The End of Senior Year

As the year is winding down to an end, senior project is finally over, and all that's left of school is just fun stuff, it is kind of a bitter sweet feeling. Although, I am happy to be moving on to bigger things, a part of me misses walking in to Lot K as a little freshmen. Ipoly will always hold a place in my heart. As a last note to my fellow classmates, if any of you read this, I hope you all chase your dreams, because like Eleanor Roosevelt once said," The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."   

Blog 23: Senior Project Reflection

(1) Positive Statement

What are you most proud of in your block presentation and/or your senior project? Why?

I am most proud of all the research that I was able to find and implement in my senior project and that I was able to convey all the information that I wanted to during my presentation.

(2) Questions to Consider

a. What assessment would you give yourself on your block presentation (self-assessment)?

AE/P because not only did I make time, but I included an abundance of research throughout the presentation, and made constant references to mentorship and research. I also know my topic extremely well and that carried through to my presentation.

b. What assessment would you give yourself on your overall senior project (self-assessment)?

AE because I constantly was doing mentorship and did way more than the required hours, I also got to live my senior project and test the answers and the different techniques I found throughout research.

(3) What worked for you in your senior project?

Having a lot of research and a consistent mentor really worked for me research wise, without my mentor I would’ve had quite a difficult time constructing answers and my essential question.

(4) (What didn't work) If you had a time machine, what would you have done differently to improve your senior project if you could go back in time?

In the beginning of research I wasn’t aware of all the videos that there were, so I spent a lot of time going through articles that were unhelpful, so I would go back and tell myself to use videos more.

(5) Finding Value

How has the senior project been helpful to you in your future endeavors?   Be specific and use examples.

My senior project has shown me that I am not only able to speak for long periods of time, but also write long papers and conduct a year long project. Walking in to iPoly freshman year I didn’t think I’d be able to do even a 10 minute presentation, much less an hour long one, but this final project has proved me wrong. Leaving this project also has left me with the knowledge that if I can accomplish this, a college thesis isn’t as scary as I might think. The last thing I have took from this project is a lot of valuable information on a topic that I truly enjoy. Dance is something that will definitely be apart of me for the rest of my life and being able to have all this knowledge on the topic and different methods I can apply to my dancing will help me a lot in the future.

Blog 22: Mentorship

Literal

• Belinda Maturo and Perfect Pointe School of Dance

Interpretive

What is the most important thing you gained from this experience? Why?

The most important thing that I have gained from this experience is that dance has many aspects to it, and it can be manipulated and morphed to fit you, as a dancer. This is something that I feel a lot of dancers don’t know, they see a movement and think, “I can’t do that,” and they never give it a chance. This can potentially hurt their career if they carry on with that mindset, which is why that knowing dance can be manipulated to fit the dancer is so important.

 Applied

How has what you’ve done helped you to answer your EQ?  Please explain.

My mentorship helped my both develop and answer my essential question because I was not only answering it with books and interviews, but I was actually putting the answers to work in real life. I got to live my project rather than just read about it.

Blog 21: Exit Interview

(1) What is your essential question, and what are your answers?  What is your best answer and why?

My essential question is, what is the best way for a dancer to prepare for a Royal Academy of Dance exam?

My best  answer is, a dancer should know the syllabus that their exam will be based upon. This is the best answer because a dancer should always know their choreography, and if the dancer doesn’t know the choreography there is no dance.

(2) What process did you take to arrive at this answer?

My mentorship revealed this answer as the best one, due to how much emphasis my mentor puts on the syllabus and that most of our classes revolve around the syllabus.

(3) What problems did you face?  How did you resolve them?

The only real problem I faced was finding an answer three, however going back and looking over my interviews I found that all of my interviewees kept saying the same thing, that a strong foundation is extremely important. Finding that recurring statement I found that it would be a good answer.  

(4) What are the two most significant sources you used to answer your essential question and why?

The two most significant sources that helped me were the Royal Academy of Dance Syllabus and my mentor helped me a lot. The syllabus helped a lot because it is the set exercises that will be viewed in the exam and it has all the information you would need for an exam and my mentor helped me a lot with interviews, any questions about dance and helping me come up with answers and my final activity.

