Affordances are defined by Christiansen & Townsend (2010) as the "actions allowed by an object" and as an "interaction between the object and person: the object's design suggests its purpose, function and usability, and the user determines the objects affordance" (p. 255). In class we used affordance in a slightly broader term - I'm not going to be discussing the affordance of an object but of dance as an occupation. To me, affordance is all about what a given occupation lends itself to - the story of the occupation. In our last tutorial, we were asked to consider how our occupation affords communication, other activity and occupations (connections), and the ethical considerations (moral properties). Having had just one dancing lesson, the following table which I muddled away at in class is a very rough overview...
Communication | Connections What’s the story | Good and bad |
Big capacity for complimenting (I like dancing with you!) | Culture – swing dance at pubs | Awkwardness |
Encouraging | Creative expressions | Gifting |
Small talk | Shared interest | Non-communication |
Banter | Working together | Honouring someone else (Pip's lovely idea) |
Eye contact/body gestures | Fitness | Sharing part of self |
Teaching/learning | Good mental health | |
Respect | Growth of relationships | |
Communication of individuality | Growth of individuality | |
Networks | Practice throughout the week |
Initially I was quite worried that because I am learning two new forms of dance I would find it hard to reflect on them. Not so. We started swing last Thursday, but somehow it has infiltrated the rest of my week! The class was ginormously fun, mostly because swing is hilarious and seems to just lend itself to looking ridiculous. I found it quite easy, and would go as far as saying I quite quickly developed mastery of the basic steps we were taught. This was good as I could have conversations with my partners. I have roped in three of my really good friends to do swing with me, which makes it a lot more fun as we are already very comfortable with each other. I anticipate it's going to strengthen our friendships... shared laughter always seems to! I also loved that I got to meet several new people who I've started to form relationships with already. As we were all beginners, we all started on an even footing and could laugh about mistakes and encourage each other. I'm not particularly fluent when it comes to small talk, but ballet was great at providing subjects to talk about. To be in the class I'm in, you have to have done at least two years dancing in the past. So not only could I discuss uni/Dunedin/study with my new friends, but also their experiences of dance. It gave us instant commonalities, which fast tracked the relationship building thing.
Dancing afforded conversation all week. I now have an exciting new answer to the "what have you done this week" question. I'm suprised how many people appear almost impressed about our new hobby! I was called on for many demonstrations of my new skills, particularly by my flat mates. When showing off to my mother while in a paddock supposedly collecting pine cones, I fell over after slipping in a cow pat. Swing therefore affords me making a fool of my self. Then again, the same could be said for anything I set my hand to...
References
Christiansen, C., & Townsend, E. (2010). Introduction to occupation: The art and science of living (2nd ed.). New Jersey: Pearson.
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