Imagine Maya Angelou

I have just watched BBC 1 "Imagine .. Maya Angelou - Still I rise". Maya was an actress, poet, activist and a writer. She was a true artist and I hadn't realised how many famous and influential people she knew.

She was a phenomenal woman. Watch this programme - you wont regret it.

Task 1 b Reader 1 Professional Communciation Technologies

Web based technology has made a difference to professional practice because the everyday use of technology has altered how we work. It can be utilised as tools, a practical aid to assist and to bolster our knowledge. They were not readily available when I first began working in performing arts.

My initial thoughts after Reader 1 was that Web 2 can assist us to make decisions quickly but this   can make us feel there is a NEED to respond by return. I wonder does this give us time for preparation or is it good that we are always ready to go? When working in performance it is essential to allow ourselves the time to be creative.

I  read Reader 1 multiple times and I found my initial thoughts have changed. Part of this process has been my own researched aided by blogging and commenting and the feedback from the other students.


My current technology skills are limited as apart from research, I mainly use my computer as a word processor but since starting the BAPP they are improving daily. I assimilate it to learning a musical instrument, when you can read as much theory as you want to but you need to practice, to keep hitting the keys even if it is discordant in the beginning. Eventually, you will be in tune with the others and writing your own piece.

My own web technologies have improved as before this I had never Blogged, Flickr, or filmed an audio visual presentation. I embrace new skills and now find that I am doing the same with technology. I do get frustrated. Sometimes it takes too long (it feels I would be quicker to write in long hand and deliver the post by horse) but most importantly I don't give up.

Working in the arts, it may be assumed performers are gregarious and content to let the world know their every life choice. Having worked with children and young people with learning needs it was necessary for me to undertake DBS checks and to sign confidentiality clauses in contracts. I am a private person and respect the privacy of others. It is important to protect your professional reputation.

However, if used correctly, social media can be a very useful tool albeit for business or pleasure. Ensuring its ethical use is paramount. It is important to remember copyright must be upheld and un-authorised sources not quoted as fact.

Reader 1 Professional Communication Technologies aroused my interest and so to help me to familiarise myself with the technology and concepts I sourced Daniel Nation Lifewire The Web 2 Glossary Oct 2017. Typically the hyperlink on this didn't work but it is there.

Previously, the usual procedure for auditions would be for your agent to put you forward for a audition/casting. Looking for work independently without representation was not always easy. The Stage newspaper was an important publication eagerly awaited. The whole process could be protracted and time consuming and as they say time is money. Now with the speediness of communication and the advent of show reels performers are expected to be more pro-active in their search for employment. I think this also encourages self-generating projects which can help to keep your work current.

One of the articles I read was A Richer Education Experience about the use of  Web 2.
"driven by process - rather than content, such an approach helps students become self-directing and independent learners."
Higher Education in Web 2 Ann Hughes (Bellevue Consultancy 12 May 2009).

My initial thoughts have altered and developed. Whereas, before I would have not used my laptop as much, I realise that I am the one in control. I only need to read what needs to be read. I only need to respond if I need to respond. All the blogs on BAPP are different, one is naturalistic in style whilst another I like is very honest and acting is said to be based on truth. And yes, it  is a nice feeling when someone comments on your blog. I like receiving their response back to my response. The tutors are educating the students to teach themselves by all working together to share thoughts and processes.

Social media such as Blogs, Wikipedia, Facebook, Twitter et al are all tools used to convey, relay and allay information. They are practical because they rely on people participation. They would not exist if there was no desire to "share" promote or sell. Once a coined phrase of psychiatrists and psychoanalysts it seems many now need to "share". Is it the same kind of sharing? What does it tell us? It is possible some may need the approval of others in their life to make them feel they have achieved or our they just chatterboxes with typed words instead of voice?  Some more comfortable commenting from the warmth and security of their home and not face to face. If it is harmless and makes people happy then there is nothing wrong in that.

Either way it is in our lives until something new replaces it.

Once something has been invented it cannot be disinvented and Web 2 is a natural progression of how we communicate today and if used correctly is beneficial. I still want to read an actual book not kindle, listen to the news on the television or radio and buy a newspaper. If I want to use technology as a tool to get information immediately I do. It seems everything is there - at my fingertips.

Using professional communications technology can help you to be more professional and gives us the luxury of more time. Whether you spend it on your computer or not is up to you.

Fast Track Degrees

Fast Track Degrees 

Department of Education have just published the plans for Fast Track Degrees.

The representative of University Alliance thinks it is a good idea as although many prefer to take the traditional route and have the 3 year experience, mature students who are already working would prefer this sort of course. The course will be more intensive, with less holidays and more flexibility. N U S Vice President for Education is not sure.

This seems similar to the course we have already chosen. Do we already have this? Coventry is already running this module.