The Process of Choreographing

Have you ever watched a dance and thought "Wow, I wonder what it took to make the dance so clean and nice to watch."... yea not many people do. In fact the only people who care about the process of making a dance so visually compelling are dancers and choreographers. I am one of those people, and through some recent experiences I have discovered a lot of work goes into creating a dance, and I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to do so this year, with the iPoly dance team. 

When choreographing a dance there are 5 steps that usually take you through the process.

1. Finding music*
2. The choreographer, choreographs the piece*
3. The choreographer then teaches the dance to the dancers
4. The dance is then cleaned up 
5. The dance is performed 

*Step 1 and 2 are interchangeable, depending on how the choreographer gets inspired.

Step number 2 is probably the most intricate and intense step. Not only do you have to think of the movements you are going to put in, but there is also formations, ripples, cannons, having groups of people perform one part while another group does another part of the dance, etc. to think about. Seems hectic right? But that is what makes it fun, all the options that are available to choose from. It allows you to create whatever you please.

Although, putting the process of choreographing into those 5 steps makes it look easy, it is an a very complex and sometimes frustrating process. You may have a vision in your head of how you want this piece to look, but it doesn't turn out that way because the tempo is too fast or the dancers aren't getting the movements, etc. It is from this that I learned why it is so important to keep in mind the ability of your dancers, and the tempo of your music and so on, so you don't have to go back and reconfigure the movements. 

Once you get through that whole process, though, and get to see your vision come to life, there is nothing more satisfying, and I am glad to have the opportunity to experience it this year. :)

Blog 19: Independent Component 2

LITERAL

a) I, Cheyenne Jarman, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 33 hours and 30 minutes of work.”

b) Cite your source regarding who or what article or book helped you complete the independent component:

Royal Opera House. "Dance Styles in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - The Royal Ballet." YouTube. YouTube, 4 Apr. 2013. Web. 23 Jan. 2015.

BBC. "BBC Documentary Good Swan, Bad Swan: Dancing Swan Lake." YouTube. YouTube, 30 May 2014. Web. 27 Feb. 2015.

First Position. Dir. Bess Kargman. Perf. Aran Bell, Miko Fogarty, Jules Fogarty, Michaela Deprince, Joan Sebastian Zamora. 2011. DVD.      

c) Update your Independent Component 2 Log (which should be under your Senior Project Hours link)

d) Throughout this independent component I learned two main things. The first is that I learned how to teach choreography better to help the dancers remember the movements. The second is that I learned different ways of how and when a dancer adds their personal style and how impactful it can be on a dance.   

INTERPRETIVE

Defend your work and explain the component's significance and how it demonstrates 30 hours of work.   Provide evidence (photos, transcript, art work, videos, etc) of the 30 hours of work.  

This component helped me provide more support for my answer 2, that a dancer should add their own personal style. It also helped me learn more as to how dancers add the style.

Another lesson I got from this component is that I was able to improve my teaching skills and learn different ways on how to teach that will help the dancer memorize the dance the best.

In these pictures Alyanna and I are working on choreographing a dance for the pep-rally.

APPLIED

How did the component help you answer your EQ? Please include specific examples to illustrate how it helped.

This component helped me really establish my answer 2, that a dancer should add their own personal style to a dance, and support the answer. While working on this component I was able to watch 30+ girls learn the exact same choreography and then see how they perform it with their own style. The dance team is currently working on two different pieces for the upcoming pep-rally and I have seen how the dancers interpret the choreography and make it into their own.

Injuries in Dance

In the world of dance, injuries are a very common thing. Anything from bruises to pulled muscles to sprained ankles and everything in between. Injuries are definitely something that dancers try to avoid like the plague because it could mean the difference of being able to perform or having to watch from the wings. However, every once in a while an injury will spring itself upon a dancer.

A lot of injuries that tend to occur are related to knees, ankles, and feet. What a shocker, dancers get injuries that involve their legs. Some common injuries that appear are bruised toe nails, blisters, pulled muscles, and sprained ankle/ foot. In fact, I recently experienced an injury that couldn't have come at a worse time.

