Wednesday 5 December 2012

BGT Audition!

First of all I never thought I would ever have the confidence to audition for any TV competition show . Is a big risk because If you appear on TV and something goes wrong during your performance your career can get destroyed! But yes I decided to take the risk and audition with my singing group 'V FEMME' as I believe in us so much! We are all classically trained and we come from different backrounds which makes us even more interesting. For the audition we prepared the song 'Wuthering Heights' by Kate Bush which included 5 different harmonies, our own arrangement of the soundtrack and an elegant, modern choreography.

As you can imagine we had to wait for hours in order to be seen and that dropped our energy levels and excitement. We tried our best to keep our voices warm by singing the song and by going through the choreography as much as we could. Whilst we were waiting, a girl in the crew spotted us and asked us If we would like to do our make up and hair whilst being filmed! That really brought our energy levels back as we realised that the clip might be shown on TV were millions of people will see us!

Entering the auditioning room was scary but exciting at the same time! Unfortunately It wasn't the real judges that we see on TV but the the producers. Being in a group made me feel much more relaxed and possitive than If I was auditioning by myself  because we all used our energy to calm each other.

We tried our best and they weren't any major mistakes made during the performance, we were professional and entertaining for sure! The judges looked very possitive and they seemed to have liked us, but I don't want to get over excited until we pass to the next round, fingers crossed!

I will keep you updated with any news, I have a good feeling about this :)
          

Friday 30 November 2012

Task 3c Sources of information

MY CURRENT 5 MOST IMPORTANT SOURCES OF INFORMATION:

1. FRIENDS

Nothing compares to a face to face conversation with my close friends. I recently started communicating with people that I had a good relationship with at my College, but didn't have the chance to meet lately. It's so much harder to pick up the phone and talk to people you felt connected with in the past, if there's been sometime since you've met. Now is just part of my life! I realised that spending time by myself is helpful and constructive but being around people I like spending time with, is much more interesting and enjoyable as I socialise and interact with them, and that enables me to be critical and therefore more knowledgeable.
Another advantage of meeting up with friends, is that I find out information about upcoming auditions in my field, also I hear their critique about any choreographers, producers, directors they worked with in the past, and this way I know what to expect and how to approach them during an audition. Finally, I always ask their advice, especially If they've been in a situation that I am in at that moment, as they will tell me what to avoid and how to react in that 'envirornment'.

2. FACEBOOK

Facebook is one of the greatest inventions! It keeps you updated with all the news you want to know. You simply 'Like' the page you are interested in ( it could be a singer's, a friend's, an actor's community page etc) and once you press the button 'news', It bombardes your screen with all the up to date information you asked for! This way you can't go wrong, you are always updated and whenever you have a question, an opinion or a statement, you simply write it on your page, to a specific community or person you want to address this to, and have a conversation straight away.

3. LINKEDIN

I found out about Linkedin through someones BAPP Blog! This proves that you can get informed from simply EVERYWHERE! So Linkedin is a side for Professionals where you can get connected with friends or groups that interest you, and through their contacts find more people that can help you in your profession and keep you updated. Once you are connected you can receive news, job opportunities, apply for castings, have a discussion and many other things that will help you grow in your Professional Practice. Just remember that in whatever you do in your Professional field , you are always INTERACTING and being INTERESTED so that people can REMEMBER YOU and not somebody else!

4. STAR NOW

As I mentioned in my previous blogs, Star Now is a big part of my Profession. It enables me to display my personal information, my experience, any voice clips, showreel and images that I have. This way If a director for example visits my profile and wants to contact me, he can either message me through Star Now, email me or contact my agency. Last but not least, you can check out the section of castings/auditions and apply for as many jobs as you like without any restrictions, as long as you fit the criteria. Something really interesting is that you can put up your own casting and make reality what you've always dreamed of!

5. MY DIARY

I keep my diary as my temple. It helps me deal with all the thoughts that have been going through my mind the whole day. Is a real relief when I get it out of my head and put it on a piece of paper! I am more calm and patient at that moment to face all these problems and thoughts in order to find a solution or an explanation and think; why did I react this way?, should I have done this instead?, how can avoid it next time? By discovering how I really feel about certain situations I know how to face them next time and make sure I am patient and ready to listen.      

Monday 26 November 2012

Task 3b 'Theories relating to networking'

Reading this Reader was a challenge! There so many new terms and theories to digest, but I'm hoping that everything will become much clearer and understood once I start exploring them...

PROFESSIONAL NETWORK is a work related community held together by either close affiliation or more distant but common work interests.

