How Does Ethics Apply to my Inquiry Question?

Now that I've looked a little more into ethics, I want to take the time to apply these thoughts and develop them in how they relate to my inquiry. Adesola has provided me with some thoughts and questions for me to delve into on this topic.

My personal beliefs in the use of Benesh have been focused on practicality. I believe that Benesh is a system that can most accurately depict specific positions of the body in order to most effectively document and reproduce choreography. By doing this I am viewing choreography in a very objective manner. As a dancer myself I acknowledge that a large part of dance is one's personal connection with the material and one's individual portrayal of movement.

People may very well be of the opinion that in a way, I may be missing the point of dance with my aims of accurate documentation. Is my artform something that can be simply written down on paper? One could argue that the magic of dance is in a dancer's depiction of a work and that through their personalisation, the dance comes to life. My stance is that accurate knowledge of choreography serves as the foundation for what I deem to be a competent dancer. Personalisation and/or characterisation acts as the decoration on top to augment what the choreographer has created. I would argue that Benesh actually assists in keeping the 'spirit' of a dance. An example would be that looking at a corps de ballet performing, if they were to reproduce the steps too differently from each other, that could even hinder the life of a performance by looking too 'messy'.

As I'm considering these views and thoughts, the main keyword that pops into my head is 'responsibility'. As a notator, one has the responsibility to maintain a choreographer's artistic vision. Benesh allows one to record steps but not necessarily the 'feel' or tone of the piece in question. During my investigation it is important for me to acknowledge that dance notation isn't the be all and end all of entirely capturing an artistic work.

One more consideration to make is the responsibility behind re-staging an old work that may have been created before any notation was available, especially Benesh. The responsibility lies within the modern day choreographer to provide authentic choreography that would honour the memory of said piece and keep its spirit intact. This then applies to the notator to equally ensure unhindered memory of the steps and style of a dance. One example that springs to mind is Nijinsky's 'Rite of Spring'. Out of Nijinsky's four choreographies, only his first 'L'Apres-midi d'un Faune' was ever accurately preserved, and even then it was through notation of Nijinsky's own design. In order to reproduce the Rite of Spring, or 'Sacre du Printemps', the choreographer had to draw inspiration from photos, eye-witness accounts and newspaper reviews to piece together as accurate an imagining as possible.

One element of Benesh is that as 'movement' notation, when it is applied to dance, certain assumptions are made depending on the style it's being applied to. For example, if some notation depicts the dancer with the arms high above the head and it is being applied to classical ballet. One would interpret this as a 'fifth position port de bras'. Nijinsky's choreography has a very distinctive style and has certain variations on traditional ballet positions. When documenting Nijinsky's revised works it is important to remember these details to ensure as much of the original intention is preserved. This applies to any choreography from years ago and the aim of this is to not mis-represent a choreographers style, to keep the memory of their works alive for years to come!

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.

Ethics Within My Workplace

As part of my investigation, I'm to consider the ethics that surround my line of inquiry and profession. Before I begin to develop my ideas through research and discussion, here are some of my thoughts regarding ethics around my workplace.

Punctuality

Now initially as I think of being punctual, I consider it a trait that most professions expect from you. It springs to mind in this instance though because in general as a Ballet dancer you have been trained and are expected to be highly disciplined. Where I feel the matter applies specifically to the ballet world though is that if I were to be late for a rehearsal for example, that would have a knock on effect for my colleagues. In a standard office job, one could be late and although it would be frowned upon for the sake of work etiquette, it's possible that no one else is directly affected. In a ballet company, rehearsals often revolve around teamwork and cooperation. My colleagues rely on my presence as I rely on theirs. If I were to be late, not only would it be rude, I'd be letting my colleagues down.

Conditioning

Ballet is a highly skilled profession. In order to work as a dancer, one must take great care to maintain the state of the body with the aim of injury prevention and also maintaining a high standard of fitness in order to practice dance effectively. In many dance companies it is considered ethical to take responsibility of this yourself as a company won't necessarily 'babysit' you. Examples of this would be having regular massages, warming up before rehearsals and attending training class in the mornings.

Commitment to a Role/Piece

The first two things I mentioned are quite simple and basic examples of ethics. Also things that are arguably standard considerations of any practitioner. This last point covers an artist's responsibility of maintaining a director/choreographers vision. Looking after your body and turning up on time are all things that combine and lead up to putting on a great performance, and the performance is the ultimate goal for a dancer. When a choreographer has an idea, they will begin to work on and develop their piece. As a dancer it's easy to be a critic but ethically it's not your place to put in more or less effort based on your personal feelings. It is up to you to perform to the best of your ability and let the audience decide for themselves if they enjoy a certain work.