About a week and a half before my big RAD exams were coming up. During a class of mine we were doing our across the floor exercises and long story short I ended up landing a leap wrong and hurt my foot pretty severally. At first I didn't think anything of it because I had landed wrong before, but I was fine after a couple of minutes. However, this time the pain didn't really go away. So when I got home I iced it and did everything you were suppose to. I continued that for the next five days, but my foot was showing to progress. I was getting really scared especially as my exam date was approaching. I continued to ice it and elevate it up until the hour before my exam. My foot still showed no progress. So long story short, I had to take my hour and a half exam where we had to jump, balance and perform a few pointe exercises, with a foot that was in pain. It was definitely not a pleasant feeling, but I needed to do it.

That is another thing about injuries in dance. Often dancers will perform with injuries. I was watching a short documentary about a dancer with the Bolshoi, that severely hurt her foot right before a huge performance that would ultimately determine her career. As time went on her foot wasn't getting better, so she ended up performing with her injury.

Although no dancer ever wants to have an injury, it is something that we face sooner or later. The best thing a dancer can do is to be safe in the first place to avoid injury and if you still happen to get injured, just give it the proper care right away. 

Blog 18: Interview 4 Prep

1. What is the best way for a dancer to prepare for the RAD exams?
2. What are the two most important factors a dancer should have when going into an exam and why?
3. How would you define personal style in dance?
4. What kind of style would you say you have?
5. Do you think it is important for students to study multiple genres of dance? Why?
6. Aside from ballet, what are three of the most important dance styles to study? And why should students study them?
7. Aside from knowing the syllabus what is the most important thing a dancer should know when entering an exam?
8. What do you think is the most important style of dance and why?
9. What made you start dancing?
10. What was it like dancing in a company and what was the most memorable moment?
11. How is modern dance different from ballet and why does modern vary so much from person to person?
12. Why is it important for a dancer to learn modern?
13. What are different ways a dancer can convey emotion through their dance?
14. Which method of conveying emotion would most help in an RAD exam?
15. What is something you always do while performing and why?
16. Which style of dance would you say is the most expressive and why?
17. What is something you always make sure you do when dancing and why do you always make sure you do it?
18. What are college dance programs like?
19. What is some advice for a student going into a dance program in college?
20. Why did you become a dance teacher?

Blog 17: Answer 3

EQ

• What is the best way for a dancer to prepare for the RAD Exams?

Answer #3 (Write in a complete sentence like a thesis statement)*

• The best way that a dancer can prepare for the RAD Exams is to have have proper technique and training and a strong foundation in ballet.

3 details to support the answer (a detail is a fact and an example)

• My mentor requires all the dancers at her studio to take at least one ballet class a week before taking any other genre.
• In all three of my interviews, when asked what is the most important dance style, all three interviewees responded with ballet.
• In the book, Basic Principles of Classical Ballet: Russian Ballet Technique , the author also states several times throughout the book that ballet is the foundation for a lot of other genres of dance.

The research source (s) to support your details and answer

• Vaganova, Agrippina Ja. Basic Principles of Classical Ballet: Russian Ballet Technique. Transl. from the Russian by Anatole Chujoy. Incorp. All the Material from the 4th Russian Ed. Inchiding Vaganova's "Sample Lesson with Musical Accompaniment" Transl. by John Barker. New York: Dover Publ., 1969. Print. 25 Sept. 2014.
• Interviews 1,2, and 3
• Copeland, Misty, and Charisse Jones. Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina. New York: Touchstone Book, Published by Simon & Schuster, 2014: 23-28. Print. 14 Nov. 2014.

Concluding Sentence

• Having a strong ballet foundation can not only help a dancer with their exam work, but also help them become stronger dancers in other genres.

Misty Copeland

Due to the fact that Misty Copeland is coming to the area soon with the American Ballet Theater, in a performance of The Sleeping Beauty, I thought I would dedicate a blog post to her. 

Misty Copeland is actually one of my favorite dancers and a real inspiration to me. She started dancing very late in the world of dance at the age of 13. In her book "Life in Motion" you will see that the journey to earning her position as soloist with the American Ballet Theater was not an easy one, but she had the drive to push through and achieve her dream. 

She is an inspiration to me for that reason. Much like her I too started dancing very late, but I have not let that hold me back. She just proves that if you have a passion and a dream for something you can achieve it. This ideal doesn't just apply to dance either. If you have a passion, go after it.

