Critical Reflection of Inquiry Proposal

At the beginning of module two I felt drawn to the topic of performance with a view to discovering how dancers project, express and present choreography. After a discussion in class with my senior students as detailed in my journal, (Appendix – A) I found that developing a sense of performance was a grey area for many. This gave me the initial idea of investigating the many ways we perform and present ourselves in dance performance.

I considered how artistry commonly featured in the literature I had gathered surrounding performance. After a discussion with my tutor and upon reflection of initial ideas, I decided to focus specifically on artistry as the topic of performance would be far too broad. I realised that performance as a whole in fact brings together everything we work on in class to the stage.

I reflected how students, particularly in the early stages of training focus so intently on learning steps, positions, correct alignment and technique, that showing a sense of artistry is often too much to manage. It is not until a level of competence is reached that students are comfortable with adding artistic flair to their work. In class I generally spend the majority of time on technique unless exams, competitions or performances are imminent. I realised that this is to comply with the marking scheme of ISTD exams, as artistry is only worth 10% of the overall mark.

I discovered that in order to express themselves freely and share their work with an audience, dancers must possess a certain level of self-confidence. Through discussions on my special interest group ‘The Art of Performance’ I identified how artistry is the first thing to suffer when performing under pressure in exams, competitions and performances. This therefore led me to source literature on various ways to promote students’ confidence and deal with issues that have a negative effect on artistic performance.

Describing artistry has been a difficult task and it’s hard to put into words, through my research so far I have realised that it means something different to each of us. There are many ways to explain it and many ways to use it, artistry is how we might interpret a piece of music, create a mood, convey feeling or tell a story. We use it to communicate what we are trying to say through movement, and the ultimate aim is to connect with the audience and make them feel something.

I have now come to realise that artistry is personal to each individual, it is something that continually evolves along with competence and experience in dance as well as life. It is therefore up to the teacher to develop their own means of educating and encouraging this aspect of their students training and this is what I plan to achieve through my professional inquiry.