! Your effective engagement of your PN may well impact on your success, promotion and development, your sense of worth and fulfilment, and even enjoyment in your working life.

! It can also produce benefits for you personally and the things that matter to you.

THEORIES OF PROFESSIONAL NETWORK

1. COOPERATION

Is an act or instance of working or acting together for a common purpose or benefit; joint action. 'The will and way to Win'. This relates enormously to our Professional Practice and the interaction we have with our Professional Networks.
As human we can be incredibly selfish and we forget that without the people that truly love and care about us we wouldn't last a day on this planet. Can you think of a person in your life that gives you everything without asking anything in return? Now ask yourself if you would hesitate to offer something to that person. Nothing compares to this relationship between you; is surrounded by a sense of trust, love, commitment and respect.
So how does this relate to our Professional Networks and the impact they have in our Professional Practice? The key word is ' Tit for Tat', to give and receive; If you apply this in your Professional Practice it can open a lot of doors in your career. By Interacting within your Professional Networks and by being an active member, your Colleagues will know Who to approach and they'll Remember You if something related to you appears. This means being popular in your field, and by being well known you immediately gain respect, your word counts and you are a trustworthy member of the group.
Although this could be very benefitial, it could also turn against you if you can't 'see' who's playing a game behind your back, and who's determined to keep everything for themselves. This requires experience and the ability to be critical. Is like being a pawn on a chessboard; You can either hide behind other pawns and hope not to get defeated, make a move and be open to sacrifice yourself for the sake of your team, attack by yourself and hope to win or make the right move and cooperate to beat the opponent! IT'S YOUR CHOISE.

2. AFFILIATION

Is a...

1. Concept in the field of social phychology that seeks to explain How humans enjoy and benefit from connections with others and the reasons Why humans 'form close relationships'.

2. Social process that provides us 'with a network of support that will help us when we are in need'.

It is not a coincidence that Hofstede (1980) found that; in individualistic cultures people may develop friendships in a fairly self-serving manner, whereas in collectivist cultures friendships might be more likely to be characterised by selfness and obligation. This confirms that the more we affiliate and interact with our Networks the more engaged we are with the people we want to be surrounded with.

We all need to affiliate, our tendency to form close relationships is an inherited that helps us survive and reproduce. A lack of social and physical contact, adversely affects the ability of the brain and the hormonal system to cope with stress. (Gunnar, 2000)

3. SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIONISM

What Constructionism claims, is that meanings are constracted by human beings as they ENGAGE with the world they are interpreting.

Through our interactions we can make meanings, which might be the VALUES we attribute to a particular network, our preferred WAYS of engaging the network or the extent to which we are willingly to contribute SELFLESSLY to the network.

So Social Constructionism explains:

* How meanings about the world are made
* How we relate to our Networks
* How we make our own connections

In order to become wiser and a master of your profession you NEED to be SOCIAL. No one can succeed by himself, we all need some support and someone to give us the right tools to work with, in order to gain the experience and the confidence to reach our goals. Being social doesn't cost at all, all you need to do is spend some time and show interest in people in your profession. You only have to do this if you feel that you can built a close relationship with those people; there is no point showing interest in someone you don't respect or you didn't have a good relationship with in the past, just because they seem to be popular in your field. Even though you might be a good 'actor' and approach them without showing any bad intentions; eventually the true colours will come to the surface and your true self will be revealed. Building a good image and making sure people have a good impression of you should be your priority.

4. CONNECTIVISM

Connectivism explains how networks both learn and provide the means for individuals to connect and learn.
It suggests that our classrooms, networks, the web are all inhabited with info from which we learn and make sense.

This definition encompasses many of the attributes commonly associated with behaviourism, cognitivism, and constructivism- namely, learning as a lasting changed state ( emotional, mental, physiological) brought about as a result of experiences and interactions with content or other people.

Constructivism suggests that learners create knowledge as they attempt to understand their experiences (Driscoll, 2000) Learning is viewed as a process of inputs, managed in short term memory, and coded for long term recall.

Karen Stephenson states: ''Experience has long been considered the best teacher of knowledge. Since we cannot experience everything, other people's experiences, and hence other people, become the surrogate for knowledge.

Something true but not always noticeable is that; If the underlying conditions used to make decisions change, the decision itself is no longer as correct as it was at the time it was made. So the ability to recognize and adjust to pattern shifts is a key learning task. ''Be informationally open, that is, for it to be able to classify its own interaction with an environment, it must be able to change its structure...''

Finally, the ability to draw distinctions between important and unimportant information is vital. It saves time and money!  



