Following my previous literature review, on 'Life after Dance: Career Transition for Professional Dancers', written by Joan Jeffri and David Throsby, I began to look into one of the authors, Joan Jeffri.
Joan Jeffri is the Founder and Director of the Research Centre for Arts and Culture. She is former Director of the programme in Arts Administration at Columbia University and past President of the Association of Arts Administration Educators and the International Arts Medicine Association. She has had multiple publications, and provides varying services, including: creating educational programmes, coaching, writing, research and mentorship.
Below is a link to her website, and a list of her publications:
http://joanjeffri.com/publications/
One of her publications, 'Making Changes: Facilitating the Transition of Dancers to Post- Performance Careers' (2004, with William J. Baumol and David Throsby), was used as the basis for 'Life after Dance: Career Transition for Professional Dancers' (which was published in the International Journal of Arts Management in 2006).
The full paper on ' Making Changes: Facilitating the Transition of Dancers to Post- Performance Careers' can be seen on the link below:
http://www.tc.columbia.edu/centers/rcac/pdf/FullReport_14.pdf
'The many transfer- able skills and experience that professional dancers accumulate during their dancing years, including self- discipline, team work, and stamina, are significant resources that are in danger of being unused as their active dancing careers come to an end'. (p. 16)
This paper examines the main approaches used to ease the career transition process, (by dance companies, career transition centres etc.), by formulating a series of hypothesis, and testing them against available evidence.
Multiple dancers (both current and former) across Australia, Switzerland and the USA were asked to complete a survey regarding career transitioning. It's interesting to see how the participants view this stage in their lives. Hypothesis 8 and 10, (p. 7) were of particular interest to me.
Seen below is one of the statements that 216 dancers (current and former) in Australia were asked to respond to. (p. 279) 'Many dancers do not realise that skills developed are transferable to other occupations', with the majority (115) answering agree/ agree strongly.
If dancers were made aware that they acquire skills that are transferable to other occupations, maybe it would become easier for them to transfer these skills to other work- places, utilising them to their advantage.
During a recent telephone conversation with Paula, we discussed the direction my inquiry is taking. We spoke about 'personality tests', which had originally inspired my inquiry topic. Although they are commonly used by employers and in daily life, there is some controversy around personality tests, and it is unclear as to how they have been researched and tested, and results are measured. To use personality tests as part of my inquiry would present too many variables, which is why I decided on interviews as my inquiry tool.
Paula and I discussed the questions I will use for my interviews. We decided that they should include key words, but should be thought of as conversational, and be open- ended, giving my participants the opportunity to discuss their experiences.
The questions I decided on for my interviews are as below:
1. Through- out your dance training, specifically whilst at full- time dance college, what did you learn about yourself?
2. How has a practitioner, dance teacher, figure of authority, etc. influenced you in your life?
3. How would you characterise yourself?
4. What have you learnt about yourself since leaving full- time education and working as a professional dancer?
5. How do you view dancing as a profession?
6. Since leaving dance education have you ever been asked to characterise yourself/ complete personality testing by an employer? If yes, in what context?
7. Where do you think your strengths and weaknesses lie?
8. How do you think your current employer would describe you?
9. Which skills or characteristics do you use in your current job role?
10. How has your dance training affected you, in non dance related areas of work?
After conducting my interviews I will be able to analyse the answers and try to find similarities, or common themes that have been discussed by my participants. I am hoping that the results will point towards common characteristics or attributes, being used from one stage of life to another- particularly, from full- time dance training, to job roles outside of the field of dance.
'Transferable skills are general skills you can use in many jobs. You gain these skills from previous jobs, projects, voluntary work, sport, your home life, hobbies and interests. They enable you to be adaptable and flexible in case you need to change your job'. (National Careers Service)
I will research and discuss which transferable skills or characteristics are desirable to employers, and the benefits of personality testing in current society.
