Ergonomics

Friday 23 September

Hello world!

Ergonomics has taken on a slightly different meaning since beginning this course. In exploring ergonomics, we are exploring the 'fit' between the person, the chosen activity, and the environment in which it is completed. Singleton (1972) talks about ergonomics in terms of matching men, machines, work-spaces and environemnts. If a task has 'good' ergonomics, there is optimum fit, or a "dynamic balance" (Hagedorn, 2000, p. 13) between these three components. It's really important we have a good understanding of ergonomics as OTs in the making, as the role of the OT is to "constantly make slight invisible adjustments to an activity to adapt to the needs of those taking part and ensure that it continues to work for its intended purpose” (Caulton & Dickson, 2007, p.93). In order to do this, we obviously need to have an idea of what the intended purpose for the activity is. Ergonomics is about knowing how the person, occupation and environment all interact to get the wanted outcomes, and an understanding of ergonomics will help problem solve how to still get to the expected outcome whether or not there is deficit in one or more of the areas.

So what outcomes do I expect from participation in dancing?
I guess by the end of the semester, I'd like to think I was becoming more competent in both forms of dance. I'd like to increase socialisation with new people and continuing building relationships with my friends. And I'd like to feel like I'm getting a bit fitter or flexible or mentally stable through participation :)

So, breaking the ergonomics of dancing into bits...

Person
I like dancing.
I've done dancing in the past, therefore have some degree of competence
I know all the basic steps in ballet and the 'language' that accompanies them, and the most basic swing moves.
I'm super enthusiastic to learn.
I'm willing to spend time practicing.
I have friends dancing with me, so have external motivation to keep it up.
I'm a bit musical so have good sense of rhythm and understanding or music.

Occupation
Dancing requires coordination, flexibility and the ability to learn quite quickly.
Can be done individually or as a group.
Depending on whether one is dancing in a group, solo or with a partner there are different expectations as to the level of 'personalisation' one can add.
Classes cater for members of all abilities.
There are different levels of occupational engagement - I could chose to only dance when I go to classes... but that's a bit boring.
Depending on your occupational engagement, there's different sorts of equipment necessary.  Clubs and Socs are pretty lax, so you can rock up to swing in whatever goes. Ballet requires more freedom of movement, so shorts or trackies or tights do the job. If I was paying for formal lessons, I'd need shoes (depending on the type of dance), leotard and tights, hundreds of bun pins and bun nets and hair ties and bobby-pins. It's not really a cheap occupation!

Environment
Dancing requires large amounts of space. I often get a bit carried away, and send light shades flying or taking on a door.
Dancing requires clear space. Slipping on cow pats and tripping over clothes isn't ideal.
The environment changes with the level of occupational engagement. Classes take place in a dance studio with a barre and lots of mirrors. When both my brother and I did dancing, Dad made us a barre in the spare bedroom with a polished floor so we cold practice. It was a brilliant idea.... but our motivation to practice didn't hugely increase :-p I'm now quite happy to practice on the lawn, in my bedroom or in the living room.
Funny actually, having just said dancing requires lots of space, I'm going to have to eat my words. I went clubbing in the weekend as it was a friend's hen's night. The All Black's had just beaten France, and England had played Romania in Dunedin. Town was MAD! There was no room whatsoever, on the "dance floor" you were more than intimate with a whole bunch of random strangers, and I generally felt super uncomfortable the entire time. Glancing around, some people seemed totally in their element! Maybe it was the amount of alcohol in their system, maybe the type of dancing, or maybe just the familiarity with the situation. Dunno. Anyway, for my dancing I like space. Without cow poos.

Having had my first few weeks dance lessons, I think it's really interesting to reflect on the difference between the ergonomics of dancing now and the ergonomics of dancing when I was right in the midst of it, dancing multiple times weekly and practicing for exams/recitals/medal tests.
The first ballet lesson I went to this semester was the most frustrating thing ever! I had gone with the expectation that the class would be quite a breeze as it only required 2 years experience (I'd had 12!). However, I struggled man! The person (me) had clearly lost a lot of condition - I'm nowhere near as flexible as I was, the fresher 5 has well established it's place, and a lot of technique stuff has faded without practice. This made me almost doubt my interest in the occupation - I didn't have mastery so I was inwardly a bit grumpy and frustrated with myself, and had to watch that this wasn't transferred to the dance. However, in some aspects there's still quite a good fit: dancing requires good relationships (or the allusion of) between people dancing together. I spent most of the first ballet class catching my friend's eye and giggling about our lack of mastery. I think a lot of us felt the same frustration, so the girls in the class all supported each other with smiles, giggles, encouragement and by demonstrating if it was asked for.

