In the "Spotlight" .........

Due to a very hectic and busy week I haven’t found much time to write in my blog and reply to comments, so I’m currently catching up with things and getting back to people.

Something I've been meaning to discuss on my blog for a while is about casting agencies which use Web 2.0 and I was reminded of this this week as I have recieved a casting call. I presume most people within the entertainment industry are aware of the site called Spotlight which is a professional site where actors, dancers, presenters etc. create themselves a profile to advertise and promote themselves to agents, casting directors and other professionals. You, as a performer, control what directors and producers see and you can update your information as and when you choose, adding pictures, show reels and voice clips to promote yourself and give viewers an idea of yourself as a performer. Spotlight is controlled through a pin system. Each individual is given two pin numbers; a view pin number which is for you, yourself to view your profile so you can see how it looks and decide what you want to update if necessary and an update pin number which you use to apply for jobs and also to update and change your individual profile and information.

Spotlight as a site itself forward auditions and castings through to your email address, they’re supposed to be things they believe you’re suitable for that match your profile details, saying that I have been sent emails for castings for an Asian American 80 year old with a fragile and frail physique and male roles!!

For someone in the profession such as myself it is a great way of communicating and promoting yourself – it’s also easier to pick up on auditions and castings rather than having to travel for half an hour to the nearest WHSmith’s to buy The Stage paper and it saves time searching around on the net.

I was starting to get a little disheartened with the site as I have applied for a lot of things through Spotlight and have heard nothing back so I was contemplating what all the hype was all about. Finally though I have got myself a casting for an adult pantomime in the West End over Christmas which I’m travelling down tomorrow morning to go to. I’m really excited about it actually as the director of the production contacted me himself and the production sounds like an absolute blast!! So fingers crossed! It’s only fringe work but it’s experience, something to put on my    CV and it’s in the heart of London’s West End whilst I am waiting for my casting call from Mr Royal Caribbean!

The only downside to Spotlight is there is a fee! Which to an unemployed member who is struggling in the industry can be rather hard. The current cost is £168 per year but as a graduate member I got my first years membership for half price. The other downside is that some auditions and castings are called within the next few days or even the next day and when you are not currently residing in London (where most auditions and castings are held) this also becomes an issue as train fares are not the cheapest of things and it can be hard to arrange time to get there at such short notice!

Another site which I am currently a member of is StarNow Casting.....

http://www.starnow.co.uk/

....which is very similar to Spotlight. I paid £35 for a 6 month trial and every week receive an email advertising a range of different jobs for me to apply for. I’ve applied for quite a number of things off this site although I haven’t had much response from anything, only to be told about a few auditions that were taking place. Yet again you are given a profile in which you can update pictures and information and can add show reels and audio footage. I think these sites are pros of Web 2.0 technology because as a professional you are controlling what casting directors and agents can see. No one can comment or post messages on your profile or pictures and each member has an individual password to update their information which makes it harder for someone to ‘hack’ into their profile and change/update information without the person knowing. In Facebook terms this is called ‘Face Rape’ which is a common thing on sites such as these but sites such as Spotlight and StarNow come across as being well protected from such things.

IMDb (Internet Movie Datebase) is a another site  which you can use to advertise yourself within the theatre, film and TV industry. Again each individual has a profile in which directors, producers etc. can view pictures and information about a certain artist.

On this particular site you can view top actors and actresses within the film and television industry such as Johnny Depp, Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Helen Mirren for example. You find out what productions they are currently working on and see what is to come. Their biographies are posted on the site along with a filmography and some personal details such as birth place and date, height, agent information and any awards. Pictures, trailers and snapshots of film are also on there to advertise and promote the artist. I believe that someone of Johnny Depp’s position will not update their profile themselves but it will be done through a very close source if not a professional from the site itself.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000136/

You can check out anyone really and it’s such a good way to find out what you’re favourite actor is up to and also to show for yourself what you are doing and working on.

As this site is full of celebrity’s and very high prolific people it is obvious that the security is very tight as no one can update or change their information.

The link below is how you can create your own IMDb resume (profile)....

https://resume.imdb.com/

It also helps you find out what’s going in the film and television industry – giving you information on the latest releases and it’s a great way of advertising and promoting films on the net. You can watch trailers and check out what’s at the top of the box office list! I’m not too sure what the price to be a member of this site is and when I researched it I wasn’t able to find it.

Overall, these sites are a great tool for promoting and advertising yourself within the entertainment profession as casting directors, producers, choreographers and agents know that the people on these sites are professionals and their information is viewed for professional purposes only which makes us confident when we’re typing our contact details and adding pictures to our profiles that some total weirdo is not viewing and writing comments about us. Our information is used to help us gain experience in the industry and to help us get auditions and castings so we get ourselves noticed and take that very important and exciting first step on the ladder!!