Various issues were raised in the interview including that the social element to a course is important,

I wondered if you feel we are missing out on the social side such as extra curricular activities to strength relationships etc which might help our progress or is this proposal a version of distance learning but locally?

You can vote on the poll if you type in Fast track degrees ITV news poll 24th February 2017.

The Female Diaries

After deciding to have an almost semi stream of consciousness in my blog I have began reading the diaries of two very diverse women who have contributed to the arts in some way. I have chosen to begin alphabetically as I knew this would ensure that I had to delve more deeply into my research.

I wanted also to have a thread, a subject that ties them all together, a common bond, whatever era they lived in, whatever their education, class or circumstance.

Louisa M Alcott wrote "Little Women" in 1868. Set after the Civil War the story examines the lives of four sisters. Louisa kept a diaries/journals from childhood until her death. They were not intended for publication. Her father was a New England Transcendentalist, a movement of philosphers and writers who adhered to an idealistic system of thought. Louise believed in the abolition of slavery, female emancipation and social reform.

  The "Lady Cynthia Asquith" diaries were written between 1915 - 1918. She was married to the son of the Prime Minister and kept a diary as a bet. Considered to be one of the most beautiful women in England she allegedly persuaded  J M Barrie (Peter Pan)  to change his will on his death bed and won the equivalent of "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" in her lifetime.

On tomorrows blog I am going to reflect on some of their diary entries and use them as a stimulus.

Finally, what do you think the question that forward-thinking Louisa M Alcott was repeatedly asked was?

"Girls like to ask, who the little women marry, as if it was the only aim in a woman's life".

I think I know the answer to that one already. Any thoughts? ...

Hi Everybody

Task - -Update Personal Profile and CV

CV - changeable depending on audience in mind. Confirm what you do at a glance.
Profile - More static, relevant and easily sourced and focused on what you do. General broader appeal.

After defining the above I realised that mine are as stated. Below is my Profile and I will add my CV later.



Personal Profile

I am a highly motivated professional able to work on my own initiative or as part of a company. Possessed of an enquiring mind, I enjoy developing projects, as I am receptive and open to new ideas and skill sets.

I have a sound knowledge of professional performance practices and this enables me to work within different sectors. I love to motivate and be motivated. At the start of the day I look forward to where it will take me.

I trained at a London Drama School and am a long-standing member of Equity. Professional engagements include a nationwide tour of "A Midsummer Night's Dream and "The Gingerbread Man" and adjudicating the Kent One-Act Drama Festival.

I have managed my own theatre company for children, writing, directing and performing for schools as well as acting workshops and performing Shakespearean plays on the National Curriculum. Working as a founder member of a children's entertainment company enabled me to studying clowning.

Working in all mediums my professional engagements include, radio, television, advertisement, show reels, training information films, stage management, directing and a hotel ident based on the famous Marx Brothers film, "Cabin Fever", where as many people as possible crowd into a small space.

I am currently working on a screen play of a well-known American Philanthropist and Patron of the Arts and researching the changing role of women in theatre whilst studying at Middlesex University.

"To Blog, or not to Blog: that is the question?"

"To Blog, or not to Blog: that is the question?"

What is a blog? Well, it is a truncation of the word weblog, written in diary-type text and usually in reverse chronological order.

We have all been asked to write a blog, to keep an on-diary. Discussing anything that we want to. Amongst other things it may help us to understand why each of us have chosen this particular course. Enabling us to share our knowledge as many have already started or continue to be employed in their given profession. Whatever discipline or medium, we have embarked upon in Performance Arts, albeit acting, directing, writing, dance or choreography, we are all linked by our creativity.

What is a blog to me? I see it as a tool to bring us all together, (important on an distance learning course) to educate, stimulate and maybe even make us laugh. It will re-affirm we are not alone on this pathway. I like to think that the novelist Jane Austen, who kept a regular journal, would probably be an ardent blogger now.

So, what will my blog be? It will be glance at the past, that was composed in the writer's present, to be read now and in the future.

By reading the diaries of women who have contributed to all forms of the arts, I will discover  their world, compare it to my own experiences and seek relevance and truth in the world I inhabit. I am going to do this as part of my blog commenting on any subjects or questions they have asked but I will answer in the present.

A blog should not be a soliloquy or even a monologue. It might be a duologue but it will be so much better if it's a polylogue with multiple people blogging and commenting. So, what are we all waiting for?

So, the answer to the question is Yes I Blog. I Blog therefore I am. "Carry on Blogging" (possibly you may need to look up why I used that title) and that's the joy of this journey. We will all bring, take, share, learn and ultimately appreciate how alike we all our in our differences. Until next time...

"I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read on the train."  Gwendolen "The Importance of Being Ernest".

"People who keep journals have life twice". Jessamyn West (Author)

"Art is a form of consciousness" Susan Sontag (American writer/political activist).