Creativity: Dance, choreographing my own dance, and uploading on my dance channel
(Learning a new dance style dance in heels); learning the basic heel movements from my dance guru and then using the learnings to create my own dance and uploading the same on my dance channel)
Goal: To learn the new style, challenge and surprise me by applying the new learnings and choreographing myself
LO1
Did you identify your strengths and weaknesses?
| Strengths | Weaknesses |
| -Creative ideation | -lack of balance in heels |
| -quick at learning a new form | |
| -able to connect with the musicality of the song |
How do you feel now that you’re aware of it?
I feel like I must work on each of my weaknesses by devising an action plan to help me get rid of it and improve my versatility.
Why is it important for us to know our strengths? Or weaknesses?
It is important to know both of them, for us to know where we truly stand. If we know our weaknesses, we know the areas we need to put in the extra effort to achieve perfection and if we know our strengths, we can make sure we use all of them to put our best foot forward.
Did you work/ or would like to on your weakness
I did work on my weaknesses, I realized the heel balancing was off because of lack of calf strength and endurance. Further lack of experience of the way pressure is exerted when walking in long pencil heels, let alone dancing in them. For calf I started 1000 skipping every day and at home during the chores, or doing stuff as simple as going to the kitchen to get a glass of water; I would do all of that in heels to enhance my familiarity.
Relate one area where overcoming this weakness would have benefited you
It benefits me as a dancer because it is important for dancers to be versatile. Learning this new form adds to my versatility as a dancer.
LO2
What was so challenging and why?
Getting habituated/ breaking into the heels. I am a sporty-sports shoes-wearing person and the entire style, form, aesthetic of the dance seemed against my personality and my comfort zone.
Have you done anything similar before?
Nope, usually I dance hip hop and contemporary, usually try to avoid the girly steps related to dance.
How did you overcome this challenge?
Bear through the pain, wear heels while doing normal regular daily activities such that at least with the walk and those activities; I can do them as I normally would. That helped me get a hang of wearing heels, which later helped me turn into a dance.
How do you feel about having undertaken this challenge? Why is it important for you to undertake new challenges?
I feel happy having undertaken this challenge since it helped me see the other part of me(nontomboyish). It is important to undertake new challenges as being in the comfort zone wouldn’t enhance my growth.
Did you discover any skills you hadn’t known or learned yet? How could this skill be useful to you in the future? How does having this new skill make you feel about yourself? Why is it important to learn new skills?
I discovered the skills of adding the feminine vibe to the dance which usually is replaced by the rough tough girl. Useful to me in the future as a dancer- strengthens my versatility. Makes me feel great that I can do both now. Important to learn new skills to grow.
LO3
How did you organize yourself?
By planning deadlines for myself in my diary.
Are you usually an organized person?
Not really, I just make a to-do list for every single day, since long-term goals sometimes scare me. So I break it down into an everyday list, to end up achieving the long-term goal.
What was difficult? Planning or the initiating? Why?
Planning was easy but then initiating the dance and heel walking was hard, since it was painful.
Did you discover any skills you hadn’t known or learned yet that you had to use for the planning and initiating of this activity?
Patience, since you can’t master the art of walking and dancing in heels in a day. (thus, for the initiating)
Do you think planning or initiating anything in the future will be easier now?
To a certain extent, yes, since I will keep extra time allotted in my schedule for factors out of my control, like in this case, breaking into the heels.
Why is it important to know how to plan and initiate activities?
Planning ensures a framework and helps you stay in check with the deadlines. Initiating the plan helps you in the execution of the goal in mind.
LO4
What made this activity difficult where perseverance or commitment was necessary? How did that make you feel?
When I had to try new moves in heels, especially the ones that included squatting and bending, and getting up; I fell down several times. I felt like changing the move, but I committed to it, gave it time and many attempts, to finally unlock the moves.
What commitment was required to complete this activity?
Commitment towards the goal in mind. The goal towards the end was to learn the new form and then use my creativity to choreograph a new dance based on the new form learned.
Is it easy for you to commit to things? To be persistent? Why or why not? Why is showing perseverance and commitment important?
Being humans, it is not easy for us to commit to things and be persistent all the time. We lose energy, or sometimes out of stress, we tend to lose interest and lose our commitment. But at those points of time, it is important to show our perseverance and commitment, since we must push ourselves to achieve something we truly passionately want.
LO5
Is working with others generally easy or difficult for you? Why?
It is moderate as it totally depends on the person/people I am working with. When the people I work with procrastinate a lot, sometimes it is a bit difficult and annoying, since I have to give them the push and keep motivating them. If the person is active and interested in the task, then it is relatively easy. As such I don’t mind working with other people since usually, the burden is distributed equally.
So, based on your answer to the above question, during this particular activity, was it easy or difficult for you to work with others? Did you have to work with anyone difficult? How did you handle it?
It was easy since my dance guru knows me; so she knew how I would be more receptive to the knowledge shared. Plus, her prior knowledge of heel dancing just acted as a bonus.
Why is it important to be able to work collaboratively with others?
It helps improve productivity, helps take off the burden, and with more brains working, produces a better output/product/
What was the importance of teamwork or leadership in your activity?
It was important for me to take leadership since it is my project and I had to take all the initiatives; in order to achieve my goals. Teamwork, since I had to understand the new dance style, form, from my guru
LO7
What ethical issues were involved in this activity? Explain
I was the one who choreographed the entire dance, but it was choreographed at the dance studio. I did not give any such credits to my guru on the page, since the choreography was mine, however, she did introduce me to the form, style, and its basic moves. Part of me felt it was ethically incorrect to not cite her work or give credit for the same on my youtube page.
Did the ethical issues affect you directly or indirectly?
It did affect me directly since I was extra cautious about whatever information I shared on the page and it always lingered on my mind when I was uploading.
How did the issue make you feel? What was your opinion on this issue before this activity? Has it changed or stayed the same after this activity?
It made me feel guilty, however, as I spent more time thinking about the same, my opinion changed. She introduced me to the form, but the steps and choreography were mine. It is like citing my kindergarten teacher who taught me A, B, C, D’s in my research paper citation sector
As a wholesome, the highlight was unlocking the new moves in heels which I didn’t think I could. I demonstrated the LP risk-taker, when learning this risky new dance form(dance in heels).