Inquiry: Auditions, Agents and Self-Promotion

I have decided to change my inquiry as I feel that I want to focus more on performing.  I want to focus on different ways of getting a professional job and making myself more known.

Auditions

Auditions are the only way of getting work in this industry.  They can showcase your talent and hopefully secure you a job.
I have decided to do a mind map with questions of what I want to find out about auditions.

How do I hear about auditions?
I am trying to find out more ways to find out about auditions.  I will be looking at agents later on as I think that is a big way to find out information. 

What the company are looking for?
Most companies know the kind of people they want to hire, whether it be tall/short, blonde/brunette etc. Unfortunately these characteristics the performer cannot change and I feel that castings should include these characteristics in there briefing as it would then eliminate performers who don't fit into that category.
Talent is also very important in this industry but if you do not look the part they wont hire you.  This is also linked to Feedback.

Feedback
In auditions it may well be that you do not look the part but it maybe something your doing that the casting directors do not like.  It could be technical like a triple pirouette was messy.  If castings could tell us what they didn't like the performers could then improve on a particular move or style of dance.  I do understand however that casting directors must see thousands of applicants for one job and they are far to busy to give everyone individual feedback.

Pre-audition 
Some auditions are very last minute and sometimes only give you a day or less to prepare. This makes everything rushed as I have to make sure that I have packed all my dance shoes and made sure that the songs I am taking are well rehearsed. I have learnt now to leave all my relevant shoes in the same bag and have all my songs that I know very well in a folder so that if this does occur then it wont be such an issue.

Agents

How do I get an agent?
I have found that people with agents have invited to them to a showcase and have got an agent from there.  I however am currently not in a show and I have no idea how to proceed to get one.  I unfortunately do not have enough content to make a showreel as I know that some agents view them and then offer representation.

Which agents are good?
I have recently bought a copy of contacts, which has listed agents/photographers etc.  It is useful as I have researched a few agencies and seen what sort of people are on their books.  I didn't realise however that there were so many and am a bit lost of who to apply to.

How much do you give your agent?
I know that this varies a lot but I am trying to figure out if it is worth getting an agent.  I know that I would get more auditions but if I then got a job and had to pay a lot to my agent Im not sure if its worth it.

On average how many auditions should they give you?
I know that this can very a lot as it depends on what jobs are available.  I didn't get along with my previous agent as they didn't give me auditions that I wanted to do so I therefore dropped them.  I don't really want this to happen again as I feel there need to be more communication with client and agent to ensure that everyone is happy.

Is it worth getting an agent?
My aim is to perform in musicals but I have found that most west end auditions are run through an agent and are not open.  I am therefore considering getting an agent again as this is the field of work that I want to get myself into.

Self-Promotion

As I am trying to get into the business I thought that self-promotion would be a great way to make myself more know.

YouTube

I have recently created a youtube account: www.youtube.com/hollydanielsuk to help promote myself. I am hoping to post more stuff up but am currently not used to editing videos so it may take a while.

Soundcloud

I have found this the easiest to use as I can just record myself on my laptop and then post it online there and then. Unfortunately it is not as well know as youtube but I seem to have a lot of views so hopefully it will be beneficial time. www.soundcloud.com/holly_daniels

Advertising

I do think this is a great way of informing people where you are informing and along with Youtube could be a way of promoting myself.  Although I do think it is hard as I am not performing in the same venue for a long time and it also costs to get posters/cards printed.

I have recently created a linkedin account: uk.linkedin.com/in/hollydanielsuk as I have heard various people get work from it.

Reality TV

TV is a great way to get yourself noticed. This way is a bit of a short cut as you only have to sing one song and millions of people are watching you.  I wish that shows like 'I'd do anything' and 'over the rainbow' were coming back as that is the sort of thing I want to get into.

Inquiry: Performing Arts in Education

How is the performing arts featured in the national curriculum in primary schools?

What is it you want to find out?

1) Within the curriculum how much time is spent on the performing arts?
2) Is it beneficial for the children?

I am interested in how children learn and that every child is different. From working in a primary school I have noticed that children either love performing or don't. I believe that some children don't have any confidence and therefore find it difficult to interact and join in. I am interested in looking into different ways of teaching children so that shy children can become more outgoing and will hopefully gain more confidence in doing so.

I have been told as a child I was very shy but I am very glad to have had the opportunity to participate in music and drama at an early age for me to overcome this. From working with children I have found that every child is different and will therefore find different ways to learn. I would like to research this more so that every child can benefit from doing the performing arts.

Links to my Flickr and YouTube account

www.flickr.com/hollydanielsuk 

www.youtube.com/hollydanielsuk

A Photo A Day

Inspired by Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences, I have decided to do "A Photo A Day"  The aim is to take one photo every day for the rest of the year.  I am looking to use this as part of my journal so that I can relate to a photograph and a caption rather than just writing.

I will be posting these photos on my new flickr account. My username is hollydanielsuk.  I have never used this site before so I'm looking forward to see how useful it can be.