"Oh boy, did you read the news today?"

I was going to have a day off thinking and reflecting about blogs, Facebook, Web 2.0, pros or cons and anything remotely cyber or virtual today as I felt a little “blogged out” last night. I’ve been surfing and researching and blogging quite a lot this week. Needed to give the brain a “virtual” rest I thought.  I had arranged to meet a friend for lunch for a good old fashioned face to face girlie chat/catch up/gossip over pizza and a glass of wine with no computer anywhere in sight, my preferred way of social networking.

(Of course we have been socially networking and keeping in touch by Facebook over the last year since we last met up and did arrange our lunch date via Facebook!)

So I got myself ready this morning and went to catch the bus into town and as always picked up my free Metro paper to read on the journey …………………..

Headline,Front page story -  “Oi you’ve been nicked!”

“BBC political editor Nick Robinson lost his cool when he confronted a protester who interrupted a live broadcast. The journalist smashed the man’s banner – and the incident promptly appeared on You Tube.”
The story continued with pictures from You Tube on pages 4 and 5, another protester had filmed the incident and posted it on You Tube.
“Robinson wrote on his blog…………………. ‘I lost my temper and I regret that ’ ……………………………………………………………………………”

Page 3 -  “She’s pops biggest draw!”

“She’s young, she’s got blue/green hair and she’s one of the biggest pop stars on the planet.

Unfortunately, she isn’t able to comment on her success because she doesn’t exist.

Meet Japanese sensation Hatsume Miku. Strictly speaking you can’t meet her at all – she’s a hologram.
Miku is a computer application but that hasn’t stopped her conquering the music world by playing to thousands at live concerts and getting millions of hits on You Tube.

Technically she is a virtual music synthesiser programme which uses technology called Vocaloid to allow PC users to create their own music………………

……………………………………………………………………………….

She rose to popularity through the website Nico Nico Douga (smile smile video) a Japanese equivalent of You Tube. ……………………………………………..
………………………………………………………………………………….
Buoyed by her on line success the makers have brought her to the stage. She played her first gig projected as a 3D Hologram to the audience in Gorillaz style…………

…………………………………………………………………………………………
‘Watching Miku sing live is pretty amazing’ wrote one blogger ………………..”  Really???

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBZOlipfjkQ&feature=fvw

Page 12 – “My blog is mostly fiction, MP tells expenses enquiry”.“A conservative MP said she wrote ‘mostly fiction’ on her blog to reassure constituents about how hard she was working. ……………………….
……………………………………………………………………………
She was then challenged over posts on her blog………………………. .
…………………………………………………………………………….

….she replied: ‘My blog is 70 per cent fiction and 30 per cent fact”. 

Page 35 – “I’m not too sexy for class, says teacher”.

“A beauty queen turned teacher has been accused of being ‘too attractive’. Former model Ileana Tacconelli, who has three university degrees, caused a rumpus after video footage of her in hot pants and a bra and photos of her posing in a sexy police uniform were posted on the web.
One set of parents even pulled their 12 year old daughter from the Roman Catholic school…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………”

If anyone didn’t catch any of these stories and would like to of course you can read them on line via the following link

http://www.metro.co.uk/home/

or you can check out Nick Robinson, Miku or  Ileana  on You Tube.

http://www.wikio.co.uk/video/nick-robinson-looses-plot-4361433

Metro also has a Twitter account where you can leave a comment on any of these stories!!

So, in spite of myself, I spent the rest of my journey to Leeds reflecting on these stories.
The highly respected political editor of the BBC seen loosing his temper on You Tube  and having to apologise on his blog , who will probably be remembered for this one incident and not all the other good reporting work he’s done for many years on important political issues.....

....the cyber world of Miku  - how must we feel as performers (musicians/singers/dancers) after all our years of training to see a virtual character  created on a computer screen getting way more success than us and should we be afraid for the future of “real” entertainment disappearing altogether like in Ben Elton’s Planet Mall.....
....the MP who admits 70% of her blog is fiction and is found guilty of misleading her voters - can we truly believe anything we read posted by anyone and how this shows that the vulnerable can be easily misled and finally
....the teacher who may face loosing her chosen career because someone has posted saucy pictures and videos of her on the net.

Oh, and by the way, the girl sat next to me was checking her Facebook account and updated her profile and status via her phone whilst on the bus…………………

So much for my virtual free day ……………………… no escape!  
Just had to get home and get “blogging!”