         
  





   

           






Saturday 24 November 2012

Task 3a

When I read the task about networks the first thought that popped into my head was internet (facebook,twitter etc); but after our 3rd meeting about Professional Networks with Rosemary McGuinness, I realised that networks could also be our family, friends, people we are close to. This made me notice that there are a lot more extraordinary things that surround our everyday life, which will help us succeed in our Professional Practice.

So let me introduce my current networks:

1. FAMILY

My family is a big part of me, even though I live in England and they live in Cyprus their opinion and advice always counts. There always supportive and protective and I would never make a 'big move' without taking in consideration how they feel about it.

2. FRIENDS ( in England)

Making friends in a different country wasn't as easy as I thought. You are in a different environment out of your comfort zone and you want to be accepted. After graduating I kept in touch with a few people from my college and since I moved to London I made some new friends. I don't often have the time to go out but It should become part of my life, as is really crusial for the bond of our relationship and how this will affect my professional practice.

3. FRIENDS ( in Cyprus)

I keep in touch with my friends through facebook and through Skype. I'm lucky to be able to visit my family and friends every Christmas, Easter and Summer!

4. FACEBOOK PAGE

This is my Professional Page on Facebook and is completely separate from my personal Page. I use this page to give some information about who I am and what I do professionally. This way if a photographer for example is interested in booking me for a shoot, he can visit my page and see my modeling work. http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Anastasia-Hadjigeorgiou/167316046740564

5. STAR NOW

Joining Star Now opened a lot of doors in my career. Star Now is a page that gives you the opportunity to apply for castings in Acting, Singing, Dancing, Modeling and many other genres in the Performing Arts industry. You have your own page where professional information about you is being displayed, including your experience, agency, measurements, pictures etc. You can join for just £12 per month. http://www.starnow.co.uk/anastasiaadjigeorgiou

6. COMMERCIAL AGENCY (modeling,acting,singing,dancing)

I keep in touch with my Agency through emails and through the phone. I contact them often because my agent is the one that will put me down for castings, and if she has to deal with hundreds of applications per day the only way to remember ME is through frequent contact.
http://ukmmagency.com/profile/anastasia-h/

7. ACTORS TEMPLE

I go to Actors Temple (Warren street) several times per week. There, I do classes based on the Meisner Technique which help me develop and 'grow' as an actress and as a person.

8. V FEMME

This is the name of my singing group; V stands for five and FEMME for women. I was selected through an audition earlier in October and we'll be auditioning for Britain's Got Talent in December! I have high hopes for our group as we are different and unique.

These are some of my current networks and they're all useful in my professional practice. I also want to mention that our blogs are a great network too, because by reading other people's blogs and by sharing ideas you discover and apply new strategies in your professional practice.

Something that I'm willing to do in the future is to built up my own professional website. I believe that this will be the best place to display my skills, showreel and my experience; It will be a very benefitial tool as directors, producers etc will see that I am independent and professional in my own field.

 Finally, I personally need to focus on my connections, as they are the ones that will keep me up to date about any upcoming auditions, and give me some tips of how to go through that 'next round' that will finally give me the job!

Because is more about, WHAT THEY KNOW INSTEAD OF WHO THEY ARE ;)



 

Sunday 11 November 2012

Task 2d Inquiry

Developing awareness and discovering yourself is very useful. You become creative and day by day you realise what activities and which people around you truthfully make you happy!

1. What in your daily practice gets you really enthusiastic to find out more about?
2. Who do you admire who also works with what makes you enthousiastic?

1. As an actress I find that connecting physically and emotionally with other actors gets me really enthousiastic! I recently started attending the repetition classes at 'The Actors Temple' and I found out that I am not afraid to get out from my little box and get exposed! I personally adore Sanford Meisner http://www.neighborhoodplayhouse.org/meisner.html who developed the Meisner technique; he opened the eyes of so many actors and made them see into, understand and breath life into a stage character. This technique is bringing the actor intimate and practical knowledge of himself; this is to free him of habits which prevent him from behaving directly from the impulses of his true nature and it is the objective that Constantine Stanislavsky had in mind in stating his formulations of acting laws. The goal of the Meisner Technique is: ''To live truthfully under given imaginary circumstances.''
I really want to find out more about this technique and through experiencing it become a 'complete' actress.

2. I admire my acting teacher Mark Wakeling http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Wakeling who helped me come out of my shell as an actress but especially as a person! He showed me the pathway of true emotion and helped me see the difference between pretending and being real. I recomend this course to whoever wants to become an actor or believes that being able to express yourself truthfully is a joy of life! Is Your turn to try! For information visit http://www.actorstemple.com/

1. What gets you angry or makes you sad?
2. Who do you admire who shares your feelings or has found a way to work around the sadness or anger?

