Natalie’s blog - MA Dance Technique Pedagogy

After a week with 3 interesting online sessions, I am finally able to carve out  some time, try to collect my thoughts and express them here on my blog. First, I just want to make a reference to something that Adesola said as we began the 23/9 Module One discussion on "Seeing Your Practice & Self". She likened our online discussions to an improvisation. Oooohhhh, that's nice! That actually made me feel something and I instantly understood what she meant. As a tap dancer & teacher ( I also teach and have trained/performed in other genres),  I so appreciated the suggestion of a riff, then playing off of it, then changing the rhythm and sharing... I found comfort in that familiarity. It was an excellent analogy. The Skype discussions are something new for me. Like many, I now have some experience (thanks to the Covid-19 situation) teaching and taking class online, but being involved in an online discussion is different and new. I find myself feeling nervous, intimida...

Since our Welcome Skype on the 11th, I've spent some time reading and going through the Programme & Module Handbooks. I felt quite motivated last week and was ready to just dive in and get started.  But how? Where should I begin? What needs to happen first?  I am a planner and an "order of events" for me to follow is crucial. If I feel structured and organised, I feel calm. Abstract thought and a "wait and see" approach make me crazy and anxious! So the next logical step for me was to pick a handbook and start again from the beginning.  I started with The Module Handbook: Recognition of Prior Learning, making notes, noticing terms & phrases that I may have missed the first time and pulling out any information that I think will be useful for me. I chose this one first as I am hoping it will nudge my thought processes in the right direction and help me to come up with my AOLs - soon. I intend to do the same for both the The Module Handbook for DAN4510 ...

Did it take anyone else WAY TOO LONG to write their first (ever!) blog post? What should I write? What should I not write? What am I doing? And why? Am I really doing this?!?! Yes! I'm really doing this. For me. Yay! The present me and the future me are relying heavily on the past me, right now. Oh, reflection... After years of dancing professionally, I transitioned willingly into teaching and choreography in order to have a schedule more conducive to raising my 3 kids. Work and family life have afforded me wonderful experiences and opportunities throughout the years and for a long while, I felt quite satisfied.  Fast forward a few years and my kids have now reached an age where I can invest more time into me and my continued development. I was then faced with the tough task of deciding "what" to do. I do have a university degree in Kinesiology and it has absolutely complimented my dance teaching, but since my life's work to this point has been routed in dance, I knew...