So, should I social network or not?


I have been in discussion with Stephie on her blog as we both felt we had seemed to focus more on the cons than the pros of Web2.0 and networking sites and we don’t want to appear overly negative but as I said in my comments I think this is because as we look at the tools more closely as we are studying them for this course, they sort of hit you in the face more and the cons always have a more profound effect on us as they are so much more shocking to us and devastating on a personal level as anyone who has been the victim of cyber bullying or identity theft will testify,

I’ve found out so much that I was never really aware of before. I suppose I was always pretty much aware of the pros as a networking tool as I used “Facebook” for 3 years whilst away at college to keep in touch and up to date with friends, but I suppose I never really considered the negatives until I started doing this course and started to consider who I may want to see certain information about me and I didn’t consider how the pros could benefit how I promote myself in a professional sense. That is what the first module of the course has demonstrated to me and I feel I have already learned so much.

So here is my “pros and cons” blog that I should’ve posted 2 weeks ago – doesn’t break any new ground but I may need it to reflect at some point later.  

Web 2.0 Pros and Cons ??!

_{Web 2.o technologies have changed the way we work and revolutionised the way we communicate via social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, My Space and it’s rare to find anyone who hasn’t heard of these sites. It has taken the internet world by storm and it has influenced the way we live our lives in one way or another.}

 _{The subject of constant debate and still unresolved are the pros and cons.}

_{The Pros.}

_{The web has always provided a way for people to make connections with one another, social networking sites just made it easier. Certainly before I had Facebook I used sites such as Bebo and My Space to interact with friends.}

_{Via these sites we have easier access to keep in touch with family and friends and to make new contacts and meet people who share the same interests from almost anywhere in the world. Creating a network of contacts goes beyond geographical and cultural differences as you get to meet people on line. You can send messages, up load photos and videos.  Getting information on a specific subject is faster and easier and you can provide links to websites and contacts can provide links too.  You can track down old friends and acquaintances and renew long forgotten friendships. You can use networking sites to organise an event, advertise an event and invite people to an event. It is also the most cost effective way to keep in touch.}

_{You can instantly message people who are online and chat, exchanging comments and interact with a large number of people at the same time sharing thoughts, information and interests.}

_{One of the big influences is we can use these sites to network professionally by promoting yourself and your skills and your work and to advertise your business. Many sites for example allow users to create special pages; for example: a theatre company, it’s a great way to advertise and get yourself known and seen about. That way a user can keep fans informed about their latest performance or production and via social networking fans can interact with who they admire.}

_{For example with one witty tweet, or clever blog post or download to You Tube a star can be born!!!!}

_{However by the same token one devastating post, photograph or video forwarded to millions by the click of a mouse can ruin a reputation, career or a product.}

_{The Cons.}

_{One of the biggest on line networking drawbacks is that it makes identity theft easier as in order to create a profile on a social networking site you have to share personal information about yourself. As always there are unscrupulous people around who will jump at the chance to spam or steal your identity for criminal intent. If you don’t share information no one will be able to find you (which defeats the purpose of social networking) but if you share too much information someone else who is into illegal activities could masquerade as you and may even try to access your email or financial information. They make you believe they have a business or work offer, ask to meet up or take your money. It has also become easier for someone to stalk you or harass you on line and we see evidence of cyber bullying.}

_{Instant messaging can also cause social isolation because we lose social skills in the real world as we master our on line socialising. A person can easily alter or hide their identity behind a computer screen. This can lead to social awkwardness, loneliness and depression.}

_{Should I network or not???}

_{Of course I should network !!!!  It could be my only way of communication and keeping in touch with home when I go to work on a cruise ship and however we view the cons as long as we are aware of them and take as many security precautions as we can, the good can out -weigh the bad and we can enjoy the benefits!!!!!}  

_{I think we should all be aware of the pros and cons to make informed choices about who we trust and who we share information with and the best weapon we have is to use sound, reasoned judgement. We should be careful how we use these sites so we can minimise the drawbacks and monitor and control how much and what information we divulge and to whom. We should choose our on-line friends carefully.}

_{I also think sites should be regulated and checked as anyone can access them freely but as that is still some way off, for now, we should be fully aware of how we can block users we do not want to see our information and use privacy settings to ensure we are personally in control of who can view our information and we should always ensure we keep some information from public view.}

_{Since I have been researching the pros and cons it has made me think of how I use “Facebook” and I have made my profile private and reviewed the information that is there. I would also now be wary of people I don’t know trying to access my profile and information.}

_{I have also realised the wider impact of how I could use the tools available to promote myself as a professional and how I need to keep my “Social You” separate to my “Professional You”. This is quite easy for me to do as I have a different professional name to my real name. I’ve found out that I can use my real name for anything informal or for personal sites and my professional name ‘Miley Rose’ for anything professional so that’s what I’m currently working on and am intending to change things about some of my profiles!}

Skype

Checked out “Skype” today which is a software package that allows users to make voice calls over the internet. Calls to other Skype users are free but a fee is paid for calls to landlines and mobile phones. It has additional features of instant messaging and video conferencing. Registered users can communicate through instant messaging and voice chat. It is a secure way of communication.