On a side note, Copeland has not only had feats in the ballet world. Like I mentioned early she has written a book, which I highly recommend, appeared in commercials like Dr. Pepper and did a campaign with Under Armour.



Below I have placed a few of her performances.
Enjoy. :) 

Misty Copeland in The Nutcracker

Misty Copeland at age 15 performing 

a variation from Don Quixote.

Her ad campaign with Under Armour.

Blog 16: Answer 2

1.  What is your EQ?

What is the best way for a dancer to prepare for the RAD exams?

2.  What is your first answer? (In complete thesis statement format)

The best way for a dancer to prepare for their RAD exams is to know the assigned syllabus and vocabulary well.

3.  What is your second answer? (In complete thesis statement format)

The best way for a dancer to prepare for the RAD exams is to train in multiple genres of dance in order to add your own personal style to the set exercises.

4.  List three reasons your answer is true with a real-world application for each.

1. During an exam an examiner looks for fluidity and facial expressions, while performing other genres of dance you learn different facial expressions and movement fluidity that could be applied to your exam work.
2. When learning different genres of dance, they each have their own “personality” if you will, that might fit you better that you can add to your syllabus work.
3. Taking different genres of dance can also help increase flexibility and turn out, which can help your exam work a lot.

5.  What printed source best supports your answer?

Life in Motion By: Misty Copeland

Copeland, Misty, and Charisse Jones. Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina. New York: Touchstone Book, Published by Simon & Schuster, 2014: 23-28. Print. 14 Nov. 2014.

A Little of This  By: Karen White

White, Karen. "A Little of This." Pointe June-July 2008: 45-46. Print.

6.  What other source supports your answer?

Dance Styles in Alice and Wonderland (Video) By: Royal Opera House

Royal Opera House. "Dance Styles in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - The Royal Ballet." YouTube. YouTube, 4 Apr. 2013. Web. 23 Jan. 2015.

First Position (Video)

First Position. Dir. Bess Kargman. Perf. Aran Bell, Miko Fogarty, Jules Fogarty, Michaela Deprince, Joan Sebastian Zamora. 2011. DVD.

7.  Tie this together with a  concluding thought.

Having your own personal style in dance is very important. It not only makes the movement appear more smoother and qualitative, but it also separates you from a crowd of dancers.

Blog 15: Independent Component 2 Approval

1.  Describe in detail what you plan to do for your 30 hours.

I plan on using the dance team to further my research for my second answer of my EQ, which is that dancers should find their own style.

2.  Discuss how or what you will do to meet the expectation of showing 30 hours of evidence.

I will be taking class with the dance team, choreographing dances and performing.

3.  Explain how this component will help you explore your topic in more depth.

While dancing with different people you start to develop a certain style by taking a certain style from other people you dance with.

4.  Post a log in your Senior Project Hours link and label it "Independent Component 2" log.

Blog 14: Independent Component 1

• LITERAL
• (a) Write: “I, Cheyenne Jarman, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 41 hours and 30 minutes of work.”
• (b) Cite your source regarding who or what article or book helped you complete the independent component.
• These two books helped me through my independent component.

The Royal Academy of Dance. Vocational Graded Examinations in Dance. Female Syllabus. London: Royal Academy of Dance, 2003. Print. Intermediate Ballet.

The Royal Academy of Dance. Graded Examinations in Dance and Presentation Classes: Set Exercises, Studies and Dances. London: Published by Royal Academy of Dance Enterprises for Royal Academy of Dance, 2008. Print. Grade 6.

• (c) Update your hours in your Senior Project Hours link. Make sure it is clearly labeled with hours for individual sessions as well as total hours.
• (d) Explain what you completed.

I completed more mentorship hours and am learning more on my topic and getting closer to finding my best EQ answer.    

• INTERPRETIVE
• Defend your work and explain its significance to your project and how it demonstrates 30 hours of work.   Provide evidence (photos, transcript, art work, videos, etc) of the 30 hours of work.  

My place of mentorship.

What my dance studio looks like prepped for exams.

My dance studio in the Covina Parade.

• APPLIED
• How did the component help you understand the foundation of your topic better?  Please include specific examples to illustrate this.