Literature relating to my subject

During the course of investigating my area of interest, our handbook sets us a task to discover three pieces of literature that relate to our inquiry. In this instance I found it difficult to discover anything more than just a history or explanation of what Choreology or Dance Notation was but fortunately I believe I found some pieces that help regarding the viewpoint of a notator as well.

The Art of Recording a Ballet

https://beneshinaction.com/2016/06/07/the-art-of-recording-a-ballet/

I liked this article because it is a blog from a trainee notator doing work placement at the Royal Opera House. She is assisting the senior notator in documenting a brand new choreography. There is a lot of explanation of the role of a notator and gives examples of the work required. It does strike me there is an awful lot to be done and I feel the job must be very demanding. I also get the impression that it must use a lot of resources for a dance company to invest in the system. Most noteably having to hire dedicated staff to utilise choreology as a tool. This began to make me think about whether a dance company would deem the extra man power worthwhile. One excerpt says...

"The notator is the person that everyone refers to in case of discrepancies (for example when a section has been changed without everyone being there and the different casts are not on the same page)."

I feel this is one of Movement Notation's strengths. It serves as a foundation for choreographic clarity. This relates to my investigation as it highlights the issue of discrepancies. This is an issue that occurs on a nearly daily basis in the company I work for, who don't use Benesh Notation. Perhaps this is a particular situation I could consider when investigating various dance companies.

What is Choreology?

http://hubpages.com/education/what-is-choreology

This article is a nice clear explanation of the history of Benesh Movement Notation and a break down of how it actually works. Considering 'legitimacy', this article is a very trustworthy source. It was written by Juliette Kando, a 'Fellow of the RAD institute of Choreology'.

The thing that interested me more in this piece was the introduction of how Benesh began. We discover that choreology's inventor Rudolph Benesh was not a dancer but his wife was. It mentions that he was inspired from his wife's notes she'd take in order to remember choreography. This suggests to me the dance world was in need of a universal system to record choreography on to paper. As I begin to consider the ethics of my investigation, I notice how this article mentions that the system records accurately in order to maintain a work's originality. When using Benesh as a system, the notator and even the system itself has a responsibility to not interfere with the chorographer's creation.

Meet Denis Bonner, The Repetiteur 

https://www.brb.org.uk/post/meet-the-repetiteur-denis-bonner

This article is an introduction to a seasoned Benesh notator working with the Birmingham Royal Ballet. In the same way my first article gives insight into the life of a notator, this is from the perspective of someone who has been a professional for some time.

Although Benesh could be time consuming, Denis actually mentions a way in which Benesh ultimately saves time and makes rehearsal time more productive. In reference to using Benesh to teach choreography over learning from a video, he had this to say...

"And it’s still quicker for me to do it this way,’ he says, ‘because if you do it all with a video in the studio then nobody knows the counts, and you’re forever moving backwards and forwards."

Looking once again at the 'legitimacy' of an article, I like how this statement comes from a profesional notator who would know. I hold many personal ideas and opinions however I've never been in the position that Denis has been in. I can say however, I've been in many rehearsals where learning from a video has been problematic. This example also can be another strength of Choreology I can consider when comparing companies who do and don't use it.

Further Development Into My Inquiry (Reaching out to a Special Interest Group)

After what was a very useful group Skype session a week ago I was able to start looking at the questions I had produced during my initial brain storm. Adesola provided some very useful thoughts in how to approach developing my questions into something more clear and appropriate for embarking on my investigation. The main thing being that when looking at your question, you should try to see what assumptions you have made.

As an example, here is one of my questions...

How does the use of Benesh affect how a company operates?

From this, I can already highlight a few things. I'm not being specific about the 'use'. Benesh can be utilised in two main ways. Recording choreography and teaching choreography. The way I have worded my question isn't clarifying whether I mean one or the other, or both. The main mistake I see though is that I only stated 'company'. This could mean a few things. I know that I am referring to a classical ballet company however someone reading this may be imagining other styles of dance also or even a foundation dedicated to maintaining a choreographer's work.

After taking on board the things I learned in that session, I felt like I had a better understanding of how to approach my work however it also ended up begging more questions. Despite knowing how to be more critical of the question I will choose, I wasn't entirely sure of the best angle to approach the subject of Benesh in a way that would be beneficial for me on this BAPP course. I don't wish to create a question that is purely a justification of my pre-conceived opinions, I'm aiming to leanr something new. I had a brief private session with Adesola to clarify my thoughts which helped a lot because what I needed was to explain my opinions out loud in order to discover what it was more specifically that I wished to learn about. After having a chance to hear myself out loud I realised that my interest in Benesh circled around how it affects studio rehearsals, most importantly teaching new choreography. I think this stems from my personal experience as in my company there are a lot of issues surrounding teaching choreography from a DVD.