Video conferencing is similar to the popular video phones where you can call anyone around the world and not only speak with them, but see them on your computer or television screen during the conversation. The difference is that video conferencing is intended to work for larger conferences rather than serving the needs of individual consumers, often using closed circuit television.

I’m not too sure I would find it cost effective in my profession as a self-employed dancer. Agents normally text or phone with audition details and job interviews are in the form of an audition. Dance agencies contact with job details via email.

I can see this may be useful for me to keep in touch with my family whilst on board a cruise ship but you have to ensure the recipient also has Skype otherwise it is expensive. I think in my profession I would be better off with a video phone.  

Has anyone else had any experience with Skype?.....

I can see this will be a very useful tool for businesses for video conferencing especially if they are a global company as they can discuss business securely by computer without fear of a security breach and it allows large rooms of people at different locations to interact effectively to create a full conference with everyone able to see and hear perfectly.

New Insanely Interesting Word? .............

"Cyberbalkanisation!"

Wow! What a word – “Cyberbalkanization”? Wonder how many you could score on a Scrabble board with that one?

Just came across the word as I was surfing more sites in relation to networking etc  - “Cyberbalkanization” -  with a z not an s !!! What an insanely interesting word??????

What does it mean? “It is the division of the internet into narrowly focused groups of like-minded individuals who dislike or have little patience for outsiders”.
Hmmmmmm, potentially very dangerous stuff I thought ?????!!!!

Cyber – means relating to the internet
Balkanization – takes its name from the Balkans, a part of Europe that was historically subdivided by languages, religions and cultures.

Controversially themed groups, either in listserves, chats, blogs or other Internet manifestations might specifically attempt to project hatred or anger about other groups and to keep the group from gathering information that could be contradictory. They also may discourage outsiders from joining.
Political groups of all persuasions have a tendency to practice this form of cyber balkanization and may only reference the work of people disagreeing with them in order to criticize it. Such groups can have tendencies toward repeating stories that aren’t true or that are told from a specific slant, and this can whip up resentment toward others instead of a desire to understand things from an objective perspective.

Similarly, many religious online groups practice forms of cyber balkanization, especially when these religions are rigidly constructed. Many of these groups aren’t interested in exploring the way their faith differs from other faiths and can respond hostilely if commonly held opinions are attacked or even mildly questioned. The goal is not to learn but to affirm beliefs and to eliminate information that doesn’t serve affirmation goals.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyberbalkanization

I think young people in particular could be easily recruited to these sites and become brainwashed especially if they are lonely and vulnerable and feel a need to belong to a “cause” and I think this is an area of “cyberness” which I would condemn and think needs regulating as it could be very dangerous indeed – the manifestations from such on line activity are very disturbing!!! I’m thinking fundamentalist and religious sects, terrorism, paedophiles etc.

I think we just need to be aware these sites do exist and be cautious of those that advertise and what we access on the web and alert people to the dangers !!!!  

The Ga Ga girls and the boys from the Clone Zone

I was revisiting choreography  to Queen’s “Radio Ga Ga” tonight in preparation to take a musical theatre workshop with a  group of year 11’s and as I prepared it made me reflect again on the idea of a virtual world.

When Ben Elton wrote the musical “We Will Rock You” with Queen members Roger Taylor and Brian May in 2002 (over 8 years ago) critics universally panned it as a “juke box” musical with a totally ****story.

The story (such as it is) takes place in a dystopian future where originality and individuality are shunned. On “Planet Mall” mainstream commercial conformity reigns in which “Ga Ga Kids” watch the same movies, listen to computer generated music, wear the same clothes and hold the same thoughts and feelings.

The Daily Mirror wrote that “Ben Elton should be shot for this visible story”.

At the time no one was aware that a young Harvard University student would go a long way to creating an on line social world within the next 5 years and  almost 10 years on since its conception, with the advances in technology and Social Networking sites becoming global perhaps Ben Elton wasn’t so visible and are we really that far away from Global Soft  domination and a virtual, cyber life.

