notes from a time traveller

Saturday morning- it´s sunny out- plenty of space in the library- let´s get cracking!
I must admit, that I am going through an interesting period of my life at the moment. There is a lot of thinking, reorganising, a lot of nostalgia. Maybe it´s the fact that spring has sprung, maybe it´s what lies ahead of me, but as always I stand there with my suitcase packed by my side to continue my journey through life.
I have always liked to produce slightly philosophical blog entries, also in the hope, that they are readable for a wider public as I frequently embed the link to my blog in various places. (Facebook, e-mails to friends...etc.)
As this blog is about looking back, before going forward- I would like to share this video with you- an all time classic, many of you will know it already- but to me it is always worth taking the 6 minutes out to watch this....it makes me feel warm and fuzzy on the inside... ((O;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTJ7AzBIJoI

When I first started on BAPP, I remember being overwhelmed even by the thought of continuously using web 2.0 tools. Making an account with one of the largest internet companies was something that scared me- and is something I still regard with respect. Opening myself up to a wide, even unknown audience was something my brain could not grasp. Having even been on the verge of leaving Facebook (due to all the negative press about it at the time concerning personal data)- I took on the challenge- maybe much like a toddler being fed spinach, one small bite at the time and soon came to realise, that when playing the game of the internet you want to be very clear about what picture of your identity you want to leave out there. So I started inventing, who I am. What parts of my identity I want to expose. Sometimes to the bewilderment of people I know in "real" life...("Since when do you live there??") and probably exposing much more of myself than I want (I do however smile to myself, when I get dieting adds from Canada), but I am step by step starting to discover the chances and possibilities that lie out there, if only you respect the tiger that you are embracing.
Here´s my first ever blog entry...http://fionerettenberger.blogspot.de/2011/10/no-title-for-now.html
Of late I have come to think more and more about, what the internet and modern forms of communication, that Eric Schmidt so casually called "...the largest experiment in anarchy...", are doing to our brains and our sense of self. Are we becoming digitally illiterate? Are we forgetting more and more, because we can always have the internet at hand? Are we even becoming slaves in our dependency on the internet and our smartphones? Are the amounts of information we are unwillingly or not confronted by every day making us addled strangers to ourselves?

As I continue my journey I would like to share some of my thoughts on time. Time is probably the most valuable asset anyone can own- especially in modern times.
Working full time and also being quite ambitious about many things that interest me, has made time my favourite enemy. Especially regarding BAPP. I have not been able to produce the amount of work I would like to towards the programme lately, because we have been working on a premiere (long hours in the theatre) and went on a crazy tour to Spain (Northern Spain- in the snow- flights cancelled, luggage lost...´nuff said). However my mediations on time are bearing some fruit, that I can quite calmly plan the upcoming array of free days towards BAPP. I have started adding the value of time to my frequently updated BAPP "to do list" (i.e. "Write Blog- 1hr.", "read book XYZ- 1hr".....) and I have also left a small pocketwatch on my desk- not to observe time in a militant manner, but just as a subtle reminder to me, when I get lost reading something- or stuck on Facebook....(grr...).

So now as I am one hour over my intended time spent on pondering about the values of the internet and a short reflection on time, I bid you, dear reader, farewell and thank you for bearing with me this far!

analysing the analysis

The questions I have been surrounding myself with are concerning the issues of career transition and retirement of dancers in Germany.

The two most important aspects I am looking at are the historical background of transition and the present situation as it stands today.

The historical background goes back as far as August Bournonville in the 18^th century- as he has gone down in dance history as the first employer of dancers, who also took care of the social standing of dancers, especially at the end of their careers and if the education of a young dancer failed. I then leap forward a couple of years to give a short insight into the transition centres in the USA, Canada, the UK, the Netherlands and finally the IOTPD (International Organisation for the Transition of Professional Dancers), before closing with how it came to the founding and funding of a similar foundation in Germany. To have such a foundation in Germany sprung from a political inquiry and the work of many dedicated people in the dance scene- former dancers, choreographers and company directors alike. Basing all of the above knowledge on literature and web researches, this is where the first interviews come in- one with a long term manager of dance companies and another with the lady, who is now in charge of the transition centre in Germany, thus adding to the personal and human aspect.

