Roanne Cox BAPP ACI Blog

  Trying to map and define your practice is definitely easier said than done. The last week has been a bit overwhelming for me in general - we all know life gets that way sometimes! - and trying to work out the parameters of my essay for module one has been a struggle. I did however come up with a mind map of different areas of my practice and learning. I am hoping from this I will be able to pick out elements that have helped to define my practice or made a big impact on my life. Dancing is a part of me and who I am. It has given me so much and I cannot imagine a life without it. The experiences I have had have been very diverse and have taught me so many lessons, and being on this course, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, has given me a lot of cause for reflection on it all.  I am yet to actually start my career in dance, but the skills and attitudes it has given me are what are currently guiding me through and keeping me moving towards my goals.  If anyone has a...

 "The capacity to learn is a gift ; the ability to learn is a skill ; the willingness to learn is a choice ." - Brian Herbert Learning about learning is metacognition at its finest. There are many different ways in which people learn and not all of them are promoted equally. It might even be said that an elitism exists about the 'best' way to learn or the 'best' type of intelligence; and these would be what are usually catered to in general education situations.  But the truth is, the only 'best' is what's best for you. Expecting everyone to learn in the same way is like expecting all fruit trees to bear the same fruit - your theory has no place in reality and if it did, what a boring world we would be living in. Even now there is a lot of discrepancy on the internet about how many learning styles there are and many resources still point to there being only four styles. However, more recent work points to six different learning styles.  As well as ...

  Writing Workshop with Peter Thomas- 14th October 6pm Writing has always been a big love of mine. Though I do like working out number problems, there is something about working with words that just makes me happy.  Language is weird. It's just a bunch of different noises that we string together and dedicate a meaning to, then to codify a written form we have a series of symbols that relate to one of the noises. It's literally just made up sounds and symbols.  But writing has become a huge part of academia and is often the frustration of many people. There are lots of different forms and styles of language, and when writing the actual content is hard enough, making it flow and sound intelligently formulated is just more to worry over.  The workshop last Wednesday with Peter Thomas was very interesting. We began with a Freewriting exercise in which we had 5 minutes to write continuously and in full sentences without reading back over what we had written. The idea of t...

Professional is not a label you give yourself - it's a description you hope others will apply to you.  - David Maister I don't know about you, but I find that rather interesting.  'Professional' is not a state we can proclaim ourselves to be in, as we might for 'happy' or 'nervous'. It is not merely the consequence of obtaining a job in the area you are skilled in. It is not a simple case of rising through the ranks from beginner or amateur to a higher level. You earn it. Every day. You could have the most respected, high level, high paying, reputable job in the world and still be unprofessional.  You have to - shock, horror - actually do things, be things and actively practice professionalism. How? Through your behaviour. Not just doing your 'job' and the tasks you are given, but your behaviour as you carry them out and conduct your practice. Let's look at a few definitions first: PROFESSION: any type of work which needs a special   or parti...

  "Ethics is knowing the difference between what you have a right to do and what is right to do." Ethics.  Why does it get so confusing and complicated?  Why does it get so messy?  Why is it not straightforward? Why is it not black and white? Because we are human.  Humans are confusing and complicated, humans are messy, humans are not straightforward, and humans are definitely not black and white. We are a beautiful rainbow of chaos, cultures, conventions, and connections. So operating 'ethically' in a world such as this is not only open to criticism, it's open to interpretation. It's open to intuition, understanding and debate. Ethics is an issue of morality, and since different people have different morals, their standards of right and wrong, of wise and unwise, of correct and incorrect, are inherently different. The primary aim of ethics is to determine how we ought live, how we should act, and how we should exist amongst others. That's a tall order...

Your value doesn't decrease based on someone's inability to see your worth.  Read that again. Now a few more times.  I just wanted to share a couple of thoughts that have accumulated over the week. Firstly, today I stumbled upon a great campaign on Facebook that is making a stand against the government's treatment of the Arts industry during the Covid-19 crisis - and their "advice" that artists and creatives RETRAIN in other professions because this one isn't viable - by selling clothing branded 'I AM viable' as part of  #SAVETHEARTS. A portion of these profits are going to UK theatre charities to help with the current situation, and this made me think about how accessible social media has made it to start up campaigns, petitions, movements and to come together as an industry when we are scattered apart and out of work. The page gained 300 likes in just one week, and it represents one of many voices speaking up for our beautiful, vital industry. The in...

This is not the post I had been hoping to write... but if 2020 has taught us anything, it's that plans change and we must adapt!! I had been hoping to write a blog following two days of teaching cover I had scheduled - my first time in a studio since March, my first time teaching since February, and my first 'job' whilst on this course. That won't be happening. Thank you, COVID19 :) No... after I tested positive for covid, teaching was well and truly out of the question. What will I write about then?  Well firstly, the stress of trying to find a replacement teacher in literally 24 hours was at least  fifty times more stressful than the knowledge I had covid. Seriously. Between some unavailables, some strict bubble rules, and the odd did-not-respond, it was not looking good.  Thankfully, we did managed to achieve the impossible task and as I said to my friend, 'I have never networked with as many people in as short a time before!'. Ordinarily I would not have giv...