Personal Learning Plan

The responses to the following six questions form the basis of my own personal learning plan for my first year of movement.

How do you feel about ‘movement’ and what is your back ground in this area?
I feel fairly positive about movement as a module, it is something that I am enjoying and feel that it is an area of my craft that can be developed significantly. I have a very limited back ground in this area however, I have done some physical performances throughout school but I have had no professional training.

What are your perceptions of what studying movement will involve?

I believe that this module will involve a high level of physicality with some elements of dance. One of the main focuses for me is to work on the idea of expressing emotions and feelings, not just through the face, but with the whole body. I expect to work as a solo performer and also as part of a group.

What do you perceive your strengths and weaknesses to be?

Strengths :
*Flexibility
*Willingness to learn and take instruction
*Communication skills
*Dedicated to working in my own time

Weaknesses :
*General fitness
*Relaxing
*Maintaining focus
*Organisation

What do you hope to achieve through this module? By Christmas?  By Easter? (For example, Physical skills, understanding of the body, knowledge of movement practices, performance presence)

My main hope from this module is to improve my awareness of space and the opportunities which are presented to me, as an actor, by different spaces and stages. I would also like for my body to be more able of performing both bigger and more subtle movements by Christmas as there are some assessed performances which will count towards my mark for year one. By Easter I hope that I will be able to memorise all of the stretches and warm ups so that I can do these on my own before any performance, however, I also want to know which parts of the body are focused on within these exercises and why it is important to focus on these areas primarily.

What strategies can you adopt to achieve your goals?

Approaching all of the exercises with an open mind and an optimistic view is the main thing that will help me to achieve my goals. I am also going to work on the basic stretches and warm ups in my own time to push my body further so that certain areas of 'movement' will become easier, as well as exercising to improve my general fitness. In addition to the physical aspects I can work on, I am also hoping to focus on my studies a lot more and organise myself so that I am always ready to learn and can focus on the specific area being worked on or discussed.

How do you imagine this module might tie in with your learning in other modules?
I think that a great deal of my studies from this module will be transferable into other modules. The general awareness for the space around me is something which can be applied to a performance in any module, as well as the idea of a lack of movement which can have a great impact on an audience and a performance. My general fitness being improved will also allow me to be more able to incorporate bigger and grander gestures into more performances, which could emphasise a particular moment. I do not think that the things learnt in this module will apply to the 'reading performance' module greatly as much of this is not practical, however it does help when reviewing other performances witnessed as I am more aware of what the actors are doing with their bodies and space.