In the second part I will focus on the present day situation- what does transition look like in Germany today? What is being done in dance education to evtl. facilitate a simpler retirement? Are dancers being helped in the theatre? What do dancers themselves think about the topic? And how well is the audience aware of the nature of the subject? Another question I have confronted myself with is the nature of funding and the justification of aid for dancers in a world, where dance tends to be the first thing to be cut.

In this part, my survey of dancers will play a role, but I would also like to illuminate the chances and dangers that lie within the end of a dancers´ career by looking at social factors and potential loss of human capital. Again most of my research is based on literature and web-content, but also on my own careful observations.

I hope this assignment will be beneficial not only to interested dancers and the transition centre in Germany itself, but also to the dance audience, theatres and the ministry of culture in Germany.

I am of course the one, who benefits most from this little excursion- I hope I can present my ideas without adding too much personal value and give justified advice based on my own experience as well as my researched findings.

こんにちわ!

Hey there!

I just would like to say "hi" and thank you for blogging about the campus session from the 22nd!! Cheers for all the helpful info- and Paula, thank you too for posting your slide share and updating the other ones on research methods, etc.!

I would just like to introduce myself to my fellow module 3ers, as I am deferring from last term.
I´m researching the "Transition of dancers in Germany and the psycho/ social aspects"...very interesting to me...but probably boring to most of you out there?? Anyhow I would be happy to hear from you to not feel entirely lost in the vast universes of study and the www!!

For all my fellow German´s on BAPP...ich habe mich als Sprecherin zur Verfügung gestellt, da ich ja wegs ("angeborener") Zweisprachigkeit evtl. etwas einfacher vermitteln kann...gerne könnt ihr mich auch auf Deutsch anschreiben- wenn´s hilft und einfacher für euch ist...ich helfe euch dann weiter!
Kontakt durch fionebapp@gmail.com!

I have also joined twitter and would be happy to connect with you there...@fione85 !!

Ok- so long for now....hope everyone is well and enjoying the last steps!!

zusammen ist man weniger allein ((O;

Inspired by Paula´s blog-post from the 11.2....I´ve been getting down to work with a little help from my feathered friend...Bert ((O;

living thinking looking

Sometimes life becomes a science our brains fail to grasp. Sometimes things happen in life and although we are overwhelmed by our own inner strength, we fail to continue things that had always seemed so important to us.
Having been forced to take a little time out, maybe however has been the best thing for me and for my inquiry.
As I write, I have taken some weeks to once again mull over my ideas and themes popping to mind- I have thrown out the bad and made time and space to allow for some newer and fresher ideas.
I have taken time to go to the theatre (which is what I am writing about), have been travelling a lot, exchanged my ideas again and again with family, friends and colleagues and have basically taken a long hot bath in what culture has to offer (music! movies! literature!). I have also been taking on another language, as well as teaching one of my own in a tandem programme- but that should be another subject entirely.
Due to my time away, I have started going through the "5 stages" one more time. Even though I had completed stage 3 in October and had already done some of 4&5, I am going back to stage 1- re-reading my own notes and blogs as well as the reader and handbook.
Ok...enough gibberish from me for now. I hope everyone is doing well and wish all module 3-ers a big fat "toi-toi-toi" for your oral presentations!!

a short note on the re-invention of the Rubik´s cube

So just a fast update from me after haven spoken to Paula yesterday and before jumping into a bus to drive to the lovely city of Heilbronn, where we will be guesting with "Blaubart" this week.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=UIM9bZPM4qM

I have been going easy on the Uni work, as last week-end´s meeting with my dancer friends as well as meeting with the managing director of the transition centre had really worn me out and I felt, like I needed to let things settle in my head a little, before pushing on.
I have a lot of information at hand now and I need to organise it and write it up in a manner, that is understandable to my audience.

