Comparing the Professional Ethics of My Workplace with My Original Thoughts

Now that I have listed some examples of ethics from my own thoughts I'd like to compare them with codes of practice from my place of work. I felt the best examples of regulation would come from my theatre contract, so here are some points that stood out for me regarding ethics within my workplace.

Good Communication Skills

My contract considers good communication skills as a required qualification. I find this interesting because in my previous blog post I didn't really consider the idea of how I work with others. I briefly brushed on the idea that my lack of punctuality can affect my colleagues in a negative way but this is an example of actively engaging with colleagues in a positive manner. Most of my initial ideas revolved around how I am expected to behave and manage myself as an individual. I feel that communication is especially important within a theatre as so many different departments must work together to achieve the staging of a performance. As a dancer, I wouldn't be able to do what I do without the stage crew, costume department, hair and make-up department etc. Even within just the ballet company communication is key to working effectively with each other.

Another reason why communication is important is that I work at a theatre that employs professionals from all over the world! There is the immediate thought that just being able to speak the same language as someone else will help and actually it is stated in the contract that an employee must have a good command of at least one international foreign language. On top of that though is that with many nationalities, this can provide differences in cultural behavior. Being able to work alongside different individuals successfully requires openness and good communication!

Acquiring All Necessary Repetoires on Time

This is something that relates to the direction I was heading with my original thoughts as this requirement revolves around the effectiveness of the individual dancer. It is one aspect that I failed to mention though. I had mentioned how a dancer should be respectful, punctual and in dancing shape but it is also ethical as a professional to be competent at learning the choreography you will be performing. It's all very well being a good dancer but if you're not able to learn what is required of you that can be very problematic. A dancers ability to learn is part of their reliability.

More often that not, my workplace can have a very hectic schedule as each choreographer/director will be trying to find time to rehearse their respective pieces. If you have a company that can learn quickly, it can make time management far more effective and economic even. This also comes into play when for example, one dancer gets injured very close to a performance and they don't have a cover. In this situation it is vital for a new dancer stepping in to that role to be able to learn quickly enough in time to replace the injured dancer. I myself have experienced stepping in to a new role with only a matter of a day to learn all the choreography. These situations have also required me to take a video home for learning in my spare time (which is also another thing mentioned in our contract as an expectation from our employer).

Mastery of Multiple Styles

Especially as a theatre that has a dedicated dance, drama and music department. We regularly host a variety of different styles of performance. I am considered a ballet dancer but I also take part in Musicals, Modern Dance, Tap Dance and Physical Theatre. On top of all the requirements for me to be professional and competent at my work, it is also expected that I not only be diverse but also proficient in those different styles. This is something that is very dependent on where one works. For me, this makes a lot of sense as there is a plethora of differing styles of performance that my theatre puts on although for many other dancers, they may be working in an environment that only requires classical ballet or contemporary dance for example.

Creatively Open and Loyal to the Employer

This is just one small section I wished to mention quickly as it goes hand in hand with what I was saying in my last post about committing to a role/piece. There seems to be the acknowledgment that not every artist will see eye to eye but in order to run a smooth and professional working place, sometimes one must forgo any personal discrepancies. I also feel that this isn't just an artistic matter but one of respecting authority. What the director says, goes.