1. During the Introduction week of Meisner Technique I realised that I stopped focusing on myself whilst doing the repetition exercise but instead I started focusing 'on the other person.' Some people found it hard to do that due to previous experiences in their lives or other personal reasons. Because of this I ended up giving my all but not getting anything in return. This made me both angry and sad; how do people choose to be completely careless and passive? It's so frustrating! I felt really sad when I saw an actor being ready to express his sadness with tears but then instead of letting go, he decided to wear a fake smile on his face and hide his true feelings.

2. My friend Siobhan who is doing the second part of the course and has more experience, she explained to me that some people need more time to realise What Is that hold's them back from 'being free.' This can either be habits of mind or really deep and painful experiences that are hard to let go. Siobhan is one of the few people in my life that sees IN me and always advises me to let go and not feel embarrassed to express my feelings. She's always next to me in hard and good times in my life and I am always there for her too. We both help each other and find ways to get out our sadness or anger but also find a solution to our problems.

1. What do you love about what you do?
2. Who do you admire who also seems to love this or is an example of what you love?

1. I love the fact that I can express my feelings without the thought that I might hurt someone. It's so easy to fall in the trap of thinking and we often if not always, hold back and not say what we feel. I know that it sounds selfish but by doing this we actually put ourselves in a dark shelf and forget how WE really feel. This acting course taught me alot and I am proud to say that I, yes me, flirted a guy for the First time Ever! Usually the opposite happens but This time I just followed my instinct and said out loud what I feel, and yes it felt good!

2. My brother Marios is definitely an example of what I love! Maybe is based on the fact that he's only 12 and when you are this young you don't often think before you say something. If somebody hurts him or makes him sad he'll react and say it straight away, he won't think of the consequences and that's why I admire him!

1. What do you feel you don't understand?
2. Who do you admire who does seem to understand it or who has found a way of making not understanding it interesting or beautiful, or has the same questions as you?

1. I don't understand how do bad or average actors get to be in well known movies or plays. Is just a shame that some directors and producers Don't See the real actors and just consider (some) famous people the 'right' people for their movies or plays as They are the ones who will bring the money! Why do they not give a chance to the real actors, and not consider money as the most important thing but instead consider the audience's view?

2. My friend Siobhan has the same view as me. We could both tell if an actor just Sais lines or if the lines actually have a meaning for him and they come out from his heart. The audience is always the best judge as they can tell just by seeing if something is fake or not.          
  
              


Thursday 8 November 2012

Task 2c Reflective Theory

 Reflexion is...
* The day to day activity we engage in and gives us information that we can draw from experience.
* A tool that helps you to see where things are missing and enables you to find them.
* The idea that inner processes exist and can engage with experience.

These are some meanings about reflexion but by the end or during an experience, You are the judge of what does reflexion mean to you and how it affects you. Remember; there is No right or wrong.

In order to reflect on our experiences we need to be aware of our 'Reflective thought'. This is the tool that will show us ways to be aware that we are having an experience, to find links to other experiences and to find meaning for ourselves.
You will only learn by an experience if you are active, aware and persistent and take consideration of any belief or form of knowledge from the beginning until the end of an experience.

I would like to share an experience with you and later on I will explain how I reflected on it.

On Tuesday the 30th of October I attended the 2nd meeting of Module 1 which was based on 'Reflexion'.
There we met Adesola Akinleye who helped us understand the meaning of Reflexion and the ways we can approach our experiences in order to 'invest' on a brighter future. Here is one of the exercises we did during the class.

We had to split in two's and hold the ends of a long stick with our fingertip. The rules were to keep silent whilst moving the stick around and if we drop it to yell hooray!

The first time I tried it with my partner I realised that it was something new to me. I kept watching her moves in order to connect and follow her skepticism. It wasn't long until I found out how to keep my fingertip on the stick whilst turning, bending and experimenting unusual moves. I have to admit that I cheated sometimes to save the stick from falling down but when it did fall I realised that it wasn't such a big deal! You always learn from your mistakes, so next time I applied a different way of reacting and I concentrated on how my partner works. She used her patience and calmness to move slow, in control and with thought behind every move and I used my imagination and experimentation to try new and interesting positions and moves. You always have to connect with your eyes and use your strenghts to achieve a good result.
This experience tought me to be patient, observe, react and connect with the other person (without talking).

Now I want to link my experience with the learning cycle and explain how it applies on me.

