A module in third year that I feel has been beneficial is my original piece ‘Life in Technicolor’ for Independent Practice as Research. During the process of this module, we were asked to create a piece of work that had no limitations. The piece of work could take any form including an original choreography or working with/in a specific community. As I am interested in creating choreography for the youth, I decided to take advantage of the school I am currently working at and offered the project to y9/10 students. I decided to ask the more younger students to be a part of Life in Technicolor, to give them the opportunity of working on a more mature piece. I feel that the step into taking dance further in education (Btecs/GCSE’s) can be a daunting experience if you have no understanding beforehand. I believe that for an easy transition into qualifications in dance, it is beneficial to have all kinds of experiences in different ways of working. From feedback given, this project with the younger students has helped them have a better understanding of dance, and enabled them to create choreography in a more advanced approach. Together we discovered and were heavily influenced by the in-depth research that shaped the performance. A skill that I feel I developed throughout this module was original thinking. As my dance piece was  based around the scientific thinking of colour, I struggled to find any performance based work that was similar to what I was working towards. Because of this, I had to be creative and use my wide range of research to create something new. Using colour related research such as Colour Psychology and Isaac Newton’s Colour Theory and Wheel, myself and the students were able to take all of this research as inspiration to create something that I didn’t know was possible. Drawing from a range of studies allowed me to find a variety of links that by chance had potential to be  related to one another, which enabled me to create a unique piece of work. This extensive research task allowed my analytical, critical and research skills to advance, as the research surrounding the project played a vital role during the process. I had to decide what information was relevant and important so I could develop those areas of findings further. This original performance required a set timetable to  ensure that the piece could be the best version of itself. I put my time management and organisational skills to use during this project, as it allowed me to follow a plan that I stuck to, which enabled time to go back and develop sections of the piece further. I feel that this is important because when first finishing a piece, there are always sections that need more development than others and so there needs to be time to do this. The experience of working on something original as well as with the students taught me a lot about myself, and that I adore making work for others and to see them develop and grow through the process of working together.

Physical Theatres which was a module I took in second year, was introduced as an opportunity to allow drama and dance students to collaborate with one another in the same space/studio. Throughout this module, we were able to take advantage of all of the performers skills, combining all of our talents to create our final performance. With a focus on physicality in performance, we were able to create a piece that highlighted our best individual performance skills. Throughout this module my presentation and communication skills were put to the test. Although our director Rita Marcalo set the piece, she regularly asked for feedback on tasks that we were performing and asked for our opinion. As I sometimes lack in confidence when speaking out in front of a class, I found it difficult at times to express my opinion. My ability to work independently as well as in a team I feel progressed further during this module. Although it was a group performance, the tasks that were set as SOL were either individual or in smaller groups. If the task was in smaller groups, I had to work with others, giving and listening to ideas in order to complete the tasks. Our catalogue document of the process was an individual section of the module and therefore, my ability to work independently was a skill I was working on in order for the Cat Doc to be to the best standard. This module in second year I feel was a real turning point for myself as a performer.  As I lack in confidence when it comes to my own abilities, it was nice to have experience with an outside choreographer who saw my potential and directed me in such a way that I became more self-assured. In the final piece I performed a solo where there was only myself moving in the space. In my feedback from the module, Rita discusses that although i found the aspect of creating my solo difficult at times, I followed directorial direction and persisted and managed to overcome my difficulties. Having little confidence in myself held me back at some points during the process, however I was able to receive feedback and apply it, as well as improve my resilience as I consistently tried my best until I got it right. I feel that the way the module was delivered was beneficial for me, as it gave an insight as to what it could possibly feel like performing in a company. Although this is something that I do not want to do, it allowed me to understand how perhaps the students at school could potentially feel throughout the process of creating a performance as in this instance, I was a performer and not a teacher/director. Having this experience in second year enabled me to be more aware of my teaching style and inspired me to want to become a better teacher/director to make sure the students are having the best possible experience.