I hope this will give me a more positive attitude and that it will be a helpful reflective tool in the future.

Task 3d: Critical Questions and Issues that Emerge

Do some very specific ideas emerge about your networking and sources?
I think that networking can be beneficial to everyone in all professions.  I have found that my network is currently quite small and I am finding new ways to get to know people and find more information about the industry.  I have recently joined Linkedin as I have heard that it is useful in getting work.  At the moment I am still not used to it and haven't got many "friends" on there but I hope to be on there more often and hopefully find it useful.  I am also starting to get used to google plus.  I have had it a while after a friend asked me join but I have hardly used it.  It is a great way to keep in contact with people and I have noticed that some people have friends who I know.  This comes to the point where some of my networks overlap where people are friends with people who aren't in the industry. I find this interesting as it gives me a wider scope of different people and sources which makes information easier to find.

Are your ideas, position or concerns shared by others within and/or beyond your professional area of work?
I have realised that although I know a few people, the people who I am closest to are not in the industry.  I prefer to keep my personal and professional life separate.  I am also quite a private personal so I don't normally switch between the two.  For example I have a real name and a professional name, although people may think this can get quite confusing for me I have never had a problem.  This is because when I'm working I introduce myself as my professional name and when I am at home it is my real name. 

Does sharing ideas and communicating with others shift your thinking, planning or practice?
I do think that sharing ideas and interacting with others changes your thinking as every individual has different views.  I believe that it can change your view as you hear the other part of the story.  I do think that I learn from everyone I meet as everyone has a different background and past which makes us all unique.  From a professional view communication can help others with songs or auditions but I have noticed that some people aren't as willing to pass on information as others.  

Does critical reflection help you decide what really matters and the actions to take?
From producing a journal I have noticed what is useful and beneficial to me and what isn't.  I always thought that I am organised and a good time keeper but from doing this course, I may not be as good as I thought I was. I didn't take into consideration changes of circumstance for example getting a job over the christmas period.  I had planned what I needed to do and because I have got offered a job I had to juggle my commitments around and found that I had less time than I thought to complete my first module.

To what extent do concepts and theories assist you in thinking about your professional networking in different ways? And do these different ways of thinking have some purpose for you?
I have found that the more information you know and can find out the more beneficial it will be for the individual.  You can never know too much so learning and reading about as many concepts and theories have to be a good sign.  From reading about theories you can then find out more ways to interact with people and therefore find out more information.  I knew from the beginning that my professional network is quite small therefore I have had to read theories to get them larger.

Are you left thinking differently prior to this part of the module? and if so how?
I do believe that I have been thinking differently as I have never really thought about reflection and networking until now.  I didn't realise how useful it can be and how essential it is in the industry.  From learning about concepts and theories I do think that there is more information out there and I now feel proactive to find out more.

Task 3c: Sources of Information

There are so many ways to find out information nowadays.  Theres the traditional way of meeting with people and talking face to face and a more obvious choice of searching on the internet.  

As the internet is becoming more accessible to everyone is has become the easiest way to find out information however I do not trust its reliability. For auditions I use "the stage" a online site that gives listings of mainly open auditions and information about them.  I do think this is a trusted site as I know many performers use it and it has never let me down. For researching I have used wikipedia, as it is normally the first link that comes out on google but is it reliable? I do believe that some of the information is truth but I also look elsewhere just to check.  I think the reason for this is that members of the public can update the website which makes it unreliable.

Google is a search engine that I use regularly and is a good way to view different links on the same page.  It is also very quick and lists the sites in most popular at the top which is very useful.  I do think that I take google for granted as it is so fast at retrieving information.

I do think that newspapers are the best way of finding information on world topics but although it is not much, you do need to pay which makes people use the internet more.  Using the internet is also more convenient as people don't even have to leave their house to get information.

The layout on the internet is so important to me as it makes it easier to read and understand information.  If the site I am viewing is just a block of writing I will normally close the page and use another as it looks too long and boring to read.  I have tried my best to make my blogs as reader as possible so that I can look back on my work and be able to understand relate to it quickly.  I have therefore put different size fonts and used bold and italic in places so that I know where the key information is.

I do rely on the internet far too much and I am now looking into other sources such as books and newspapers.  I did buy a newspaper recently and I found that the information is similar to the internet but written in a different way.  It also has a lot of relevant content which I found interesting as it all related.  In the future I will look into reading more books and journals as it may give different information that I may find useful.

Task 3b: Theories Relating to Networking

What is a professional network?

-a work related community held together by either close working affiliation or more distant but common work interests or needs.

Cooperation

Cooperation is closely linked with Game theory where one player succeeds with the help of another.  Robert Axelrod is a researcher and found the benefits of cooperating fully with others until you reach a point of maximum benefit and then to 'defect.'