David Kolb's idea of a learning cycle is a reflexion on How you learn and a Tool for Approaching experience. The cycle consists of four stages:

* Concrete Experience (having an experience)
* Reflective Observation (reflecting on the experience)
* Abstract Conceptualisation (learning from the experience)
* Active Experimentation (trying out what you have learned)

You don't need to follow a pattern you can enter the cycle where you feel your experience reflects the most.
In my case I entered the cycle on the 'concrete experience' as it was something completely new to me. Gradually, by observing and learning from it I managed to understand the purpose of the exercise and finally make it an experience. If I was to do something that I am more familiar with, like sing in front of an audience; I would have entered the cycle on the 'active experimentation'. I am performing a song which is something that I'm used to doing, but I am still learning from the experience, so next time I will apply what I've learned in order to improve and become better in my profession.

Dewey's idea about reflective thought and experience is based in active, persistent and careful consideration of any belief or supposed form of knowledge in the light of the grounds that support it and the further conclusions to which it tends.

I as a person believe and consider education one of the most important things in life, but to be educated doesn't mean that you are fully engaged and experiencing life to the fullest. Knowledge is important but being engaged with your inner thoughts and feelings is more critical in order to capture the right moment and make it an experience. To have knowledge of your inner feelings but using what you have learnt throughout life are the key ingredients that will help you become a better version of yourself!

Donald Schon introduced the idea of reflexion-in-action, and reflexion-on-action. To me both ways of reflexion are equally important. If you reflect IN the middle of an experience, it means that you are paying full attention and you're concentrating on what you are doing IN the moment. If you are looking back ON the experience, it means that you're taking in consideration what you have applied earlier and you are answering and solving any queries you might have noticed after the experience.

Jennifer Moon states the fact that is important to find ways to articulate tacit knowledge and experiences, because they are real when their put into words but they also have understanding and meaning in them that are important to access. I believe that tacit knowledge and experiences are real even if they haven't been put into words; if you have experienced something that has really touched you then it's real. You can feel it, you can sense it, is there; is just something that you can't express with words but it still has a meaning for you and that makes it important.

Michael Polanyi also disagrees with the statement that we have to articulate tacit knowledge and experiences, by simply saying: 'I shall consider human knowledge by starting from the fact that we can know more than we can tell.'

Miranda Tufnell and Chris Crickmay have a different idea on how we can approach reflexion. This idea is called muscle memory; something that dancers and people in other practical fields are more familiar with.
By using your unconscious mind during the creative process you stop being aware and in control of yourself; you just follow your instict and then everything comes naturally. The secret is to push away any thoughts and just concentrate on what you are trying to achieve in the moment. This way you are reflecting in action and by looking back at it, you are reflecting on action. Is a very useful technique which comes through practice and experience and it can be very satisfying once achieved.

'Without a sense of the body, of sensation and feeling, we lose connection to what is around and with us, to the immediate and present moments of our lives' (Tufnell and Crickmay, 2004).     

 





 

                                                            







Friday 2 November 2012

Task 2a Reflective Journal

''Writing is a means of puzzling through what is happening in our work and our personal lives'' D. Boud (2001).

Writing and expressing yourself is one of the most liberating things. Is like being in a boat in the middle of the ocean and all you know is that you need to survive. You might not know your destination but whilst you are fighting to stay alive; you know that you have grown and developed as a person and that you've become wise enough to discover where is the shore...

Before I started exploring my feelings and thoughts, I had to figure out and expirement on different ways of writing, in order to find the way that inspired me the most. I realised that the most suitable way of writing for me, is a combination of Description, Initial Reflexion and Evaluation.
Describing, Reflecting and Evaluating through my day helped me connect with myself and understand what I should improve or avoid next time. I don't depend on these methods only though... If I see something that really inspires me I'll take a picture of it and reflect on it later on. I also love cooking so I put lots of imagination and thought behind my ingredients. Depending on my mood I decide what I want to cook everyday; for examble a spicy meal is always on the list when I feel happy and adventurus! Dancing is another way of expressing myself; I love improvising in front of the mirror and tell a story through a variety of moves...

Throughout this adventure of writing a journal, I discovered that my emotions change easily from time to time; so I always make sure to lock in my head what made me become sad after being happy or happy after being angry etc.

And Remember:

Reflection is a tool that helps you to see where things are missing and enables you to find them.   

