Evidence of interacting with practitioners – these can be interviews, emails, face to face visits and conversations on job opportunities, placement opportunities, folio reviews. 

Evidence of researching practitioners – case studies or reports into practitioners you can contact. Do they inspire you? Are they competition? 

Optional work experience (Live projects, placements, internships, freelance, volunteer work), document these as logs and reflections.

Job adverts and applications – what jobs are available, reflect on the skills and requirements, can you apply? Apply for the jobs and reflect on interviews/feedback.

Networking and contacts (who, what, where, how - online and face to face) 

Reflective discussion around all topics 

consolidation of your findings – what is next for you?

How are you going to achieve this? Are there interviews you can attend?
I have attended interviews at three different institutions
for my PGCE. This includes Wolverhampton, West Midlands consortium and Derby
university. Unfortunately, due to my GCSE science grade, I am not able to teach in primary education therefore this limits me to secondary and higher studies.
I previously have looked at potential places to study and Wolverhampton seems
to be the best suited to me as it offers a PGCE in dance teaching, so it is specifically tailored to what I want to do. This is in comparison to places like derby university where they just offer a PGCE in secondary education with a general oversight rather than a specific subject. This is why I’m leaning more towards Wolverhampton rather than anywhere else. Upon completion of my teaching degree, I would love to go and teach either GCSE or level 3 dance within colleges, either alongside running my dance school or just solely teaching within an educational surrounding, it’s nice to have the choice for
when I finish my degree. It would be nice to teach in a different area rather than staying local as I’m already doing that and have done it previously. So potentially moving would be a good idea to broaden the opportunities or just
commuting everyday could be another potential idea.

How has this progressed over Christmas?
UPDATE: I have confirmed my place at Wolverhampton University, and I have the choice as to whether I want to choose dance teaching specifically or whether I want to go down more of a P.E route. This could make better use of my skills and allow me to be more employable within the teaching industry. However, I have time to decide so I don’t have to make a rush decision and go into something I’m not happy with. I need to look at all of the different outcomes and decided which one’s best for me and which one would be the most beneficial.

How do you decide on which music to use when choreographing and where do you find it? It’s always a piece of music, music is my passion and so is dance but it’s always been music. I hear a piece of music or think of a piece of music and think ‘I’d really like to see people moving to that’. I used to go to contemporary music concerts and was fascinated by the theatricality of the work. On the way out I purchased a CD which had a track called Red Run. The music was written for dancers to improvise to and the dancers on stage will improvise to it. I sent the composer a video of what I had choreographed and he was startled. The song is made up of 11 sections and they are all representative of a journey. In the world of Ballet, they revive their work from the early days. Not so many contemporary choreographers do that, I find that it is reviving to do so and also feel that it should be brought to life in a new kind of way. This helps to keep it fresh. Martin- my associate choreographer, and myself performed a duet that I made for myself and Siobhan Davies which was very simple, and Martin said that he felt the duet was very new. 

I made a lot of my early choreography on Sue and for me it is wonderful for dances to come back to life. When I dance these pieces I am able to feel the dance and remember what it felt like to dance it. 

In 1968 when I first choreographed all of the work was influenced around Martha Graham and focused on Gods and Mythology and Psychological Dramas. I didn’t like it. And so I began to create new choreography. The dance you will see tonight is about human beings and cannot be abstract. When I chose a piece of music I find out as much as I can about when the music was written, what the composers intention with the song was. I don’t like to impose my own ideas onto a piece of music. 

I am very drawn to movement that flows and was always very interested in 3D shapes. I make pieces that you can see from multiple angles and am always making something that is fascinating architecturally. Changing direction is hugely important to me. I love that dance is very speedy and love to make movement that is jumping, rhyming, flowing and intricate. I want you to feel what is happening in the shoulders and the back. I have always seen myself as learning, but I have recently found that I know what I am doing.  I made a recent piece in May which will be performed at our last show in Sadlers Wells. 

When I was at Rambert I was very interested in the history of Rambert. I like very much to find the history of where things came from. It is no good demanding things in such a way that young dancers become anxious and intimidated. The way I deal with movement is very sculptural, it’s about changing direction, I am interested in moulding the body and showing what the body can do. I would look at a video and ask myself why I am interested in it. “I am interested in it because of how the dancer did that... can you do that in your own way?” 

By having my own company I have had the freedom to create piece after piece and throw away the pieces that don’t work. You can make complexity if you’re interested, but you can also make it so the audience can’t see it. Isthmus is a favourite piece of mine because it is so clear. 

Completing some observations within these classes inspired me on my dissertation subject and whilst researching into it, it really interested me in the different learning methods used to approach these specific groups of learners. Over the summer months before my PGCE, I want to make sure I am up to date with subject specific materials within dance to ensure my own learning is up to speed and I am familiar with the curriculum within both the SEND sector and the mainstream. 

Telford was a more stricter type interview with an ‘audition’ and a microteach to a group of students. This felt like more of a job interview and more formal in comparison to the Wolverhampton one, but it was good in terms of preparing you for the industry and getting you ready for these types of scenarios. Comparing both, I feel like I enjoyed the Wolverhampton one more as it was a more relaxed environment and I feel like they really cared about what their prospective students wanted. This is what influenced my decision.

It is better to work with other people in the industry as this helps you develop yourself. For example, working with other choreographers will help you recognise your own choreographic patterns and abilities as they will push and challenge you. Doing this also allows you to make connections and network with people which can help you in your career as it’s about who you know within the industry to get you jobs. 

I want to improve on adapting my approach after looking into all of these different businesses. It has taught me that I need to try new things and not go for the easiest option because it is quicker or easier. I need to take risks and whether they pay off or not is depending on how hard I work towards it. If they do not work, then I can learn from my mistakes and continue forward looking for a solution rather than giving up.