Certainly as we now have the ability at our fingertips to Avatar our image, it’s perhaps not so crazy a thought. Ben Elton set his “We Will Rock You” world 300 years into the future.    Hmmmmm??????

“Avartaring” our persona and image to seek the admiration of others is just one further step to de humanisation and cloning and we are in danger of stifling our individuality, originality and diversity – maybe not so far away from Planet Mall after all.

 I’ve not changed my mind though, I’m still whole heartedly a Bohemian and not one of the kids from the Clone Zone.    

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRtI2PvVGj0 

A clip of the song and dance 'Radio GaGa' with the Original London Cast at The Dominion Theatre, London!

"The Social Network".
Just thought I’d alert everyone to a new film that was released nationwide on Friday -
“The Social Network” which is basically the story of “Facebook”, how the idea was created and developed by Harvard University student Mark Zuckerberg (played by Jesse Eisenberg) in 2003/2004.  

Having spent the last 2/3 weeks thinking about the pros and cons of social networking sites I thought I’d go along and see what it was like. I was a bit worried the film would be boring and the subject matter a bit dry to provide a screen play for a 2 hour film, but surprisingly it is quite entertaining and very interesting and gives a lot of background information into “Facebook”.

Some interesting facts and figures from the film are that Mark Zuckerburg, at 23, became the world’s youngest billionaire and “Facebook” has 500 million  users worldwide.

One of the lines that I remember vividly is, “ Omg, they haven’t got roads in Bosnia but they have Facebook!”

It’s rather interesting I think that “Facebook” develops after Zuckerburg (a Harvard under grad and computer genius who is a nerdy character with no social skills) is dumped by his date, Erica, as a “social loser” and in a drunken fit of anger posts a revenge blog about her on Harvard’s chat site which is insulting to her and her family but gets him a considerable number of reactive “hits” within minutes.

He then follows this by hacking into all the universities web records and posts pictures of all the girl students and asks the guys to vote on “Who is hot and who is not!?” and called it facemash.com. The response is overwhelming and crashes the Harvard IT system.

From this he develops the idea of “Facebook” as a social networking site for university students and  after frantic programming  the rest as we say is history – 6 years later and 500 million online friends later he is a billionaire and  what began in his dorm room becomes a global social network and a revolution in communication.

It is rather poignant at the end, albeit he is a billionaire and has developed the most revolutionary communication tool in history, he still has no “real” friends and Erica although she has her own Facebook account will not add him as a friend…………..  it’s worth a watch!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJCSRxzPfXI&feature=channel

If you don't take control of your social presence, someone else will

Norman kindly posted me a comment and a link to Stephies blog to try and help me format my CV now in PDF format into my blog.

I’ve left a comment on her blog as I found her comments about cyber bullying among children thought provoking so I thought I’d progress that debate further as cyber bullying is not just restricted to children but is perpetrated by teens and adults too in the form of cyber stalking or cyber harassment.

Still being able to put myself in the category “teen” I have seen many personal examples of cyber bullying, stalking and harassment over the last couple of years as social networking sites, Facebook in particular, have developed and taken over our way of life and the results for the victims can be anything from acute embarrassment to devastating. As I have already said in my last blog I have been the victim of bullying and so it is a subject close to my heart as I know how the victim feels.

It is a fact that we all want to fit in and succeed  in being “normal” and how much pressure is on us these days in these virtual places -  there is this obligation that you’ll be on “ Facebook”, that you’ll be social, even in your house at any time of the day and that’s a lot of pressure. But what is ‘normal’?

It’s a fact of our times that people act out fantasies on line pretending to be someone or something else and these can include harmful or violent fantasies. Hiding behind a computer can give even the shyest or quietest person a new confidence to say things they would not face to face [ie: they hide behind the technology!!!]

The internet is full of predators from paedophiles targeting children to serial bullies targeting anyone else and those who steel identities [ie: identify fraud] and we all become at risk both in our personal and professional lives.
 
Blogs are a real fun way for us to communicate with a global audience and form contacts but we must be constantly aware that some will use these blogs to damage reputations, criticise, hurt, embarrass or invade privacy. And so while we must embrace the tools at our disposal to promote ourselves in a professional capacity we must also be wary and make sure we use it wisely and build in as many safeguards to abuse as is possible!

It is always advisable to set profiles to private so that only friends can view all information, photographs and posts - this of course depends on who you accept as your friends as you can aways decline people you don't know or trust and you can delete and block a 'friends' profile if they cause you concern or you feel pressured or harrassed. You individually control this!