Wednesday 31 October 2012

Task 2b 'Journal writing experience'

So here I am discovering myself by writing thoughts, feelings, emotions and facts. Is interesting how much therapy you can get by letting yourself go and not being afraid to reveal the real you.
Yesterday I watched an acting class which uses a 'listen and respond' mechanism. This 'ping pong of emotions' as I call it, helps you dig deep into feelings you never thought you could find in you. By repeating thoughts that come in your mind and by observing the person opposite you, you realise that you can only gain by giving. It was astonishing watching the actors fighting with themselves, trying to push any fake feelings and behaviour away and letting their true and original thoughts come forward.
I wanted to mention this event as I feel that it links with the Reflective writing. How many times did we take for granted that people might react in a negative way towards us? We need to stop thinking that we are the centre of attention and that people might judge our behaviour and actions. Instead we need to feel free to act and this is what we will learn by expressing ourselves through this journal.

Here are the different methods of writing I applied in my reflective diary:

DESCRIPTION
I found this method very informative but not satisfying at all. I felt restricted as I could only mention facts and not feelings, thoughts or emotions. This method of writing didn't inspire me at all and I wouldn't use it for my reflective journal.

INITIAL REFLEXION
This method fitted like a glove! I couldn't have asked for more as it gave me the opportunity to write in a descriptive, personal and emotional level. I easily reflected my thoughts and truly felt every single word that I've written. The only ingredient missing from this method is the 'conclusion'. For example to include if I learned something from this experience or what to avoid next time; but again is YOUR journal so you can add whatever you want and make it YOUR OWN.

LIST
God! Is like writing a list for the supermarket! Eggs, milk, bread oh no I forgot to mention how I feel!? Are you kidding me? I felt like a robot whilst writing down my thoughts and feelings; this method does not make sense to me at all. It doesn't have any consistency and I'm sure that if I turned back and had a look at it a couple of years later, I wouldn't understand a word of what I've written. So its a BIG FAT NO for this method!

EVALUATION
It was fun at the beginning whilst remembering the highlights and lowlights of my day. Later on I found interesting the fact that I could mention what I've learned and discovered but also what I should avoid doing next time. Other than that I felt that I was writing a document which is just there for people to read and does not enable them to get involved with it. It's a shame that is missing the important factor which is mentioning your true feelings. I would use this method as a supplement to the 'Initial reflexion' method.

GRAPHS,CHARTS AND DIAGRAMS
I didn't find any fluidity or sense behind this method but I could see how it might work for other people. Perhaps is more practical and logical and is right for somebody that doesn't have the time, but still wants to write down things that inspired him/her throughout the day; as well as setting up goals they might want to apply in the future.

WHAT IF
It was interesting imagining what might have happened if I missed the bus or if somebody that I fancy was flirting me. Although these are great suggestions or perhaps tricky situations that they might change our future; we need to keep in mind that they're NOT REAL. I truly believe that everything happens for a reason and that is not healthy to leave in an imaginary world for a long time; this is because we are missing what is realistically happening to us, which is the REAL life!

ANOTHER VIEW
Is hard to accept any criticism or advise because as human beings we can be selfish and egoistic. Seing myself through someone else's eyes was a challenge; whether that was a person or a subject. It was interesting to stand back and really see and understand what I might have done wrong. This could be a good exercise for me to help me improve as a person.

Here are some other methods you can use. I haven't tried them all yet but I will definitely expiriment on them and let you know how it goes.

 * Song writing * Cooking * Dancing * Dreaming/Thinking * Capturing moments (pictures)
 * Writing poems * Filming * Texting/emailing yourself throughout the day * Recording yourself

     
             

    

Wednesday 24 October 2012

Writing Session- paragraph of Personal Experience

Last week I did a snakeshoot! Did I think that was the right thing for me? I'm sure it was as I loved every second of it! Touching and getting familiar with a python made me realise that snakes are not as scary as everybody thinks; instead they have a magic ability to calm and 'hypnotize' you... I enjoyed trying a variety of poses whilst holding the 20kg snake and I loved getting into the mood and atmosphere by cooperating with it. This was a totaly new experience that helped me take my fears away and if you asked me if I'd to it again, the answer is YES.

I posted some pictures of the shoot on my flickr address below
http://www.flickr.com/photos/88299419@N04/



 

Tuesday 23 October 2012

Writing Session

Today I attended the Writing Session with Peter Thomas. This seminar helped me understand the ways I should approach my writen assignments In order to become familiar with the level of writing that is academically approved but also easy to read by other 'communities'.

It's usually harder to get across your thoughts on a piece of paper because you have to think about the structure, language and content of writing in order for the reader to understand your point.

Before you publish your work think...

1. Am I clear enough?
2. Am I accurate?
3. Am I using the appropriate language to my needs?
4. Can my work be easily read?
5. Does the content of each paragraph have a point?
6. Does the main topic/meaning come across?

