Cael H, MA Somatic Studies

I forgot about the blog. So here I am. The beginning of this module was all the things- exciting, playful, feared, confusing, settling, peaceful, stressful, overwhelming, and ordinary. The first few weeks were me just settling back into routine. Working as dancer and instructor, for me, means that my life runs in these little blips. Sept-Dec is choreography, resetting in studios, and signing new performance contracts. So adding in the inquiry has been a juggling act.  I began research last week and I have LOVED it. I have really loved the human element of qualitative research. My inquiry is centered around language, and so I have observed classes/rehearsals and then interviewed the leader of the room and the dancers of the room. I am interested in looking at this collection of data in three ways: 1. Leader to Leader. In the various spaces, are those who are leading the room all feelings, speaking, and understanding similar things?  2. Student/Dancer to Student/Dancer. Within t...

Feedback:  the transmission of evaluative or corrective information about an action, event, or process to the original or controlling source (Merriam Webster, 2023). I am a feedback-forward person. I use dialogue and conversation to dissect feedback and to understand its fullest potential from the source. Within my various jobs feedback is something that I am continuously receiving. Although I give feedback to teachers and students daily, I am also receiving it from those in superior positions  (my boss', choreographers, and directors) and those I work with (students, colleagues, reviewers, and audiences). Adding school back into my life adds another layer of feedback and one I am still trying to navigate.  The feedback I receive as a dancer is not a suggestion, it is based on implementation and immediate change. Within my teaching and leading roles feedback is more conversational and subjective but often is something that needs to be acted on with the changes proposed. I...

Task One: take a body of work from an artist and relate it to notions of knowledge, certainty, and positivism.  For this first task I chose to look at the work of Martha Graham. Graham technique is something I have dabbled in a few times throughout my early 20's and early 30's and over the Winter Holiday I decided to complete the teacher training workshop via zoom from the Martha Graham School in NYC. It was a lot to take on while on break from the MA but it was really incredible and I was so grateful for the time moving my body and relating it to what I had been reading for a few months prior.  One thing that I love about Graham technique is the use of imagery, the explanation of breath, and the simplicity of the theory yet the difficulty of the execution. Martha's technique was built on "the simplest movements walking, running, skipping, leaping" (Bannerman, 2010, p.3), and the reference to the spine is often correlated to a tree or more specifically a tree of l...

Knowledge: facts, information, and skills acquired by a person through experience or education; the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject . Learning: the acquisition of knowledge or skills through experience, study, or by being taught. Information: facts provided or learned about something or someone. Questions taken from Dr Helen Kindred's blog.  Where are you now in your MA journey?  At this exact moment I am in the roundabout. I feel as though there are several different routes I can go, each with a destination that is unknown, yet I can't quite decide which off-ramp to take. I have been circling a few common themes and ideas about the inquiry and now just need to let those sit and percolate before I decide which one I will dive into. I am feeling more confident in my academic writing and understanding of where to access the research, and have enjoyed almost all of the texts I have read thus far. I am still continually confused with the school website and the ...

I have just finished reading "Decolonizing methodologies: research and indigenous peoples", by Linda Smith. After chatting in the MAPP Cafe with a few of you I wanted to bring forward a couple of quotes that have me reflecting on the research to come.  "Another problem is that academic writing is a form of selecting, arranging and presenting knowledge. It privileges sets of texts, views about the history of an idea, what issues count as significant; and, by engaging in the same process uncritically, we too can render Indigenous writers invisible or unimportant while reinforcing the validity of other writers" p. 39 This reminded me of the blog post that Matthew posted reflecting on the readings as mainly white male-authored, and how as a researcher it is imperative to the narrative that we understand where the research we are using is coming from and the lens this gives  "The basic questions to answer are ‘Where are you from?’ ‘What brings you here?’ ‘What are y...

This past week I had my reflective essay feedback session and review. It was so interesting hearing what Helen had to say in comparison to my questions.  Written on my sheet were: * Is my tone academic or juvenile? How to write "I" without sounding like "Gossip Girl xoxo"? * Struggling to separate Somatics- any ideas?  * My practice is all  three streams- how do I pull this to one if that is not reflective of my practice? Before I read these my feedback was given, and this is what I wrote down from Helen's conversation: * The use of I is imperative, it is after all from your perspective, so the writing matches what has been asked * I am in a Somatics focused MA so I need to pull together my HOW rather than comparing my experience or agreeing to literature, explain more about your feelings or sensation in relationship to these theories.  * I am focusing too much on separation, these are not so much 3 different avenues or different hats that I am putting on, they ...

Reflective learning.  Although I quite enjoy writing, I have never been one to write consistently in a journal, or come to think of it... I don't do anything consistently. My sleep schedule is all over the map from going to bed between 9pm-2am, to waking up at 4-10am. It depends on the day. Some days I work 14 hours, some I work 1. Some days I eat 3 meals, some days I eat 2, and some I eat 5. Depends on the day. Some days I listen to soft jazz and lay on the ground, some days I blast techno and scream around the house.  The most consistent part of me is my inconsistency. I am a juggler of many jobs, a wearer of many hats, and a feeler of many emotions.  When it comes to learning...I am the same way. Some days I can listen and learn, other days what you say goes in one ear and immediately out the other. I am a note taker- but on paper, never digital. I learn by observation but some days I just have to feel it in my body. So when it comes to reflection of my learning I find...

