Task 4a (Part Three)

I had a chat with my professional network today in an attempt to help things make more sense. One of the suggestions was to make a mind-map of things I've been thinking about.

I don't usually make mind-maps - I usually find that writing things down in a linear fashion helps me puzzle through things more easily as I work through issues logically. However, since I've been hitting a mental brick wall recently I thought, why not?

Mind Map of issues

I looked back through my journal and made headings for the things I noticed I write about the most.

And you know what? It's helped!

I can see from my mind map links between different aspects of my trains of thought that weren't immediately obvious to me (until I colour coded them!) and it has actually assisted me in coming up with a couple of questions that I think I could use for an inquiry; or at least the starting points. The following points have arisen from the frequency of my writing about them, and the links I have made between the different issues.

* Why is it that there are so many female dancers and actors yet relatively few prolific female directors or choreographers?
I have asked this question before on my blog and I realised through my journal that I think about gender issues a lot regarding the theatre and performance: is there an expectation that women in theatre will progress to become teachers? Does the fact that there may be comparatively less men in a company mean that they will stand out more and therefore be thought of more readily when a choreographer or director is needed? What role does societal precedent play in determining a career change?

* The risk of the 'new': I actually mind-mapped this one as well - I think I got into the groove!

I intend to discuss these questions further with my professional network, and I have begun to make contact with practitioners outside of my current network so hopefully this will begin to yield some results!