The importance of teaching grit, determination and perseverance in dance

 As I began reading and thinking of inquiry ideas I experienced so much confusion and doubt as to what area of dance pedagogy I want to look into  over the coming months. 

I spent a week reading and exploring one area than changing my mind and coming back to square one. I was forcing myself to read not really "feeling it".

From one idea to another via many articles, books and videos I found an area that is not only interesting but somehow close to my heart. An area of dance that I found not to be talked about enough in Higher Level Dance Education when I was training and still not mentioned frequently enough to students wanting to pursue a career in dance. 

PERSEVERANCE

In my journey as a dancer it was not my technical abilities or talent that got me to where I am today but my passion, grit and determination. 

Now as I stand before young people aspiring to become professionals in our filed of work I wonder can I teach them more than technique and style? Can I teach them grit? Can I ignite their passion and determination? Can I motivate them to work harder? If so, how?

These are just some of the questions in my mind at the moment and I'm definitely a lot more exited to begin looking into them and exploring this area in relation to dance education.

In my research I came across this very interesting Ted Talk which began my questioning.

I hope you enjoy it.

Could you possibly express your opinion on my questions above in the comments? I would love to hear what you think about this subject. 

MODULE 2 here we go!

 So here we go again, back to the laptop, books and study!

It's so good to be back and have something to do. I don't know what's it like around the world but where I am I can do absolutely NOTHING that makes me-me. No dance, creativity, travel or even work. It seems even the Zooming has slowed down as people wait to finally get back to the studio. So it hasn't been the easiest of times and I'm glad to get back to dance through this course and feel connected to the arts again. Exited to explore new areas of dance education and this Module is all about research!

After reading the handbook and having my one on one I have a general idea of where to start....so the next couple of weeks all I'll be doing is reading! 

God knows there's sooooo much to read and research. So maybe it's a blessing in disguise I find myself with so much time. All I need now is the motivation 😋

I find the academic language difficult and actually had to look up definitions of many words I never came across before while reading the Module 2 handbook. So normally after 30-45min of reading articles, books and journals written "academically" I hit a wall and my brain can't take in more. It has nothing to do with English not being my first language, I just don't understand why can't things be put into plain words that everyone understands 😂 One of my friends described studying at this level, researching and writing as learning a new language and that's just what I'll have to do. 

I've decided to do a little bit of reading every day while the world is still shut and hopefully with time I'll be able to understand more. I'll have Google at hand to look up definitions of complicated words and power through! 

I'm starting with Researching Dance: Evolving Modes of Inquiry while I wait for some more books to be delivered. Just like last term I don't know what I'm doing but this time around I trust the process a bit more and hope it will all become clearer as the weeks go by.

So how is everyone doing? What are your first steps this term?