The fit between the occupation/person and environment was a bit less perfect, and demonstrated the need for the facilitator to be able to "constantly make slight invisible adjustments to an activity to adapt to the needs of those taking part and ensure that it continues to work for its intended purpose" (Caulton & Dickson, 2007, p.93). The dance studio at clubs and socs is quite big, but not really big enough for 10+ girls to be prancing around all directions in. We constantly crashed into walls or each other. When we did our dance, the teacher would split us into 2 groups. This made the fit much better!

I like how Hagedorn (2000) describes ergonomics as a dynamic balance. When there is a deficit in one of the three areas, things must change in the other areas to try and maintain a balance and optimum performance. See my post on practical considerations and ergonomics for a really good example of how ergonomics is a dynamic balance - when there's not enough space, either the task or the person has to change to accomodate :)
So, that's a very little look into the ergonomics of dancing. I think there's quite a got fit for me at the minute, but it's very interesting to think about how I would encourage the same outcomes from people without any dancing experience, with physical limitations, who don't have any space to practice or the money or time, or who weren't comfortable around other people.

References

Caulton, R., & Dickson, R. (2007). What's going on? Finding an explanation for what we do. In J. Creek & A. Lawson-Porter (Eds.). Contemporary issues in occupational therapy. Chichester: John Wiley& Sons Ltd.

Hagedorn, R. (2000). Tools for practice in occupational therapy: A structured approach to core skills and processes. Edinburgh: Churchill-Livingstone.

Singleton, W. (1972). Introduction to ergonomics. Geneva: World Health Organisation.

Affordance

Saturday 17 September

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.

An introduction

Friday 9 September

When I was four, I started ballet. I can’t quite remember why, but it must have been a good decision as I stuck at it for the next 12 years, punctuated with a period of jazz. In my 12 years I took part in 10 recitals, becoming everything from a street urchin, green seed, star fish, mud-lark to sylph. I did multiple medal tests, RAD to grade 7 ballet and jazz to grade 4. For some reason I decided  like ballet better than jazz, which was an odd decision as I was phenomenally better at jazz. Never mind, we live and learn! 

Last year we got a few ceroc lessons before our college ball, and earlier this year a friend and I did a beginners ceroc course through the uni. This semester I'm starting "funky ballet" which is a mix between jazz and ballet, and swing. I am SO excited! Both of these will learnt in a class – and I’ve managed to rope in friends and flat mates.

Dancing is a really important form of self-expression for me. Maybe it's something to do with being quite a kinesthetic person - I jiggle and "flap" when I'm excited, stomp or run or slam when I'm grumpy, frolic when I'm on the beach... Dancing used to be a really good way for me to celebrate what was exciting in my life, forget what was irritating me, and refocus on what was important. I love this quote from the Billy Elliot musical. When Billy is asked what dancing feels like to him, he says: “I suppose it's like forgetting, losing who you are, and at the same time something makes you whole” (John & Hall, 2005)  - see here for the whole song... it’s great! I love the oxymoron of feeling like you have to be totally in control of your body, as dancing (especially ballet) can be quite restrained and disciplined, but at the same time feeling totally out of control and driven by whatever you’re feeling or music. Dancing also provided me with a means in which to keep fit which I really enjoyed, never having been particularly sporty. It gave me a social circle outside of my school friends, which was fabulous!

References

John, E., & Hall, L. (2005). Electricity. On Official cast recording: Billy Elliot the musical [CD]. London: Angel Recording Studios; Shoefactory Studios.

Oh hello!

Well, well, well! It looks as though I'm back! After an adventure in the far north, I'm ready and rearing for semester two. Following on from Participation in Occupation I, we now have Participation in Occupation II. Fancy that! This  paper requires me to participate mindfully in an occupation of my choice for two hours a week for the duration of the semester, and reflect on said occupation. I've decided to start dancing again as of next week... a very exciting progression. Watch this space!