6 C - My Award Title

Inquiry Proposed Working Title; BA (Hons) Professional Practice in Arts (Dance)


To identify my award title, I reflected on my previous and current experiences with dance in my student and professional life. 

In 2009 I completed my national diploma in professional dance at the Northern Ballet School (NBS) in Manchester. This was a 3 year dance vocational training school which allowed students to develop and perfect a range of dance techniques including ballet, jazz, tap, contemporary, singing, and drama. We are able to benefit from performance experience throughout the 3 years of training via end of term productions within our own school theatre, and during our 3rd year myself and fellow students were chosen to perform at bigger venues to represent the college at various dance events. Throughout the last term of our 3rd year we were set up with a range of auditions for a mixture of different possibly career opportunities, this also included private auditions at the college itself which was a huge advantage when you compare it to an open audition situation with over 200 people fighting for 2 jobs. This was a fantastic way to learn how the audition scene worked and in fact allowed me to realise what a competitive world dance performance can be.
At NBS I was given the opportunity to qualify as an ISTD foundation ballet teacher which gave me more doors to open if and when I stopped performing. In the 6 years since graduation, I danced professionally for 2 and a half years aboard the Carnival Cruise Lines. This experience as a performer was life changing for me which taught me so much about myself and lead me into learning more about a professional dancer has to work hard to remain fit and healthy within the industry. Unfortunately after 2 years of professional dancing, I suffered with injuries which lead me to stop dancing and begin to focus on my current passion for teaching dance.

During my time as a student for the Middlesex BAPPs course, I can now reflect on how differently the 'real world' as a dancer is, for example I was never taught specifically about how auditions may set you back, or on the other hand push you into the right direction. I realise now these experiences were also part of dancers education but could not be learnt until one had left the dance school and entered the world of professional dance. I chose to further my qualifications from NBS in order to gain more teaching experience and be apart of educating our next generation. 
For my final research project on the BAPP I want to further my learning about the community dance organisation within my local area of Bournemouth. I am fortunate to be currently helping assist in dance teaching at the Pavilion Dance South West (PDSW) and so believe it is the perfect set up to explore what the facility means to its users. Pavilion Dance South West is the national dance development organisation for the south west of england which supports a regional dance strategy development programme by representing the south west dance sector nationally. I am looking to explore all its 'users' and how they have been captured into the world of dance through this organisation. In order for me to understand each different user of the organisation I have based my research on these following questions;

How does PDSW engage you into dance?Performace?Audience member?Teacher?

Has your knowledge on dance broadened since PDSW?

Has the community in itself brought more dance awareness through PDSW?

I feel this is important to me and my future because I hope to continue a career in teaching at the PDSW and be able to relate to all the users on how their love and passion for dance is benefiting and possibly changing their life.