The Eyes Have It

When observing classes I thought the reason for the lack of performance may be due to the fact that every studio that is used has no mirrors. The children are unable to see how they look or focus on their facial expressions however when reading ‘The Eyes Have It” by Allegra Kent I realised that mirrors are not necessary when you have the right guidance.

“There are no mirrors in our studio, so right away we go with how it feels, not how it looks. When Paul starts a work, he’ll leave me alone and let me play and find my own way before he fills in exact eye usage. As the piece progresses, he starts to edit and zero in on specific eye advice. I follow the mood and the music and let them lead me. If I’m looking at the audience, it’s directly at them; if Paul feels that it’s too confrontational, his solution is to use the downcast gaze. I pick a spot on a diagonal in front of me. It’s an inward gaze.” Annmaria Mazzini

Working with mirrors is not essential however if a professional needs guidance then a group of young students are going to need it too. What’s the best way to explore this with the students?

“Poets, artists, and children look into the eyes for emotional meaning. Babies stare into their mothers’ eyes. It’s one of their first major connections after the umbilical cord- their mirror into the world. Of course, the eyes don’t exist in isolation. In dance, they complete the line, the gesture, the tilt of the head, and the beauty of the musical phrase” By Allegra Kent

From the results of the questionnaire it showed that the majority of students thought that performance was the main aspect of a dancer and that performance was what made a dancer stand out on stage, I didn’t feel that this came across with in the class. I watched the majority of syllabus classes which I found focused mainly on technique. I discovered that in free classes in which the teacher did not do syllabus, did a warm up, across the floor and routine the students relaxed and performed a lot more. Could this have been due to the spontaneity of the moves? The change in music? Or just a coincidence?

The school that I am working for does a showcase for the students every two years, for just over a year they study a syllabus solidly. I would like to do a little more research before I interview the principle of the school. I want to know her views on adding a free class for the students once a month to enhance their performance skills.

Changes to my inquiry....

When finalising the questions for my survey I decided to write down the questions I want answering first. This helped me immensely when deciding on the final questions. It has also lead to me changing parts of my inquiry.

I want to know how important performance is to the students I will be teaching. How they use performance as part of dancing even if it is subconsciously. By doing this will help me find if there is anything missing in there classes to benefit them expressing themselves.

From research I have made I made my own definition of performance. It includes five aspects;

Facial Expressions, Musicality, Energy, Character and Eyes. I have chosen to refine this to four due to one of the questions in my survey:

3	When watching someone dance what makes an individual stand out?
	(Please tick one)
	1. Flexibility			2. Performance			3.Technique
	4. Musicality			5. Dynamics

This made me think that musicality should not be one of my aspects of a good performance. I feel as if musicality is an aspect of its own, it’s extremely broad and could lead to so many more avenues.

My consent forms are printed and I am scheduled to observe 4 classes on the week commencing 11^th March. I have chosen not to observe the principles class. I have made this decision as the Principle is aware of the topic of my inquiry. I don’t want to observe a class and her feel influenced to make changes to her normal teaching habits based on my inquiry. I feel she may now be more conscious of the subject. The questionnaires will be filled in by the pupils that I observe.