Group Discussion 28/04/2021

Yesterday evening's discussion group was lead by Dr Sam Murray and his fellow colleague James Grunwell. The main topics of discussion were Collaboration, Communication/Language and Taking Risks. They discussed each of these topics relating to their personal experience working together in their band 'Me and My Friends'. Throughout their discussion we were introduced to their music which was amazing and at the end we came together to discuss these idea from our own personal experiences. Although I've never been in a band and I'm not in the music industry, I was able to reflect on my own experiences where these ideas have been introduce. 

Here are some key words and ideas that I noted from the discussion...

Collaboration: 

-Cohesive structures
-Possible improvisation
-Group work
-Negotiation
-Focus
-Flexibility 

Personally I've had to collaborate with others when choreographing group pieces which can be difficult as we all have an independent vision. I can relate each of these key words to my practice especially negotiation, as I believe negotiation is vital when trying to work as a collective and equally have your ideas and thoughts accepted.

Communication/Language:

-It is vital
-Must be clear
-Reference points
-Reflection 
-Trial and Error
-Be inspired from others 

Communication is vital in my field as often when you are in a cast, everyone is from a variety of countries and backgrounds. Therefore communication is key and finding ways to communicate successfully if not through language are imperative. 

Taking Risks:

-You won't be aware of the response
-If you believe your product is good, stay true to yourself
-You won't know until you try
-Sometimes favour the audience amongst the risks

There have been times in my practice where I have taken risks. For example I co-created a site specific choreography piece but we weren't allowed to practice the piece at the site until the actual performance. We created the whole piece in a studio and spent endless sessions walking around the site planning how we were going to make the piece work. It was very stressful but thankfully it went perfectly and all our preparation before hand had paid off. 


I enjoyed yesterday's discussion and would be interested to hear your thoughts and feelings about it! 



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