Also on the matter of the audience of my professional artefact I have made some ground. The lady from the transition centre was also a great help in supporting my idea. As I am looking into what happens to dancers once their shelf-life has expired and they cannot dance any longer for various reasons, I have been looking at the theatre landscape in Germany in general and what funding is available, also to the so called "Stiftung Tanz Transition Zentrum Deutschland" that was founded in 2010 in order to assist dancers in their transition. I am hoping, that once my professional artefact is ready in form of a small booklet or flyer, the audience of dance performances (who generally seem to be very interested in that topic, as the question always has arisen of late, when members of the public came to watch rehearsals, etc.) will feel inspired to donate to the Stiftung, as it can use every penny available and I have observed members of the ballet-loving audience in Germany being extremely passionate about dance and happy to involve themselves in such matters where they feel they can make a difference by giving a couple of pennies.

I have also experienced some glitches (I would call them). Firstly I have not been sending out my survey, as I am too much of a perfectionist and keep on checking it and re-writing it and making a Rubik´s cube out of it. As I am not a professional social scientist, but rather a curious professional dancer I think I should lay off myself a little here. As I spoke with Paula yesterday- it is quite late in the process to be sending a survey out now, but through my discussion with the transition centre last week-end I also made some changes to it (in order to get some answers for them). I think my whole inquiry ought to be regarded as an update as to where things are up to in the world of transition in Germany and hopefully be seen as suggestions and inspiration to further research into the topic. (maybe I need to do an MA...after all?? ((O;)
I also made the mistake of giving the transcript of the interview I made to my interviewee. Enough said- as I want to stay within my ethical boundaries...but it has made everything somewhat more complicated and has also wasted my time, as I also transcribed almost every word that was said during the one hour interview I led. Actually in the Blaxter, Hughes Tight book "How to research" (2010) there is even a health warning to doing this....!! Oh...silly me.... ((O;
Ok. It´s all part of the learning process.
Keep courage and battle on, right??! So long....

don´t know, how he does it, but my canary always gets apple all over my desk

Because last night´s blog was written at such a late hour and I have a lot of crumbs in my head at the moment, that are waiting to turn into bread I am going to make another little entry at this point.

One thing I wanted to mention was the use of documents for qualitative data. Mr. Flick writes a great deal about it in the book I mentioned yesterday and I have been having some thoughts about it. 

Documents are a way of storing people´s experiences. In a sense they are the memory of our culture. Whilst some documents, say Anne Frank´s diary are of vital importance for the memory of the entire western world, my own ambling on in my adolescent journal about how terrible my dance teachers treated me, might be interesting to me one day and to a few select readers.

I have a book written 7 years ago, in which an author interviewed former dancers on their lives after dance. The book is written in narrative form, so therefore the accounts given have already passed through the interpretation and world- view of the author. Now, that I am analysing and using this document, the original experiences will again be interpreted once more by my own views and distorted by, what I am using this particular document for, in order to enhance let´s say a theory I have.

As I was listening to the radio this morning I came across an interesting project called "Highrise" from the Canadian National Film Board.

http://highrise.nfb.ca

I thought it represents a good visual to what I am trying to express with words, how the same thing, looked at from another point of view, in a different city, or coming from a different social background can look totally new.

Although I have not had the time to read it in it´s entirety I am once again taken by Peter Bryant´s latest blog entry. http://peterbryant.smegradio.com/?p=256

I would like to share it here with everyone reading this, because it offers great thoughts on the psychological aspects of learning and connecting to your fellow students on line- exclusively.

Thank you Peter at this point!

OK...nouff said....cheers for reading ((O;