Boud’s Theories and how it Influences my Professional Practise

Initially, when I looked at Boud’s article I felt very daunted. However I read it about three times and made several notes.

A journal is about capturing an experience, recording and remembering it, exploring your feelings and emotions and making sense of what we have learnt. There are so many different styles of journals and there is no right or wrong way of writing one. After starting my journal I felt like it should be a record of everything that I do. It should also allow me to explore my emotions and be totally honest. It should also be a reflection on my life and I should therefore learn much more about myself.

Boud focuses on 3 ‘Occasions of Reflection’. I am going to expand on this with my own experiences below:

Reflection In Adaption of Events (Before)
I love to plan. I love to know what lies ahead of me. With auditions it is impossible to know exactly what will happen. However, to keep my mind at ease, I plan my outfit the night before, I pack my bag the night before and I go through in my head many questions and possibilities. What if I fall over? What if I can’t do the routine? What would I do if I don’t have the right tools for my audition? And I simply make myself exhausted and nervous. Why? I don’t know!

Reflection in the Midst of Action (During)
In an audition you may make a mistake during the dance round. You simply act straight away to cover this up. Similarly, whilst on stage in a performance if something goes wrong, you adapt straight away so that the audience does not see. For example when I was dancing on a cruise ship there was one evening where the ship was particularly rocking from side to side. My friend had bad travel sickness and all the cast knew of this. In the middle of a dance I saw out of the corner of my eye that she ran off stage, as she felt so ill. Straight away I moved over to cover the space. This may seem like common sense but whilst in mid- routine, you have to think fast and always be aware of who is around you. This is reflection in action (online). Boud said that this is very difficult to achieve but has the greatest benefits.

Reflection After Events (After)
After an audition I immediately ask myself questions. If I have been unsuccessful; what can I do to improve? What can I change for next time? My hair?  My outfit? How can I prepare better? However if I am successful I ask myself the following questions; what went particularly well? What do I need to take from this audition to others? Etc. This helps me to move on and reflect. If you had a bad show, you usually get notes off the dance captain. This is reflection on action (offline). You can take the notes away and consider how you will improve for next time. Boud explains that reflection after the event is divided into 3 sections: 1- Returning to the experience, 2- Attending to feelings, and 3- Re- evaluating the experience. This is totally true. I always look at what went wrong, whether it be a dodgy pirouette or a lack of dynamic energy. I then doubt myself and obviously get down about what happened and then I look back and think how I can improve etc and look at what I could have improved. Reflecting on this helps me with future auditions and shows.

It is important in our private journals that we really explore everything and don’t hold back. I feel this will be easy for me, as I know it’s “for my eyes only” and nobody else can look at it and judge me. Boud’s article has really helped me reflect on my own thought processes and I will incorporate this into my journal. I feel much more enthusiastic and relaxed about writing a journal now and know I can fully express my own feelings without holding back.