is a piece of the continent, a part of the main;
if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe
is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as
well as any manner of thy friends or of thine
own were; any man's death diminishes me,
because I am involved in mankind.
And therefore never send to know for whom
the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.
John Donne
This is a poem describing the impossibility of solitude. To me, this poem indirectly emphasizes the intricracies of interpersonal relationship. I would think the crux of any good interpersonal relationship would be effective communication. There are many modes of communication but for me, effective non-verbal communication is especially important with respect to the sphere of dance. Of course, as a final year student, effective verbal communication is also vital in my final year project (FYP) presentations and job interviews.
As a dancer, i communicate through body language, expression and showmanship. All these are non-verbal aspects of communication. By performing on stage, i try my best to effectively communicate the story behind the dance or raise awareness via dance. As an audience, i would also like to understand what the choreographer is trying to speak through the dance routine. I want to know the storyline even without having to read the programme booklet. Without effective communication, the dance would just be a series of meaningless movements and steps.
As mentioned above, I'm a final year student who has reports to submit and presentations to give, regarding my fyp. I find the 7Cs especially helpful as a guide to succinct writing and concise presentations. More often than not, we have a page limit and time limit respectively. Hence, fluid and clear writings and presentations are all the more important.
Furthermore, with all the job-seeking that is on-going, smooth interviews are crucial in making a good first impression. By speaking well, interviewers are more likely to be impressed by the way ideas are articulated. These would cut down unnecessary communication "barriers" that might lead to misunderstandings while working together with other colleagues. One slight miscommunication could even be fatal in the civil engineering industry. We would also definitely want to avoid incidents like the Tower of Babel (a biblical story of incomplete construction due to miscommunications) from happening.
In conclusion, communication is an integral part of human interaction and effective communication is truly an ideal that i would like to work to achieve after learning from this module.
The contrast between the picture in the background and the white-coloured words makes reading difficult. Michelle might want to tweak some of the colours used here. The poem is a nice touch though.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting to note that the poet John Donne waxes lyrical about "Man" but not women, which would be considered the use of sexist language in the context of this century.
I am rather intrigued by the taking of the discussion on effective communication in new directions with its application to dance in this post as it has only just occured to me that dancing is indeed also a form of communication. However, it would have been good if Michelle had explained in more specific detail how the skills taught in this module could be used to improve her dancing instead of devoting such a significant portion of the post to describing the various genres of dance.
Before reading this post, I was under the impression that the skills taught in this module focused on improving the writen and spoken modes of self-expression. Michelle's post has alerted me to their potential applications in dance, a completely non-verbal form of communication. I only wish she had clarified how concepts like the 7Cs, EQ and active listening, skills this module will be covering, are relevant to dance so that I would not have to second guess.
I like your poem. Interesting cultural side note; with Malays if you offer them a poem chances are they would offer you one in return. Sort of a weird pointless competition. Like American Idol.
ReplyDeleteHence I offer you my two cents in the form of a Haiku. I know thats Japanese but I'm culturally all over the place these days...
never realized
can communicate thru dance
thanks lots for sharing
@isaac: I have noted your comments and i would like to explain it here since there is a word limit to take note of too.
ReplyDeleteIn dance, i find the 7Cs of powerful writting also relevant.
Clear: To bring out the emotions of the dance clearly, facial expression is a very important component. This is also known as showmanship.
Concise: The duration of a dance item can vary from a minute to 10 minutes. Within such a short time frame, we have to tell a story so the choreography definitely has to be concise.
Concrete: The type of dance that I am doing is hiphop and it is a very in-your-face genre. Hence, we do not usually use abstract concepts. We are usually quite specific abot the themes we want to bring across.
Correct: For any performance, we have put in hours of practise to get the correct emotion, style and groove required.
Coherent: In dance, we usually use a medley of songs, cut and pasted together. However, these cuts must also create a seamless transition between songs to form the story.
Complete: In any concert, it is more than just the dance that makes the item complete. Our costumes, lighting, smoke effects also complete the item because they help to set the mood and atmosphere.
Courteous: As dancers, we are respectful of all genres of dance. No one dance is better than another. It is simply a matter of preference. Also, we welcome comments from audience because constructive comments will spur us on to become better dancers.
@faizal: I'm not going to exchange another poem with you but thanks for reading and hope you found it useful.
Wow.
ReplyDeleteI honestly did not know that there was so much to dance. I knew that dances conveyed emotions. Through the music and actions of dancers, it is quite easy to be understand the emotions that are conveyed. But I never had the ability to capture the message that some dances seemed to convey, especially if I did not read the programme booklet.
I guess this highlights one point for me regarding communication: Effective communication must take place at the same level for the communicator as for the receiver. If the receiver is not at the same level as the communicator (as in my case), much of the message that is being encapsulated in a dialogue can be lost in transition.
Thanks for the post! I really like the reflection that your post has 'incepted' in me. Haha..
@edwin: Perhaps what you mentioned (about being at the same level) was right. A toddler cannot understand bombastic words an adult is speaking. However, with time and repetiton, the toddler might eventually understand. If you're interested, attending more dance concerts might help. That said, more abstract genres like contemporary dance are harder to understand. So, I would not blame you for not being able to interpret. I am also guilty of that, especially when I try to stinge on buying the $2 NUS Dance Ensemble programme booklet. Street dance like hip hop would be slightly easier to comprehend.
ReplyDeleteHAHAHA!! agreed. The extra $2 always seem to be extra expensive!
ReplyDeleteSup Michelle,
ReplyDeleteThe only thing going for your blogpost, Michelle, is that it got incepted in Edwin!!!!!
That is truly admirable Michelle!!!!!!!!!!!!!
For how else do message in a writing get registered so strongly it got incepted/ingrained/imbued if not for some masterful writing in the departments of conciseness, concreteness, completeness, clearness, coherence and correctness? There is magic in you and your writing Michelle, I want to believe. Your ability to touch the hearts/souls/minds/psyches/spirits of other people in some correctly deemed way speaks volumes of your empathy and your potential for more. For how else do people incept/imbue/ingrain if not for some implicit or explicit correctness advised by an empathetic mind/soul/spirit/heart/psyche of yours? For that reason, Michelle, the magic that lies in you actually is in your nature/mind/soul/spirit. And I think you know deep down inside you, who blessed you with that gift!!!!!!!!!
Even I while reading your rendition of what PC meant to you in dance, could feel as if I was on the dance floor with you, our steps synchronized perfectly in rhythm and intensity. In fact, I had even thought I had replaced you on the dancefloor!!!!!!!!
That was how vicariously heartfelt your account was, Michelle, in all honesty. With the same honesty, and despite your love and talent for hip-hop, I think you have a bigger calling to write spiritual self-help books or otherwise given the impact that you can make, Michelle.
Consequently, you should look to the source of the gift bestowed upon thyself for your real direction and guidance in life. If hip-hop be it, so it shall be; if not you still have a life-changing calling as author in specific interest areas.
Best wishes
This post was a pleasure to read, Michelle. I like the way you have focused specifically on areas where effective comm skills might play a role in your life today. You also express your ideas clearly and concisely. Like Isaac, I fee that one way you could have made this an even stronger post would have been to connect your current learning to your dance. But I see you've taken a step in this direction in your own comment back to Isaac. Thank you for the fine effort!
ReplyDeleteHi Michelle,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your post. And having seen you dance before, I have no doubts that you're an awesome dancer! Your post also reminded me of something I love as well, music! Similar to dance, music is extremely expressive and emotionally binding, and every piece of music conveys its own message as well. I really admire your love and passion for dancing! Kudos to you!