Journal Writing Experience.  This is a blog that references back to the journal writing experience task outlined in the handbook. It's one that I did a few weeks back but just never posted as I wrote it out on paper instead. As I re-type it with a few weeks more knowledge, it's interesting to read back and see what I was thinking in those moments. I wrote this journal entry in point form, not necessarily worried about full sentences, and as a "Q and A" style to ensure I stayed on task as I can often drift.  Once I completed the first part of the task I used the viewpoint of my dancers. Description, what happened? Bold the main events:  woke up, did my usual routine, walked the puppy on the long route today listening to a podcast for my AOL. Screenshots of the timestamps so I can refer back.  drove to work, running late, coffee in my mug, spilt.  chatted to the owner, completed my work load I need to get done before my surgery- holiday market things are good to ...

Even in my own language, I have often felt misunderstood.  I have been thinking a lot about language as I move through my AOL's. My parents are English speaking as am I, my Mom is a writer from Toronto, my Dad is a mechanic from Glasgow. Growing up I used words that my friends didn't quite understand (as my Dad had some influence on our Canadian-Scottish verbiage); "Hen" wasn't just a bird, it's a "Bum Bag" never a fanny-pack, and my "Tea" was more than a cup of Tetley. I haven't ever reflected on this, it was always just something that my family did that was "different". I was always described as "full on", "too much", "extreme", "big personality", or a "strong young girl". I knew I was "a lot" and I ran with it. As a dancer I was too muscular, as a fitness trainer I wasn't muscular enough. As a dance teacher I am "too chill", as a yoga teacher I am ...

The "doing". I am an action oriented person, and upon reflection an action oriented learner. It is really difficult for me to stop the "doing" and sit in the reflection without taking action on the "doing better". As I begin to notice the common threads that weave together my "doing" I am able to see these as my learning. But every so often I slip back into focusing on the "doing" and I know this will be my biggest obstacle in writing my AOL's.  I am currently working on separating my ideas, literature, illustrations, and quotes into four main areas which will form my four AOL's. I wanted to start with the first draft as requested, but as I started to put together thoughts I started to notice an overlap and bridges from one to another; so to gain clarity I have decided to section out all four and then pick one to draft.  The working titles for my four areas of learning are:  A Holistic Approach To Curriculum In Dance Empowerment...

When choosing my AOL's I used the exercise provided in the handbook to determine what the areas were and also what learning has occurred within the framework of "doing". It's difficult to name everything you do in a day or to even recognize all of the tasks especially those that are done more seasonally or annually but here is a brief snapshot of what I do in my work and in my practice.  Exercise to apply when choosing your AOL's : Write a job description for your role, what functions and activities do you complete whether or not they are in the title, what courses or training were required or helpful in acquiring this position, where within the organization do you sit, what is the scale of your responsibility? (Page 21 in the RPL handbook). JOB ONE: DANCE EDUCATOR  Develop class goals and outlines of achievements that help to frame the learning that will occur within that season  Create safe and effective exercises and technical drills that follow dance lineage a...

 As I dive into the learning process literature, reflect and dissect my CV, and pop important dates into my calendar I have affirmed that the way in which I learn is how I teach and how I create. A variety of thoughts, patterns, ideas, make up my day to day life and how I present my ideas to the world. Here are some of my thoughts, and hopefully you can follow along ;)  I have never been a linear thinker or singular thought contemplator, rather I have always created in a way that follows my sporadic trains of thought, and has my busy mind occupied with many things all at once. I currently have...15 tabs open, two notebooks in front of me, am throwing the ball down the hall for my puppy, the music on, and my coffee is brewing. I can not do one thing at a time.  Looking back to being a young child I was always a dancer, but never focused on one style. I always did a blend of ballet, jazz, tap, contemporary, hip hop, singing, musical theatre, and exam classes. It kept my cur...

Hello, thanks for stopping by, I'm Caleigh. If I were an ice cream flavor I would be Vegan Carrot Cake Ice Cream. I know what you're thinking...that's not a flavor, but in my neck of the woods on Vancouver Island there's a small little Creamery who makes this delectable treat and it is more tasty than you could imagine! The Carrot flavor is my grounded sense, my earth loving side, my ocean swimming soul, my rooted nature, and my calm in the storm way of handling problems. The Cake part...well I am loud, a fast thinker, an extrovert, have a laugh that could break mirrors, love life, and for some I am just a little too much.  I have always been obsessed with movement; I am a mover at heart. I started my movement journey as a young kid in many different sports, but quickly grew to love the dance floor. As a young adult I became a fitness and weights instructor and a group exercise instructor. I gained my Associates in Tap and Modern Dance Faculties from the ISTD and have b...