Prisoner's Dilemma (picture below) is a game developed by Axelrod to discover patterns of behaviour. Axelrod described this method as"cooperate until maximum benefit produced then deflect"

Prisoner's Dilemma 

The following characteristics of an evolutionary game are:

• Be nice - cooperate, never be the first to defect
• Be provocable - returen defection fro defection, cooperation for cooperation
• Don't be envious - be fair with your partner
• Don't be too clever - or, don't be to tricky.

I do think this is important as both parties need to be mutuel in order for cooperation to be beneficial.

Affiliation

Affiliation is a social process that provides us with a network of support that will help us when we are in need.  (Crisp & Turner, 2007)

'adolescents spent about 75 per cent of their waking time with other people' (Larson, Csikszentmihalyi and Graef -1982)

I believe this was true with me as I was growing up.  I belonged to a lot clubs outside of school and I also went to school half an hour away from where I live so I knew a lot of people.  This meant that I was always talking and spending a lot of time with people my own age.  I do think it was beneficial to spend time with different people as I gained experience by learning about other people..

Socially is essential in networking. Growing up I seem to have lost connect with people and my network has got smaller but I feel that the friends I am close to will always support me and help me whenever I need it. I do need to improve my professional network as I am not close with many friends in the industry.  I am a bit unsure how to do this as I hardly go to auditions anymore (due to financial needs) and even if I did go to an audition, if you don't know anyone I've found that you don't talk to anyone or to talk to someone and they clearly don't want to talk to you.

Theory of Connectivity 

Social Constructionism 
Through social interaction people can gain experiences and find meanings of the world.  By finding these meanings we can find our preferred ways of engaging networks.

As a fairly recent graduate, social networking is essential to finding out about auditions and jobs.  I hope that in the future, the more work I get the more people I get to know that I get a wider network of people.

From working at a school I have got to know people who are in the field that I may see myself doing in the future.  From talking to various teachers and teaching assistant I have learnt a lot about how much time and effort the school has to put in, in order for it to run smoothly.  I am still uncertain if this is what I want to spend my life doing as I love the theatre far too much to give it up.

Connectivism 

Connectivism is a theory about learning influenced by ideas about the organisation of learning and information with special reference to the spread of the internet. (Reader 3)
Connectivisim shows how we learn from other networks and also suggests the original way of learning (by passing on information to each other)  It can be used as a professional network where individuals interact and learn. 

Blogging is a great way to stay connected especially on this BAPP course as it allows people to stay in contact and give each others opinions.  The learning process starts as an individual and then grows from meeting people in different places.

Here are some significant trends in learning:

• Many learners will move into a variety of different, possibly unrelated fields over the course of their lifetime.
• Informal learning is a significant aspect of our learning experience. Formal education no longer comprises the majority of our learning. Learning now occurs in a variety of ways – through communities of practice, personal networks, and through completion of work-related tasks.
• Learning is a continual process, lasting for a lifetime. Learning and work related activities are no longer separate. In many situations, they are the same.
• Technology is altering (rewiring) our brains. The tools we use define and shape our thinking.
• The organization and the individual are both learning organisms. Increased attention to knowledge management highlights the need for a theory that attempts to explain the link between individual and organizational learning.
• Many of the processes previously handled by learning theories (especially in cognitive information processing) can now be off-loaded to, or supported by, technology.
• Know-how and know-what is being supplemented with know-where (the understanding of where to find knowledge needed).

Principles of connectivism:

• Learning and knowledge rests in diversity of opinions.
• Learning is a process of connecting specialized nodes or information sources.
• Learning may reside in non-human appliances.
• Capacity to know more is more critical than what is currently known
• Nurturing and maintaining connections is needed to facilitate continual learning.
• Ability to see connections between fields, ideas, and concepts is a core skill. 
• Currency (accurate, up-to-date knowledge) is the intent of all connectivist learning activities. 
• Decision-making is itself a learning process. Choosing what to learn and the meaning of incoming information is seen through the lens of a shifting reality. While there is a right answer now, it may be wrong tomorrow due to alterations in the information climate affecting the decision.

Communities of Practice

"A community of practice is a set of relations among persons, activity, and world, over time and in relation with other tangential and overlapping communities of practice.  A community of practice is an intrinsic condition for the existence of knowledge, not least because it provides the interpretive support necessary for making sense of its heritage". (Lave, J and Wegner, E. 1991).

Wenger identified a community of practice as existing on three dimensions:

• What it is about – its joint enterprise as understood and continually renegotiated by its members;
  
• How it functions - mutual engagement that bind members together into a social entity;
  
• What capability it has produced – the shared repertoire of communal resources. 
  

This is based on shared opinions and focuses more on interaction. It is a social practice and is normally connected with specific social groups i.e. people with similar interests.


References:

Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age - George Siemens 2004-12-12


Preface - Robert Axelrod

Affiliation and attraction - Richard J. Crisp, Rhiannon N. Turner

Constructionism: the making of meaning - Michael Crotty

Legitimate peripheral participation in communities in practice - Jean Lave, Etienne Wenger