One example is a friend of mine split up with her boyfriend who posted blogs about her blaming her for things and openly discussing the relationship. Mutual friends read the comments and started to criticise her, having their own opinions even though it is none of their business - it makes them believe they are a part of it. This was very hurtful and embarrassing to her as the comments were very private and personal. Relationships are publically posted and recorded on sites like Facebook and Twitter, in the virtual world "nothing is official until it's posted on Facebook" and other people are left to comment freely on their status'.
 
Another example:  a student at college was told by the principal he could not take part in the graduation show as he wanted to take a professional job that meant he would miss 2 performances.  He thought the decision was unreasonable as he could make the other 4 performances. Students began to post messages of support on Facebook and criticising the college’s decision, this then led to a campaign to challenge the principal and you were “polled” as to which camp you were going support either team student or team college. The whole thing got out of hand as a small minority saw it as an opportunity to damage certain individuals and the college’s credibility. If like me you sat on the fence and didn’t get involved you were criticised as a “traitor” to some of the students.

This is an example of how “Flame posts” initiate a reaction.

It seems the most recent trend at the moment is for people to post “polling” blogs eg: “Who’s hot, who’s not?” Sometimes these are personalised. These can be quite hurtful and embarrassing especially when people respond with negative comments. The questions can often be offensive and it gives the opportunity for others to “bully” on line.

This is an example of the type of thing that regularly appears on Facebook, this one appeared on mine this week from someone who I don’t know. 

Stinger Mc just answered a question about Emily Rose

Stinger Mc is answering questions about their friends. Here are some other questions other people may have answered about Emily Rose.

1:Do you think Emily Rose has ever watched porn?

2:Do you think Emily Rose would ever betray you?

3:Do you think Emily Rose is ugly?

4:Do you think Emily Rose has ever lied to avoid a date?

5:Do you think Emily Rose has ever had a crush on you?

Cyber bullying is often motivated by anger, revenge, envy or frustration and sometimes for entertainment due to boredom or for attention to get a reaction or a laugh. Some people are power hungry and do it to torment others or for their ego. Bullies often find they enjoy being the tough guy or gal and the social standing it brings them as they consider themselves popular. The dangerous ones get a perverse sense of satisfaction out of provoking a reaction or causing someone else embarrassment or pain. Some don’t realise the effect it is having on the victim and think it was just for a laugh.

Often it can be just that you’re left out of the loop and feel lonely and rejected; eg: everyone in the class is invited out for someone’s birthday but you’re not included !!! It maybe that they just forgot you by accident or it was done deliberately to make you feel isolated.

Bullies give false criticism or patronising sarcasm; they fabricate or distort the truth and give negative and harmful information and comments. In severe cases they may even give out addresses and telephone numbers or personal details. Some even pose as the victim and post provocative messages or threats to incite responses and imply they have said nasty things or shared secrets.

A friend of mine went out with a group for a night out and rarely for her she got rather drunk. She was filmed on someone’s mobile phone rather worse for wear and this was posted on “You tube”. She was extremely embarrassed by the whole thing and wasn’t allowed to forget the incident wherever she went for months. Last week she met an old acquaintance at a work event who proudly told her at a dinner the week before she’d been shown the footage – it was over a year ago now since the event but the person had kept the film on a phone and was still showing the clip to get a cheap laugh on my friends account. So now she’s going through all the embarrassment a second time round as that person had gone and told another circle of friends who all wanted to see the clip. She feels she will never be able to live it down but this is the cheap kick people get at someone else’s expense not realising how hurtful it is to the victim.

There is no hiding with these sites! A little bit like celebrities and the paparazzi who have pictures plastered all over the media. And this is not what these websites were created for...... 'They were created for people to connect, communicate and stay in touch with their friends'.

 

Victims of any form of bullying have lower self esteem and suffer varying emotional responses. They can become scared, frustrated, angry, withdrawn, lonely, depressed or at worst suicidal.

So how can this affect us in our professional lives? Of course if casting agents, prospective clients, customers, employers have access to all of our information it forms an opinion of us as people and that could give the wrong impression we are trying to create. We are all only human and we form opinions on what we read and see. We have then to learn to manage these connections, use them in powerful ways, and protect ourselves whilst allowing us to be social where we need to be.
I suppose Facebook should be our “Social You” and our blog should become our “Professional You”. I think it’s about learning where to draw the line and how to manage both and obviously sometimes they’ll overlap.

The professional blog is where we mould who we are, what we are interested in and where we want to go. The ‘You’ we want agencies, casting directors & employers to know about. We all need to take control of our presence because somewhere, some time, somebody is going to Google us or do a Facebook search for us and what are they going to find?  

CV - what does it say about me? 

