Bridgewater State University, Department of Dance Dr.

Dragon, Faculty Advisor

Advanced Individual Projects & Directed Study Final Critical Reflection

Due on Blackboard: Monday May, 7 by noon

"The problem is not making up the steps, but deciding which ones to keep."
(Mikhail Baryshnikov)

Reflect back upon your process of doing this project and clear examples:
Write a statement (4-5 sentences) for each reflective question and sub questions. Provide clear
EXAMPLES. (Please double space.)

1. a. What skills and knowledge did you gain from doing this project?

The knowledge and skills I gained from doing this project are primarily the teaching methods I

found to be both effective and ineffective for teaching choreography to a high school theatre company.

Throughout the process, I both researched teaching methods and applied methods that I had from

previous knowledge and experience and reflected on each one. For example, one method that I found in

research was teaching from various facings and locations in the rehearsal space (Cone and Cone 61). I

found this method to be effective, as it helped students of different learning styles/preferences

understand and learn movement.

b. How might you apply them in the future?

I am hoping to work with both high school students and theatre students in the future. After

working on this production and finding effective teaching methods for working in this setting, I feel

comfortable to work on other projects like this one. For example, I learned that improvisation is

something that was only somewhat effective in this setting, and it needed to be limited in order to be

effective. When working on similar projects in the future, I now know to only use structured

improvisation if any. Having a toolbox of teaching strategies will be helpful for me in the future when I

am working on productions or teaching dance to high school students.

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2. How have you grown as a dance educator and/or advocate for dance through this project?

(Describe 3 ways and provide clear examples of what impacted you).

I have grown as a dance educator through this project because this was the first time I was

teaching dance to high school students by myself. I have worked on theatre productions in the past, but

this was the first time I was working with this age group as the main teacher/choreographer. Gaining this

experience has not only helped me learn how to do this again in the future, but has helped me believe

that this is something I can do as a career in the future. Because of my lack of experience, I often doubt

myself and have a hard time believing that this is a viable option for me. I am grateful that I got to work

on such a successful production and prove to myself that it is.

Additionally, I have grown as a dance educator because I have gained experience in being a

student-centered choreographer. As a choreographer, sometimes it is hard to let go of an artistic vision,

but as a choreographer for a high school theatre company, my focus and goals had to be on what was

best for the students based on their skill sets and socioemotional factors. When choreographing, I had to

take a step back from what I thought would look good and focus more on what is best for the students.

For example, in my ballet piece, there was a lift I choreographed that ended up being more difficult for

the students to execute when doing it in full costume and while singing. One of my dance captains

suggested an alternate lift that ended up being cleaner and more comfortable for the students. While

watching the dance with the changes, I had to detach myself from my original vision and focus on my

goals for my students, including: the choreography clean and safely executed, the students are able to

add performance qualities into the movements and not be too focused on executing movements properly

to have good stage presence, and the students find joy in moving and performing. The changes made to

the dance helped students meet those goals.

Through this project I have found even more reason to advocate for dance education. While

many high schools have theatre programs, much less have dance programs. Theatre is different from

dance, but there is much overlap, especially in musical theatre. If students want to pursue musical

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theatre, a dance education would be beneficial to them. By studying dance, students will be better

prepared to participate in musical theatre productions both at school and after high school. This project

has made me want to advocate more for dance programs in high schools, especially for students that

already have a passion for performing and could benefit from dance classes.

3.a. What are you most proud of accomplishing in this project? b. Why?

I am simply proud that I was able to get these students dancing on stage and meeting my goals

for the project. High school students are not always ready to throw themselves into moving and dancing,

but I am proud of how much these students were able to do by opening night. They were synchronized,

energetic, and expressed joy while dancing during the show. I am proud that I got to lead these students

and help them put on a successful show.

c. How might this impact your personal and professional growth as you move forward?

This has impacted my growth as a dance educator because it has shown me what I am working

towards. Being a dance and education major can be difficult at times, especially when the field gets

competition, physically and emotionally exhausting, and/or my work is not taken seriously. Getting to

see my students dancing on stage, however, reminded me why I am working so hard. At the end of the

day, dance education is anything other than helping students find a passion and love for dancing.

4. a. Knowing what you now about the content of your project and the processes, what would you have

done differently? b. Why?

If I could have done something differently, I would have spent more time with the students.

Unfortunately, the school is two hours away from me and commuting proved to be difficult as my

semester was so busy, but I feel it would have been helpful if I could have spent more time with the

students. Although I felt I had a good relationship with many of them, I wish I could have gotten to

know them better and give them a chance to learn more from me. I also feel it would have made

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rehearsals more structured if I was there every day ready to go with a lesson plan. I think they would

have gotten used to how I ran rehearsals and kept rehearsals more consistent overall. For example, when

I would warmed up the students during tech week, some of the students were reluctant to participate, as

they were not used to warming up with me (I had only lead a warm up with them once before). If this

had become a regularly scheduled thing, they may have been more engaged.

5. What would you do/create related to your project if you knew you would not fail and if you had all

the resources (time, money, facilities, support etc.) you needed to create/ do it? Really imagine

something BIG! Imagine that you are absolutely successful and you have no roadblocks or glitches.

If I had no limitations, I would develop an arts program where students learn every aspect of

musical theatre, specifically dance. The high school I worked with offers theatre and voice/music

classes, but dance is not a part of their curriculum. If I had the resources, I would establish a program at

a school like this and help theatre students gain dance experience and skills in order to excel in musical

theatre performance. My students achieved so much in the little time I had with them, so I can only

imagine how far they would come if they were taking dance classes throughout the year.

b. What are the first steps you can take today to manifest your vision?

The first steps I can take to manifest this vision is by both advocating for dance education in high

schools, as well as continue to find opportunities to work with similar populations. Theatre programs are

often looking for choreographers, and I will be looking into working with other schools and companies

to spread dance to them as well.