Remember...

1. Focus on the main point and idea.
2. Contain a topic sentence that summarises your point.
3. Contain support that explains and provides evidence and justifies your point.

Paula mentioned the 'American' way to structure each paragraph so that you end up with a complete essay

* Topic points
* Key points
* Concluding sentence
Make sure you use 3-5 sentenses in each paragraph!

Let me explain what we did during the session in order to understand; How to approach and Apply a written task so that the reader gets the Meaning we want to bring across as soon as possible.

1.Peter asked us to think of an event or a performance we recently watched or we've been part of.
2.Then we had a couple of minutes to brain storm and write down any words that came on our mind about the experience we had.
3.After that we took 5 minutes to write our personal experience Without stopping or correcting our work.
4.The next task was to highlight the key words within the text.
5. Then we had to rewrite it but concentrate on the points that we highlighted.
6.Last but not least, we wrote a paragraph describing the most important points within the text but this time we had to think about the reader.
7. Finally we presented our paragraph to the rest of the students and we all shared our thoughts on how we can improve.

My thoughts about the task:

The task was quite challenging at the beginning as we had to continue writing even if we did a mistake or even if we didn't know what to write! The good thing about this exercise is that it brings out your initial thoughts and because you are not aloud to stop, you write the first thought and feeling that comes up in your mind, which is the original!
As we continued focusing on the key words the work became much easier; we just concentrated on the important events and left behind any unnecessary comments. During the end of the task when we had to present it everything fell into place, as we had a much better idea on how to make the content of the text interesting for the reader!
Finally we gave constructive criticism to each other by mentioning points like; ''Talk about the subject and then the experience'' or '' Build up your thoughts- Think how enjoyable and interesting is the content for the reader''. Peter mentioned that the next step was to rewrite the paragraph but because we run out of time he asked us to post the paragraph on our blog. I'll be posting mine tomorrow so keep an eye on it!

I'd like to end up with some advise and a little quote...
My advice will be Not to overthink but to Think wisely and always remember to write the point in order to grab the reader's attention!

And as Mark Thain said..  'When in doubt, strike it out!'

  






        

Monday 22 October 2012

Thoughts for the Upcoming Journal

The last time I've ever written a diary was in Primary School! But let's not panic; if I remember well I really enjoyed writing down thoughts and discovering how I feel. I loved the idea of having my own privacy and space to express what made me either happy, angry or sad and how I could change or improve things next time to become stronger as a person.
I believe that having our own journal will improve our thinking and the ways we engage in everyday activities but it's also a way to find and give meaning to what we are doing. Of course writing is not the only way; as we can explore and reach our deepest emotions and feelings in many other different ways. For example if I want to say thank you to a close friend I usually make my delicious choc brownies and sometimes when I feel really happy I start dancing to the craziest rhythm you could ever imagine! Well I guess it works for me ;)
I can't wait to begin my Journal and share with you this experience!

      

Saturday 13 October 2012

Task 1b Reader 1

Professional Communication Technology
                                                                                        
How many times a day do you check facebook, your email, or twitter? These are just some examples of Web 2.0 that we use everyday! Have you realised how much has communication and technology developed? Sometimes I just wonder how people managed to survive without all these important for us smart phones and google maps in the past...
                                                                                                                                                               
How lucky are we to be able to surf and find information about absolutely any subject, share it, comment on it and the list goes on and on... But whether the information is truth or not is only up to you to find out. You can't depend on google or wikipedia for example; searching in depth the author of the article and specific valid sources of infofmation at the biography section is crucial for your image as a professional. On the other hand if it's personal information you want to write about then that's up to you if you want to share it with others!

 So it's true! Technologie and Networking have changed the nature and ways of how we work and the way we collaborate with others. In the past we only had Web 1.0 which only gave us the opportunity to have one to one communications between the creator and the reader. This meant putting forward less ideas and suggestions which wasn't practical or easy to reach by others. Web 2.0 on the other hand gave the green light for the reader and creator to interact but also the reader to become the creator. This means the users are able to make formal and informal connections, share information, anylise different views and opinions and be critical.


Web 2.0 gave us the chance to:
-create
-choose ( how our platform looks, who we follow, download and share info with)
- make succesful building of relationships and democratisation of media
- easily engage with communities
- take control of production and access othe people's data
- freedom to access and interact

What more could we ask for? We have all the facilities and freedom  to build and develop a community that can be used beyond our existing professional networks and offer a social space for people to come together as equals, as generators of ideas.

Here is one; (online system) the Glorious Facebook!

