A question I frequently hear is how have I managed to teach and dance all over the place?
One important tool is my analog notebooks, accessible regardless of electrical power or internet connection, collecting what I wish to remember reliably.
Often espousing the benefits of handwritten note-taking, in the video below I flip through over ten years of my own such Dance Notebooks for the curious to peek inside and for me to glean themes, learning, and growth through reflection over time.
Teaching Artist Notes
These books span from about 2010/11 to 2023/4 so cover well over a decade of my handwritten record-keeping of dance study, teaching, choreography, goals and projects, tracking, brainstorming and creativity. In them, I dance and teach in Portland, Oregon, Honolulu, Hawai’i, Poitiers and Paris, France, and Cologne, Germany:
In the video above, I flip through my own notes and scribbles.
Dance Topics Tracked
What did I capture?
Everything I want to remember and reference, words, sketches and diagrams, my own ideas and creations and those of others:
- Teaching logs of hours for invoicing, credentialing, and memory,
- Syllabi and Lesson Plans for Ballet, Modern Dance, Jazz, Hip Hop, Tap…tracking the “what” of concepts, steps and combinations covered as well as the “how” it went, our results and what’s next
- Work in Studios, Schools, as an Adjunct Professor, guest teaching, directing shows
- Notes on various books, essays, texts and live study of dance techniques (Ballet Schools, Okinawan Dance, Hula, Taiko Drumming…), master classes, workshops,
- My MFA and secondary Teaching Credential in Dance
- Choreography notes on my creations and learning others’ works, collaborations,
- Music listening, songs & compositions, playlists,
- Creative and educational themes, dance ideas, fairytales and stories,
- Feedback, praise, reflections
- Brainstorming, goal-setting, visioning
- Learning to teach online, YouTube, Zoom, blogging, podcasting, social media…
- and more!
Threading Tactic
Although all are connected through the theme of dance creation and education, you can see that there are too many disciplines, locations, and ideas to break them out into separate books.
Thus Ryder Carroll’s The Bullet Journal Method, especially the concept of “threading” where various subtopics and contexts can interweave, has been of value in my practice. Each spread contains one subject, tabbing and color coding helps keep them distinct and easily-accessible on a daily and weekly basis, and then when I run out of space on one page, the thread gets picked up later in the book. Indexing and then digital backup of especially valuable references further aid future retrieval of information.
Resources for Further Exploration
- How (and Why) to Take Dance Notes – Class, Rehearsal, Performance Writing to Grow & Create
- You Need a Smile File, Creative! – Remembering Acknowledgement & Praise to Stay Inspired & Motivated
- Reflective Practice Through Journaling
- Goal-Setting for Dancers
- Learning from Mistakes and Failure
- Fine Feedback Workshop – How to Give & Receive Constructive Criticism & Promote Dance in the Process
- Bullet Journaling for Order and Inspiration
- Artful Archiving
- My Creative Morning Ritual
Questions for Reflection
- What kinds of notes do you take?
- What do want to remember and refer back to?
- How does writing contribute to your artistic process?
- What are you creating?
Let me know what works for your own dance, creative, and educational process! Thanks for reading and practicing together in spirit or in fact!
Take care of yourself and keep moving mindfully, let me know how if I can be of service, would love to see you in my email newsletter or on social media as well.
Blythe Stephens, MFA, Bliss Catalyst
they/them or she/her
Creator of A Blythe Coach: dance through difficulty
and take leaps of faith into a joyful, fulfilling life