Calasanz.MelissaAdylia 1
LEAP 198 Senior Project
Student Supervisor of the Glendale Community College
DANCE 107
Survey of Dance Teaching Methodology Class
Weekly Reflection Paper No. 5
There is so much about this week that
I’ve found to be enlightening, rewarding, and inspiring. As I’ve comfortably
found my rhythm assisting Dora with clerical and administrative duties, notifying
students of upcoming assignments, creating study guides, and anticipating
transferring class content to Moodle, I spent quite a bit of time researching
the lasted trends in the dance industry, and how the information relates to
interviewing and auditioning for professional dance opportunities.
During my research, I stumbled upon the
“Cedars-Sinai/USC Glorya Kaufman Dance Medicine Center “THE DANCER AS THE ULTIMATE
ATHLETE AN INTERACTIVE CONFERENCE ON THE MERGING OF DANCE AND SPORTS.” I
mentioned the event to Dora and was delighted that she was interested in
attending.
According to the flyer, “The fourth annual conference is designed to
bring together physicians, dancers and athletes to discuss the care, treatment
and prevention of dance-related injuries. In addition to offering 11 breakout
sessions, this year’s conference will also include a question and answer
session with celebrity panelists Greg Louganis and Cathy Rigby,” however, Dora and I left the event with the same
impression: it was an enjoyable event, but it provided nothing innovative in
Sports/Dance/Medicine. In my opinion, it was just a bunch of fluff, offering
little to no new insight on the care and prevention of dance-related injuries.
The Monday following the Cedar’s event,
was the Dance Audition Workshop I helped to arrange for the students. It was
led by Jim Keith, President/Partner/Agent
of The Movement A Talent Agency, and Jackie Sleight, Choreographer,
Director, and Educator. As I mentioned in previous Reflection
Papers, much of the information I have complied and shared with the class has
been met with underwhelming interest by some of the students. On the day of the
audition, it was terribly obvious which
students did not do their homework. In some cases, we wondered if they had even
read the flyer. Thankfully, there were several students who obviously
took the information to heart and did very well during the audition.
It was such an
incredible experience to witness Jim and Jackie work as a team to give the
students the cold hard fact of the dance and entertainment world. Jackie
Sleight’s generosity and passion as an educator appeared to have a tremendous
impact on the students. There is no doubt Jackie had an enormous impact on me.
It was extremely humbling as well as empowering to have Jackie point to both me
and Dora and say, “listen to what these two women have to say…they have so much
information to give you…be greedy it take it all in…listen to what they have to
say!” To be acknowledged by someone I admire, and respect, and studied with almost
twenty years ago, was so inspiring.
Jackie’s acknowledgement, and working
with the students to help prepare them to present a professional image as a
dance educator or professional dancer, reminded me how important it is to
practice what I preach. I realized I needed to start evaluating my experience
and my credentials, and began working on updating my professional image. I
worked on updating my website and resume-both of which I have neglected for the
last two years while I have been in the LEAP Program. You can find my updated
information at www.ControlledBurnFitness.com
By guiding the students who are hungry
for success, I’ve realized how much I really miss working with people who are
hungry to succeed and who embrace hard work and step up to challenges. Though
I’ve discontinued working in-person with personal training clients for the last
year, I began providing personalized online training plans; on-line and over
the phone nutritional guidance; and have conducted coaching sessions over the
phone; as well as continued to attend, participate in, and support clients at
endurance events. I am now even more motivated to quickly finish my degree and get
back to work. I miss making a difference! J
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