Firstly, im here to post a long entry to address some issues mentioned by dancers in their personal blogs. This will be a long entry as there are quite a no. of issues. I shall try to shorten it as much as possible, if the length is too long, readers cannot absorb then my entry wont serve its purpose. So all dancers of NHDS, if u are willing, do take a look below, and hope u do learn things from this entry.
The issues addressed by the dancers in their personal blogs are constructive, shows depth and a certain level of matured thinking, but i wish to bring every reader here a step further, juz in case u all dun realize/ missed out some diff point of views.
Okie straight to the pt, this was quoted from a dancer's blog:
N/B: the quotes below r taken out of context. i haf no wish to create a misunderstanding here, readers pls take note.
Quote 1:
"then secretary asked if we were just marking or doing full out.hello. studio's small. of cuz mark lah.so everyone (nearly) whispered mark.then secretary said she wanted to see full out. so i said "studio not big enough, full out may hit people."then she said "nvm, as zhongyi always said, make space out of no space."me: "but if there's obvious lack of space there's no way you can ever make space yar?"and both of them decided to ignore. and proceed with the full out idea they wanted."
Well, both parties haf their stand, they haf legitimate reasons, but i sincerely present this scenario to every1. Those seniors and grads who haf performed in BV community centre, those temporary stages, u all know that all the 4 corners of e stage is full of speakers & sound syst. abt 1/3 e stage is occupied by keybaords & music equip by other performing troupes, leaving dancers with very little space to dance. But a performance is a performance, still haf to full-up right? The issue is this, yes, we shld learn how to create space even if circumstances dun allow. Why not take it as a challenge to urself how to full-up & yet not hit anyone & still perform in front of audience? I believe all the grads who haf this prior exp with BVCC, u all can understand.. The stage damn small, still gotta full-up, qtn is how? If really interested to know, look for ur seniors, i believe they more than willing to teach. If u are used to marking in a cramped studio, when faced with such a stage, u wont be able to deliver the standard. Im fine with ur concerns, but seriously treat it as a challenge, there are techniques & methods to do it.
Dun shoot down the exco becos of this full-up issue.
Both parties act in the interests of dancers. One wish to preview the standard, one is afraid of causualties amidst the limited space. Come to terms that u all are willing to contribute to NHDS, making it a success, just tt working methods differ. Its really like a project, every1 wishes to complete the project, but use diff ways to do it. So no pt bearing grudges over these issues.
Quote 2:
"exco, so what? you did say we're supposed to lead as a whole sec 3 cohort yea? actually. i don't get why we've got to set aside 11 people for exco. before boting, everybody was leading, the sec 3s were united, and it was great that way. everything was well-planned, everything was done, everybody cooperated. with exco, everything's falling apart. there are people who think the current exco's not up to expectations. i said people, yea? so it's not just me. so, since we could do everything nicely when everybody was equal, why not let it stay that way? why label 11 people with posts and expect the 30+ people to do everything together as a whole? is that fair to the others?"
Issues:
Ur concerns are valid and e comments reflect tt there was a certain level of thinking, but i really wish to bring across some POV that dancers, u all may not know/ haf thot of.
By setting up exco, it seems that everything falls apart, so y not let it stay tt way? Well there are really lots of issues here, i will haf to take a long time.
Systems are systems, they are being set by ppl of diff authority, with diff areas of concern, apparently most of the time, the systems set rarely consult tt of the users/ participants of the syst. Hence, whenever a syst is set, wht every1 can do best is to improve the syst. If u feel tt the syst isnt good, we try our best to maintain it the way it was b4 the syst was introduced. But honestly, complaints alone really dun help. I shall quote many eg here for all dancers of NHDS to think abt.
In the past v long ago, Dance camp used to allow overnight stays. now no more => syst change. reason? 1) Perhaps becos overnight always got injuries/ mishaps (cos party too much? too high?), so they decided to eliminate this risk altogether. 2) Perhaps Not enough teachers willing to stay overnight, cannot fufil the teacher- student ratio. Those may be the concerns of those introducing the new syst. They haf their reasons. I duuno exactly. But we cant just complain, perhaps we can do better things to improve the syst? such as coming up with more (non-injury prone) games, so tt teachers can lower the amt of risk they taking? We all dunno wht will exactly work but since syst are introduced, it is useless to say tt: can we abolish it, let it stay the way it was b4?
We can only try our best to keep improving.
In the past, dance committee members (not known as exco, no such term at all in the past) were not voted, they were nominated & appointed by seniors. This system of meritocracy proved to be useful & efficient but has its flaws as well.. Ppl bu shuang will juz say: aiyah they got in cos they on good terms with seniors, favouritism etc. Hence there is this risk.
To address this, now change to voting syst, so u can vote, seems like more democratic. But now ppl can oso say: only those with good reputation, good rapport gets the votes, not necessary e most capable ones.
End up, no matter what syst it is, there are bound to be flaws, what we can do is keep improving, if u wish to change the syst, provide something better, dun just complain becos it ain't gonna help. Sidetracked==== Word of advice to guys: Esp so when u enter the National Service, No matter u like the syst or not, u are in it, so improve on it, work on it, dun juz complain, its not gonna solve the prob.
Hence u haf grads advocating the "we're supposed to lead as a whole sec 3 cohort" as u mentioned, cos they try their best to improve the situation. If u really feel tt u haf better soln, propose them, as to whether it will be deemed as a challenge of authority instead, then it voices down to method & tone of communication. Is the tone/ content/ situation etc appropriate?
Remember this key takeaway pls: Every1 of u wishes to help NHDS succeed & prosper, its like a proj, juz tt working methods differ, hence disagreements; Dun haf to feel sore over it, talk it out, discuss it, choose an appropriate course of action. Do it in action, mere speech doesnt help. =)
Next, "there are people who think the current exco's not up to expectations. i said people, yea?"
So give every1 more chances then, cos every1 is here to learn. No one has ever received prior training in leadership roles b4 assuming the exco role. So just keep learning, u are in a sch, just continue to absorb & learn. Interact more, the 07 sec 4 cohort. Discuss more, talk abt issues, be more active in solving issues than pointing fingers at each other. Its easy to spot each others' mistakes, its more demanding to come up with an appropriate soln. So u all shld focus on the Solving part, not Whose fault part..... 07 Sec 4, pls take this pt away with u..... (so now why do u think aft practices, exco & seniors always stay back? Is to do an After Action Review, AAR.)
Msg to Current exco & 07 sec 4: Exco dun feel demoralized over these issues, in fact u all shld treat them as feedback as to hw to better improve urself, ur seniors are always available for consulting... For the rest of 07 Sec4 dancers, do ur part for NHDS. The above issues shows tt u all have misgivings abt the current situation in NHDS, so pls provide counter soln to improve. The issues showed that u all haf thought of dance and haf feelings for dance. So why not step ur foot in and work together?
Whatever obstacles u face, disagreements etc, its juz a learning process. Treat it as a challenge, its always easy to complain, but hard to design improvements. =)
N/B: I still got lots of issues nv address, but this entry already damn long liao. If readers u all want me to end here, no part 2 cos its boring/ longwinded, oso can, np.... =)
Admin Committee of blog: when u going thru my this entry, feel tt anything inappropriate shld edit, sure, just let me know b4hand. Dun juz delete the entire entry, if not i feel like an idiot who wasted so much time typing only for it to be deleted eventually... =) Wanna edit let me know, thanx
Once a Nan Hua dancer ; forever a Nan Hua Dancer
written by Eternal_Mythology
at 1:06:00 AM