Emily Rose Harris
email: rosie_jo91@hotmail.co.uk
Equity/Spotlight Name: Miley Rose

Height: 5'4'
Hair: Blonde
Eyes: Blue
Nationality: British (White)
Training: Bird College - National Diploma in Professional Dance and Musical Theatre

Theatre:

• SNOW WHITE & THE SEVEN POOFS  - PANTOMINE [ Fag Hag/Lead Dancer/Dance Captain] December 2010/January 2011 - Leicester Square Theatre - Simon Gross Productions.
• Bird College Show - BURLESQUE [Sugarbabies/Razzle Dazzle/Cabaret/Blues/On A Mission/Finale] Solo singer/dancer. 07/2010. Orchard Theatre, Dartford. Director: Luis de Abreu, Chor: Nick French, Andrew Wilson, David Leighton, Katie Morea.
• FAME - Lampchops. 03/2010. Studio Theatre, Sidcup. Director: Luis de Abreu, Chor: Andrew Wilson.
• PETER PAN-TO - Tinkerbell. 12/2009. Doncaster Little Theatre. 2ACT Theatre Company.
• Bird College Show - NOITAMINA [Puppet-Her/Imagination/Young Frankenstein] Dancer/Ensemble. 07/2009. Orchard Theatre, Dartford. Chor: Sam Price, Sue Brice, Nick French.
• The Wiz - Evilene. 07/2008. Penistone Paramount Theatre. Razzmatazz Youth Theatre.
• ALADDIN Pantomime - Dancer/Princess So Shi. 12/2007. Epic Theatre Sheffield/Dearne Valley Playhouse. 2ACT Theatre Company.
• Grayscale - Soloist Dancer. 2006-2008. '10' Wakefield Opera House, National Youth Dance Finals, 'Move It' Olympia London, Disneyland Paris. Chor: Eddie Copp, Momentum Dance Company.
• We Will Rock You - Killer Queen. 03/2007. Barnsley Lamproom Theatre. LYTEs Theatre Company.
• Go West - Dancer. 10/2006. Sadler's Wells Theatre, London. Chor: National Youth Ballet.
• The Nutcracker - Soloist Dancer. 10/2005. York Opera House. Chor: English Youth Ballet.
• FAME - Iris. 11/2005. Penistone Paramount Theatre. Razzmatazz Youth Theatre.

Vocal Range: Mezzo Soprano [from low F sharp to high G (belt to D)]

Special Skills:
Dance: Ballet, Jazz, Tap (IDTA syllabus to Advanced Level), Contemporary (Release/Cunningham/Graham Techniques), Contact/Partner Work, Jazz and Classical Pas de Deux, Musical Theatre, Acro/Gymnastics.
Other: Full clean driving license, Piano and Flute to Grade 3 standard (Associated Board), ALCM Musical Theatre Performance (London College of Music in Association with Thames Valley University), Swimming (Semi-Professional), 5km Runner, Gymnastics, Horse Ride, Aerobics, Pilates/Yoga.

Mirror, mirror on the wall,
Who is the fairest of them all?

Success – I easily converted my CV into PDF form but it won’t up load it to the blog, keeps saying it won’t accept the file so back to the drawing board again tomorrow to get it on the blog to complete Adesola’s task!!

I was interested in Adesola’s comments on our body imagery as seen on networking sites as dancers and whether there is any validity in being able to manage what people think of you. This is one of the real downsides I think to using Web 2 and networking sites and a subject very close to my heart and one of my “soapbox” subjects.

In this internet age, people don't just judge you based solely on their interactions with you. They are searching for your name online, through a variety of search engines and social networks and people  are curious to learn more about you, and your personal life, whether you like it or not. Everyone is watching everyone else !!!

Unfortunately this means we become obsessed with our appearance and physical attractiveness becomes of overwhelming importance and with all the latest techniques available on the internet there is the ability to “fake” your appearance and “airbrush” your photos and even edit your talents and manage your own image just how you want it to be.

My view is that this provides a breeding ground for a completely unattainable expectation for ones-self regarding body image and looks and cruelly encourages us to believe that looks are the most important aspect of our identity! And in the extreme it can have devastating and detrimental consequences when we read of models and dancers who commit suicide because of the pressures of obsessing about unattainable “body image”.

During my years at college it became an obsession particularly with the girls and I have witnessed everything from expressions of doubt, fear, despair and self-disgust or alternatively, of contempt and self-righteous smugness in supposedly bodily superiority amongst students when the issue of the dancer's body arose, or when they faced the studio mirror. The forms of being bodily wrong that students despair over are endless and the increasing numbers who suffer from eating disorders is quite frightening. We were constantly told that in the dance world it is more important how you look than how you dance and we all fretted whether we were too short, too tall, too fat, too thin,too flat-chested, too busty, disproportionate, too big in the hips, thighs or shoulders, too short   in the neck, or too long in the torso relative to the legs. We were constantly told we needed to find “a look”. The number of times more talented students have been overlooked for someone who has the “right look” are more than I’ve had hot dinners.