Since my component was more mentorship I found that I was constantly learning new ways to memorize movements, perform them, learning new movements and getting closer to my best answer for my essential question. When going to my mentorship on Wednesday, my classmates and I have an open class. An open class is when the choreography of everything is taught on the spot, forcing you to memorize the exercise and perform it well. In an open class the teacher usually teaches us at least one new movement per class to challenge us and expand our movement vocabulary. At mentorship I also am taught a Royal Academy of Dance syllabus, so I need to be able to memorize the movements and perform them properly. My mentor will provide me with corrections on my technique to ensure that I am performing to the best of my abilities. For example, in the Intermediate syllabus, the adage has quite challenging music to count, so my mentor just had me and my classmates just listen to the music a couple of times and count it out loud with her to make sure we knew what the counts were. She then had has roughly perform the exercises or mark through the exercise to make sure our arm placements were correct and that we were on the right track with the movements and music. She lastly had us perform the exercise full out and made minor adjustments to our movements, but no major corrections.  

Dance Day

The annual RAD exams for my studio are coming, whether I am prepared or not. The exams themselves aren't scary it is the build up and anticipation for them that kill you. You prepare for these exams for a whole year and that is all you can do. So in order to help me prepare for my exams I attended a Dance Day... a day where you meet at a studio with several other dancers, so you know and others you don't and all you do is run through the set exercises that are assigned to your grade. So how does this help prepare me for my exams anymore than just taking a regular class at my studio? Well it helps you in many ways. The first being that not only is your teacher there to observe their students, but you have all the other dance teachers observing you as well. This gets a new set of eyes on you that may be able to correct a mistake that your teacher may have not noticed. The next benefit is dancing with dancers that you've never met before. This allows you to view other dancers and see how they perform a certain exercise, and get tips off of their performance and add it on to yours. So overall I found that Dance Day did help me get that much closer to being prepared for my exams. 

Blog 13: Lesson 2 Reflection

1.What are you most proud of in your Lesson 2 Presentation and why?

I’m most proud that I was able to convey all the information that I needed to in a timely matter and that my presentation went so smooth.

2. a. What assessment would you give yourself on your Lesson 2 Presentation (self-assessment)?

I would give myself a P.

b. Explain why you deserve that grade using evidence from the Lesson 2 component contract.

I met all the requirements, but I feel that my activity could be improved.

3. What worked for you in your Lesson 2?

The layout of my powerpoint allowed my presentation to go really smoothly.

4. What didn't work? If you had a time machine, what would you have done differently to improve your Lesson 2?

I would’ve talked slower, although I made time I feel that I was explaining a lot of new information to my audience too quickly.

5. What do you think your answer #2 is going to be?

My second answer will be that dancers should train in multiple genres of dance.

Blog 12: Mentorship 10 Hours Check

1.   Where are you doing your mentorship?

Perfect Pointe School of Dance, located in Covina

2.   Who is your contact?

Belle Maturo, Studio Director

3.   How many total hours have you done (total hours should be reflected in your mentorship log located on the right hand side of your blog like your WB)?

172 Hours and 50 Minutes.

4.   Summarize the 10 hours of service you did.

I have taken several styles of dance, like ballet, jazz, modern and character, and also have taught several classes.

Blog 11: Holiday Project Update

1.  It is important to consistently work on your senior project, whether it is break or we are in school.  What did you do over the break with your senior project?

I watched several documentary films relating to dance. The films were about various genres of dance and different methods of teaching and learning a certain style of dance.

2.  What was the most important thing you learned from what you did, and why?  What was the source of what you learned?

That there are various styles of dance in just one genre alone and if a particular style doesn’t suit you, it doesn’t mean you’re a bad dancer, it means that the particular style isn’t for you, so you shouldn’t give up. I learned this in both a documentary entitled “Ballerina” about Russian ballerinas and a article in Pointe magazine.

3.  If you were going to do a 10 question interview on questions related to answers for your EQ, who would you talk to and why?

I would either talk to an official RAD examiner, because they know what to look for in a dancer and what makes a dancer pass or fail an exam, or I would talk to my Friday ballet teacher because he was in a company and knows ways to add style to your dancing without going over the top and ruining your technique.