more experienced dancers and have a sense of progression through the week. I tried to incorporate a creative task at the end of each class, a bit ambitious in an 11/2 hour slot but a good opportunity to try and adapt creative tasks I’d used in making work with the company. Low attendance forced me to re think my initial plans slightly but I still gained a great deal from the experience and it raised a lot of questions about where my interests lie and what I would like to explore further.
In March I attended the CandoCo ADAPT teacher training course, an intensive in making teaching practice inclusive. This was very inspiring and fed me with a lot of helpful teaching ideas and how to adapt class tasks to be inclusive. The three day course was a lot of fun and a chance to exchange ideas and develop further contacts. I attended the reflection day recently which felt good to re address things and has made me want to pursue this way of working further. Prior to the course I led CandoCo company class which was also enjoyable and helped to get me moving again!
Next on the agenda is a project with Charles Dickens Primary School, Year 1 & 2 classes. This will be based on the Company’s Primary bank model and a way of extending the link already established with this school. I’m looking forward to the challenge of working with this age group and planning as well as delivering the lessons. I am learning a lot about all aspects of managing and delivering a project with support from Kath and Rachel from the creative projects team which is great.
During the next term I look forward to spending time reflecting on these different experiences, exploring and researching ideas, and taking time away from the project management to do class. I’m excited about the projects I have lined up, working with the young children and I hope to gain a lot through the delivery. It feels important to continue my own practice and continue being fed with new information in order to inform the creative projects that I do and I hope to find ways of allowing this to happen.