I'm not expecting anyone else to be interested in Benesh specifically but does anyone have thoughts or feelings perhaps towards the overall rehearsal experience? After my Skype sessions and reflection I've figured that my interest lies within how Benesh affects the way a dance company operates, in particular, rehearsals. In an effort to set up my special interest group I'd love to hear people's opinions on how they feel a dance company should operate within the studio. Being in contact with others on this course provides a great opportunity to compare opinions across different styles of dance or establishments. My thoughts have been focused very much on a classical ballet company however some of you who may practice other styles of dance may differ from me. I also wonder if these thoughts shift when considering professional dancers and students for example. I really think that comparing the opinions of my peers to their backgrounds could prove to reveal some interesting comparisons amongst our selves.

I'm glad that I feel clearer about the path I'm choosing. I'm really looking forward to hearing if anyone has any interesting thoughts to share!

Questions for My Line of Inquiry

After reviewing Reader 4 I have created some questions for my line of inquiry. As I've been thinking about potential fields I could explore I settled upon the theme of Benesh Movement Notation.

I feel that this is a good subject to investigate as my main plan regarding work after dancing life is to Study Benesh and become a dance notator. Benesh Notation is very relevant to my profession as it is a tool used by many ballet companies to keep record of choreography and to use in the process of teaching choreography to new dancers. On the other hand, it's also something that's not necessarily widely used within the dance world. This inspired a few questions for me to explore on the matter.

How has Benesh affected the dance world?

Prior to Benesh Notation, how did dance companies approach rehearsals? Did they just rely on the memory of the choreographer or a repetiteur? Once notation was introduced, did it have a tangible effect on the productivity of a company for example? I feel this is the most vague question of mine but it raises a lot of questions about the influence Benesh has had on the dance world and could prove to be very interesting in showing the difference between those who do and those who don't use it.

How relevant is Benesh Notation in this day and age?

With the development of technology over the years, most notably digital video recording, many dance companies may feel that there is less need for Benesh. To use Benesh in practice, a company would need to hire a notator. Some companies may not deem it worthy enough to spend their resources on when choreography could be learnt from a DVD for example, which is a much cheaper and accessible alternative. One could argue that the use of videos isn't as accurate at documenting choreography as Benesh so my investigation could weigh up the pros and cons of different methods of documentation.

How does the use of Benesh affect how a company operates?

One of the cons of Benesh is that recording choreography can be potentially very time consuming. Could the use of Benesh affect a company's scheduling for example in order to accomodate it's use? Another point I thought of was can harnessing Benesh actually affect the performance standard? Benesh is a very accurate method of recording dance so I was thinking could that transparency transfer over to the dancers and create a stronger corps de ballet perhaps?


As I've thought about my questions so far I've realised that I've already limited myself to one style of notation. Perhaps I could explore different forms and their popularity amongst different companies, dancers, choreographers etc. This is only the start of my line of inquiry and I know my questions can certainly do with development but I feel quite happy with the area I wish to explore.

Reflecting on Module One and preparing for Module Two

After a very generous break from my BAPP course, the time has come to dive back into my academic studies. This past Friday many of us as returning students took part in a re-orientation Skype chat. It was a great way to get myself back in the mindset of my studies and provided the chance to take on some advice as I begin my second module.

In the Skype chat we were encouraged to reflect on what approaches/methods of study did and didn't work for us during our time working on module one. My first module proved to be very useful in simply discovering how best to schedule my time. One key point that I took from our Skype session that built upon that idea was to schedule personal goals. For example, our handbook states that the hand in date for Module Two is January 6th. Knowing this information I can start to think about when do I want to have my draft completed? How long should I allow for revisions and corrections? With these things in mind I can begin to structure my own personal targets and deadlines with the goal of ensuring I stay on track with my work and don't suddenly find myself 'snowed under' by short sightedness.

Another side to scheduling is allotting myself certain periods of time during the week as 'study time'. I felt that this was something I managed to achieve quite well during Module One. As a person I feel I need to create a routine to keep myself on top of things so would therefore set aside time on my days off to have the best chance of tackling my tasks. I have also had the fortune of one of my colleagues joining me on this course and with our similar schedules we were able to find time each week to put our heads together and help each other through our course.

Hopefully my thoughts and ramblings can prove to be useful to anyone who wasn't able to take part in the Skype sessions. For those on the course about to begin Module Two or Three welcome back!