I’m afraid being the subject of bullying as an adolescent about my appearance I am a very strong advocate of proclaiming that the dance world should re-examine it’s attitudes toward body image and culture. For example; Why should it be that only tall, slender people can be professional ballet dancers. Shouldn’t ballet be something open to everyone? True anyone can take classes but they wouldn’t be accepted into ballet school no matter how good they are on technique!

 I have fought body image issues for 5 years since I hit puberty and it presented me with boobs and curves. At 11 years old I was destined for ballet school – an associate dancer with Northern Ballet Theatre and soloist with English Youth Ballet and National Youth Ballet till I suddenly reached puberty at 14. My technique and skill was no different but my body had completely changed and I was rejected by every ballet school, quite cruelly being told I was the wrong shape for ballet!

 I even found a web site today that allows you to see yourself as you would look if you lose or gain weight and it is quite simple, you upload your picture and move a knob on a scale up and down depending on what you want to see. It is smart marketing for the diet and exercise industry but very bad for self esteem and sites like these increase disillusionment, depression and loneliness.

In the professional dance industry, diversity in shape and size of bodies is now becoming more acceptable than ever but it still has a long way to go and the idea of creating the perfect virtual image via the internet fills me with a sense of dread. How will any of us keep our individual identity if we are all “Avatared”?

An avatar is a computer user's representation of himself/herself or alter ego whether in the form of a three-dimensional model used in computer games,^[1] or a two-dimensional icon (picture) used on Internet forums and other communities^[2][3].

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avatar_(computing)

I wasn’t surprised to find when I googled Avatar that there were numerous sites offering to Aavartise yourself for free, including a link on “Facebook” and “You tube”.

Whilst I think there are wonderful opportunities to enhance and promote ourselves via the net and create a network of contacts I am also cautious about the wider implications of  its use and would support the regulation and monitoring of the use of “faking” . I understand the government are already looking at the regulating of “airbrushing” in the advertising and modeling world and  there could potentially, one day, be laws introduced that would require all airbrushed images to contain a small ‘kitemark’ to show they are not real.

Image Source: campaignlive.co.uk

 Airbrushing is known to distort reality, providing a ‘fake’ ideal that young people aspire to. To me this is a disturbing concept. The prospects to be able to create ourselves as the perfect image are endless via the internet but can then we deal psychologically with the reality..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photo_manipulation

Photo manipulation is the application of image editing techniques to photographs in order to create an illusion or deception (in contrast to mere enhancement or correction), through analog or digital means.^[1]

A close friend of mine experimented with the use of airbrushing and editing for a photograph to advertise himself as a dancer. He had the floor lowered and his legs lifted to imporve the appearance of his leap and the height of his jump. This obviously showed him looking great - but it wasn't real. But would it 've convinced a potential employer togive him an audition ?

I have witnessed girls handing their headshots in at auditions and the photo barely resembles the reality due to digital techniques and airbrushing. Is it a case of "the survival of the fittest" and we all "join 'em if we can't beat 'em?" What do others think?
If we are to be merely judged on a photograph in order to be considered for an audition  then are we creating  a "cyber world" that merely judges us an an image of ourselves that appears on networking sites?


Confucius once said: 'Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.'


These simple words should echo a deeper meaning for all those who seek to find beauty in the eyes of another. Why should one believe that beauty is about looking like someone else? One should be able to accept that everyone is unique and beautiful in their own way and that being different is not such a bad thing. For true beauty is not what others see in you but what you cherish and nurture in yourself’.

I fear that in a virtual world we will all loose our individuality and that’s what makes us all unique and beautiful. It certainly is an interesting concept as Adesola says but I think we have to approach it with caution as somewhere along the way we will loose our real identities and what a place it would be if we all looked exactly the same in society’s acceptance of what is attractive.  I want to be known for my talent as a dancer but I know to move in the professional world I have to be realistic and use the tools available to network and promote myself and that as a dancer it may seem at first glance that it’s all about looks as dance is a visual art but I like to have a more optimistic view of things and hope we are coming into an age where technique and skill are more important than raw aesthetic and I don’t have to seek to look like someone else. Traditionally, dancers have been known to be obsessive about how they look, which is even more reason to encourage positive body image. I can only hope and have faith !!!!!