Iris Professional Practice Blog

 THE LONG, LONG ROAD TO THEORIZING MY IDEAS

OK. This is my gentle advice to any newbies attending an MA course: Never, never, ever take a break during the course!...

Well, I didn't take a break, a break was forced onto me with changing house and various COVID-19 related challenges. This meant however, that my "train of thought"was violently interrupted, but I must say that the reflection never stopped! So, after multiple challenges I am finally settled in my new home, have my study books with me (long story) and started reading my notes who kept multiplying and adding to the "ideas" bag. My mind is now on overdrive, and I'm pulling strings from articles, books and looking at new nuances and trying to figure out if they add value to my reflection on the title of my research.

The development of 2020's Covid health and social restrictions, consequent government policies and the response by society overall has brought in new questions on the value and meaning of the role of arts in society and subsequently the role of dance forms that bring communities together naturally. It also emphasizes the influence of peer pressure in society and how these responses have cultural ramifications and influence institutions that may choose to react instead of devising active responses that may engender a higher impact in the full term. 

The same crisis also reflects the hierarchy of the Arts in as much as some areas and performers have the social backing necessary to survive in times of crisis while those forms that prevail on the edges of the dance sector have to negotiate creative ways to keep afloat and more often than not, perish. This is not simply a "survival of the fittest" situation, but a clear choice previously structured within institutions in the dance sector. These thoughts are circling my writing regularly, and I must say that living through these times and experiencing it first-hand exposes me further to the ideas that I'm trying to weave together in my thesis and encourages my daily reflection and is adding many, many notes around my laptop!...