Feedback on 'Links to work from people I admire'

There have been a great number of really good ‘Links to work from people I admire’. Here are some examples and my reasons for bringing them to your attention. Please note these are examples rather than a list of the best in my view. Do go and look at the other Blogs and form your own views:

Tasha's Blog has a lot of good content, but I particularly liked the section on ‘The Jerwood Centre for the Prevention and Treatment of Dance Injuries. In this section Tasha identifies why she admires the work of the Centre and identifies individuals involved and gives the sense that she knows the work of the Centre well.

Sophie Gilbert’s Blog on Bob Fosse is very effective. Sophie gives an extensive a detailed explanation of why she admires Bob Fosse, with links to various other resources and sources. I had trouble with one broken link: ‘Presentation of the Festival and News’ however the overall effect was very informative, and gave me insight into the work of Fosse and West Side Story. The strength of this Blog is the variety of sources and Sophie’s strong commentary.

Murat’s Blog on Chickenshed ‘Chickenshed from Murat Shevket’ is a great Blog. It’s short and communicates Murat’s passion and commitment to Chickenshed. This is a feature of the Chickshed ‘crew’ that I have come to recognise but Murat captures this very nicely. We all could emulate this to our credit.

Melissa’s Blog on Alvin Ailey's and Revelations is another wonderfully respectful and passionate Blog. Melissa demonstrates knowledge of the development of the Ailey School and the context of the development of Black Dance in the U.S.A. Incidentally do go and look at the revelations link. Also, and for you Melissa, go to ADAD who support the development of Black Dance in the UK. ADAD is run by Jeanette Bain who is a graduate from Middlesex University MA Choreography if this is a helpful link.

Laura Bentley's Blog on Matthew Bourne is very effective in that Laura provides a detailed and analytical explanation of why she admires Bourne and his work. It’s very important to make a distinction between admiring someone or something, and knowing why. I thought the Section on Lance Armstrong was very inspiring, but the Bourne text was stronger for me because it unpacked Laura’s analytical skills. You will see some Blogs (but for that matter essays and other writing) that is passionate and interesting, but part of what we are also doing is developing our powers of understanding and knowledge creation.

Danielle Stacey’s Blog on Pete Purdy is really worth reading. Danielle manages to talk us through a critical phase in her creative and technical development – having been taught by Pete Purdy and then his untimely death. What I find good about this Blog is Danielle’s ‘centeredness’. She clearly feels the loss but appreciated the value gained from being taught by Pete Purdy. The professional is often also the emotional, but what Danielle does is show how you can maintain a professionally strong perspective even through emotionally difficult situations.


Well that's a few Blogs that caught my eye ... but to finish this part of my feedback, I also wanted to say something about Blogs I don’t admire so much and these fall into two categories:

1. Links with no explanatory text leaves me wondering what the Blogger is thinking;

2. Text with no links make me wonder if the Blogger has really looked and researched the people they admire – given how easy it is to link to external sources, is looks a bit weak and lacking richness.

What do you think?