This is just one of the systems that supports Collective Intelligence and here I will explain the benefits of the idea.

1. Generates Self-Service, Problem Solving Discussions On Internet

2. It's a Search Engine

3.Intelligent users can use it in their favor and match to online question/ answer pairs. This way they help the system learn when they provide intelligent feedback about Which Documents were Effective at Addressing Their Problems!

4. How clever is a system that Recommends things to you that it Believes You May Like?- Very!!
    And it does that by connecting and interacting with other sites You Use to Increase its Understanding of  You as a User and a Creator!- Incredible!!
   
5. And last but not least FB relies on the Users Intelligence to make itself Better.

Now we all have the chance to use the Web 2.0 for the BAPP course, comment and share ideas and officialy become masters of the system!


 
                                                                                                      

Ordinary CV

ANASTASIA HADJIGEORGIOU
CV
PERSONAL DETAILS
DOB: 16/11/1991
Email: anastasia_662@hotmail.com
Nationality: Cypriot
Health: Healthy/Non Smoker

EDUCATION
2012                     Middlesex University        BA Professional Practise   London     15 Months/Degree


2009-2012            Laine Theatre Arts            Vocational School               Epsom        3 Year Course


2001-2008            High School                       Academic/ Vocational       Cyprus        IGCSE/ National
                                                                                                                                                           Exams



QUALIFICATIONS

2012                       National Diploma in           Awarded By                         Trinity College                 
                                 Professional MT

IGCSE                    IGCSE’s                               1 B, 1A                                   English, French


WORK EXPERIENCE

2009                       Teacher Assistant    Helping children with disabilities        Disability School
                                                                                               
                                                                                                 

SPECIAL INTERESTS/SKILLS

Skills                    
Hobbies                 Dance teacher, swimming, singing, sports, acting                         
 

Thursday 4 October 2012

Me Myself and I

 I come from Cyprus (Agia Napa?? Yes! that's right!) where I begun my training as a dancer at the age of 3. I started taking ballet, tap, modern, flamenco and latin dance classes and it wasn't long before I realised that I wanted my hobby to become my proffesion. I'm really lucky to have such an inspirational  mother as she is the one who took me to my first singing class at the age of 13. Singing is one of my passions... I am a classically trained soprano but throughout the years I became familiar with jazz, pop, rock and musical theatre music. I have also done acting for a year and I took part in various shows. I have quite a lot of experience as a performer as I've appeared in many dance projects and various singing concerts as the lead singer.
Another passion of mine is horse riding! I haven't been on a horse for 4 years now as I need to be careful with my body. It's so frustrating because I love it I feel so calm and free when I ride... I've been to a lot of competitions with my horse Starlet where we came 1st multiple times! I can't wait to ride again I just need to be a bit careful that's all!
Now here's where I begun my journey to England and specifically Laine Theatre Arts.
Unfortunately my country doesn't have the right standards and opportunities in the industry as well as other countries do; so I had to make a decision and travel abroad  to find the right Performing Arts College for me! I was lucky to be accepted in Laine Theatre Arts one of the best Performing Art Colleges in the world!
I graduated with a National and Trinity Diploma in Musical Theatre. I have also completed units 1-4 in DDI Ballet (Diploma in Dance Instruction) and I'm currently doing the DDE Ballet ( Diploma in Dance Education). I am a member on Star Now and Model Mayhem where I do various payed or unpaid projects; Like modeling, being in music videos, singing, acting, dancing and musical theatre.
I'm hoping to become a succesful performer and never be too old to be on stage!   

Induction in BA Honours Professional Practice

Hi everyone! I'm so glad I have attended the Induction day even though our course is a distance learning/part time course. This way I had the chance to meet some incredible people who I shared my ideas and views with whilst getting familiar with the course.
We discussed the reasons why we want to get involved in the BAPP course and talked about our backrounds. It's so interesting that many fellow students have graduated years ago from different Performing Art Colleges (mostly Laines!) and they decided that this is the right course for them at this perticular time. Paula Nottingham, Alan Durrant and Rosemary McGuinness were all very helpful and explained in detail what the course is about.
We all had the chance to look through a writen assignement that we wrote ourselves and discuss it with others. This gave us the opportunity to observe different ways of writting and realise how approchable they might be to other people.
Meeting Adam Edwards was great! In order to understand the role of every source of communication and the importance of searching through authorised material; he challenged us with maltiple tasks and games which gave us a good idea about how to approach different resourses throughout the course. Finally I feel that BAPP will enable us to expand our knowledge and networking skills but also help us reach our highest goals in our career!