6a i) Pilot interview(s) and 6b Critical reflection

My line of enquiry will be looking in to how the Arts are necessary and beneficial within academia and beyond in order to sustain and develop a professional performance career.

My method of interview was semi-structured interview which included 18 set questions which allowed the flexibility to explore interesting and useful issues related to their experiences.

I tried to phrase open questions to allow for more in-depth answers and therefore deepen my understanding but still allow for expansion of answers in keeping with my main topic.

For my pilot interviews I chose to interview two people to compare their opinions but on a one-on-one basis. The first person I interview via telephone was with an aspiring actress who is in her final year of study who has a singing and dance background and the second who is an ex dancer who has since started her own performing arts school with a Musical Theatre department. I chose these two candidates because I thought it would be interesting to see how their opinions would compare being at either end of the scale and to see how successful or not my pilot interview questions were in practice.

Both interviews were conducted via telephone as it became near impossible to meet face to face given our differing schedules. Since then I have met face to face with the actress who helped form part of my focus group.

The following is a list of proposed questions I used in my interview:

1. Please identify your stance on Musical Theatre e.g. are you an actor/dancer/musical theatre performer/teacher/still in training which area (who’s perception)?

2. How important is musical theatre to you as a performer/teacher/spectator -for entertainment value?

3. If Musical theatre we to disappear from the public domain/mainstream education/ how significantly would this affect you considering your career/everyday life?

4. How different do you think your educational learning would have been if musical theatre hadn’t been incorporated into your up bringing? I.e. singing/dance/drama/ music classes

5. How early do you feel musical theatre influences should start in a person’s life to and what could this include?

6.  is a dancer’s appearance more or less important than a musical theatre performer with regards to physique?

7. Would you say if talent wasn’t compromised physique shouldn’t be an issue?

8. Often at a young age image can be focused on more than enjoyment of the subject. Did you find that this was something you came across in your training/upbringing?

9. Where does the distinction between a dancer/musical theatre performer come both can sing which term is more appropriate/socially recognised?

10. How important was it to your learning experience for musical theatre to be incorporated into mainstream education (before the age of 16)?

11. Did you find musical theatre/singing/dancing/music/acting/physical activity had a positive effect on your emotional development/enjoyment in school and beyond? Would you agree that this added to your decision to go on and receive further higher/vocational in dance/Mt/acting?

12. Which would you say made for a well rounded and effective teaching background/approach for your involvement in musical theatre, an academic (curriculum based) approach or professional experience (practical) approach?

13. Do you feel there is a sustainable place in mainstream education for Musical theatre performers looking to teach?

14. Do you value Musical Theatre performers as professionals and as a sustainable profession alone?

15. Should performers automatically be able teach in mainstream education or vocational institutes?

16. Do you believe that all performers are capable of teaching is this just a given in your opinion?

17. Is there a difference between straight acting and musical theatre acting ?Can the two be nurtured using the same techniques just applying different methods or do you think the two must be approached separately and should not be merged?

18. In your opinion what form of training is the best to insure maximum success for a professional performance /teaching career?

I wrote notes throughout the interviews which I can read through and refresh my memory when needed and gained verbal consent from both participants to store this information.

http://www.ico.gov.uk/for_organisations/data_protection/the_guide/the_principles.aspx

I have referred to the above link and have ensured that all data I have compiled will be stored securely on my laptop and will not be shared publicly unless such permission is granted. I informed both interviewees of this and allowed them to review my notes once I had transferred them to my computer to make sure they were happy with what I had noted. I conducted my pilot interviews in a professional manner as possible not trying to ask any leading questions which may be seen as forcing an answer or make anyone feel uncomfortable just to suit my inquiry. I also informed them that all information they gave me was in the record unless they felt it inappropriate once reviewing my notes then I could remove any statements they weren't comfortable with. I wanted them to feel they had freedom of speech and could trust my professionalism.

Merits of my interviewing process:

• I was able to gain honest opinions as both interviewees felt relaxed and were free to talk in there own time to suit them.

• The questions allowed for expansion and developing ideas where I was able to see what related to my ongoing inquiry.

Limitations of my interviewing process:

• The only down side to conducting my interview via phone calls were that the face to face observations were lacking and I felt at times maybe the flow of conversation veered of course but was difficult to monitor.

• I feel personally face to face interviews may have been better suited to my type of questioning wanting in depth answers and discussion.

• Maybe next time I could have sent a copy of questions before hand if a face to face interview isn't possible so they have a brief idea on where the interview is heading are able to answerer quicker and be able to refer to where they are actually having the questions in front of them. 

• Because I am quite close to both interviewees at times it was tempting to go of on a tangent and let our attention sway from the main objective so I needed to be careful not to allow that to happen but on the other hand not dictate the direction to much for fear of coercing answers. 

I have realised that the need for me to remain neutral in an interview situation would be useful to gain an honest un influenced answer then I could joining with discussions based on their opinions and perhaps challenge/explore their views deeper once established.

I found the way I approached my interview to be very informative and useful towards my inquiry as some of the questions in particular question 10/11 which in both pilot's led to a in-depth discussion on how any why people are influenced in choosing certain courses and what they believe needs to be considered when choosing the right career path/course.

For my inquiry I want to understand what type of performance courses people give merit to and see what they feel is the best way to gain/sustain career success.

I intend to incorporate this interview technique as part of my live inquiry, after assessing the outcome of these interviews I found them to be very useful methods of obtaining opinions.

I found after these interviews that my initial perceptions of musical theatre performers and differing routes to break into the professional industry are shared by others. There is no right and wrong ways to train and develop talent per say but certain avenues are shown to be more successful than others. Perhaps we never stop developing even after graduating from vocational institutes and gain professional experience.