Week 7

There are many benefits to fieldwork. First off by doing fieldwork you are emerging yourself into the actual subculture and learning more about the subculture faster and first hand. Fieldwork can provide a researcher with a lot of very useful information. I can give back to my subculture by representing them well in my mini ethnography. By portraying the dance team well in my paper, that will be giving them a positive label. Also I will be providing them with respect from our home community. The biggest thing I think my subculture needs right now is confidence. When I am at the field site, I watch them dance and perform, and I give them feedback about how well they are doing their routines. That in my eyes, is giving them confidence and helping their subculture become more together. My contribution to our class is showing up at every single class that we have. I also complete all of the homework assignments. This is a contribution because it helps the class flow more smoothly with the attendance percentages and so forth. My contribution to my education is that I put effort into all of my classes. I do not miss classes. I complete all of my homework in my classes, and study for my exams. I really want to accomplish my dreams of being successful, and in order to do that I realize that I have to contribute to my education before I can benefit from it in the long run.

Survey for Dance Team

http://FreeOnlineSurveys.com/rendersurvey.asp?sid=a5xep12u7c0qiof550028

In class writing (groundwork)

My first impressions of my field site were that it was big. However after being there for a longer period of time I came to realize just how small it was. Since I have been away from it for a while though, and when I go back, I don't think about the size at first. My first impression is more along the lines of how comfortable I feel there and familiar it still is. I will be asking why does the team practice in the commons though, when there is the whole school, plus two gyms. The landscape could best be described quite easily, its a building. Its not only a building, but a high school, so you can imagine how it looks. There are brick walls, windows, square designed carpet, and rooms everywhere.
When I go to the new space I feel very comfortable and welcome. Since I was once a member the space is kind of like a second home, so when I visit the field site it is like I am going home. I always feel very welcome when returning to my field site because all of the members (insiders) run to me and welcome me back with hugs. It is different in a few ways though, because now instead of being on the other side of the power, I get to sit with the coaches and give advice to the team. So the power level has shifted in a way.
I am now pretty much considered an outsider. The reasons why I am an outsider is because I no longer go to that high school, also I am no longer on the dance team. I feel extremely like an outsider when I see them out on the dance floor performing and I know I can't go out there and perform with them. Also they get all of the new outfits and clothes for the new year, and I no longer get those clothes anymore. Part of being an outsider in this subculture includes not knowing all of the news about whats going on and the dates of when they perform which dances and the practice schedule. All of that information is more easily obtained when you are an active insider.

Week 6 (Sources)

Indiana High School Dance Team Association. 18, February 2009. IHSDTA. 18 Feb 2009 http://www.ihsdta.org/.

This source is a dance competition organization website for Indiana. This site is where all of the Indiana high school dance teams go to register, look at, or search for Indiana dance team competitions against other schools. This is their official site, so it will have a lot of different types of information.
I will be using this site mainly as a first hand look at one of the major rituals that high school dance teams do...which is competition. This site will be giving all of the information I need to know about how teams sign up, what the competition levels are, where the competitions are held and much more information that will be useful in my mini ethnography.

Feller, Allison. "Fundraising Can Be Fun." Dance Magazine Vol. 82, Issue 10October 2008 10. 18 Feb 2009 http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=7&hid=112&sid=bec4a499-9790-4359-91e8-8d0a41f63056%40sessionmgr104&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=34668650.

This is an article about another major ritual that dance teams everywhere have to do...fundraising. It gives dance teams some different ideas of how to raise money for competition costs and other things. It also gives them different ideas of fundraisers to do.
I will be using this source to learn about the different costs that dance teams have to pay. I think the main use of this article will be to mainly see the different types of fundraisers dance teams do, and how they go about them.

Box #18

One of the main focal points in my field site is going to be the Benton Central commons area. The commons is where the dance team holds their practices after school. It is a carpeted area. The commons is a wide open area also, with four windows in the front of the way they face when they are practicing. The dancers use the windows to look at and see themselves as they dance to make sure they are doing the moves correctly. There is a little brick half wall, which the dancers put their belongings against and the coaches sometimes sit there to watch the dancers perform. The commons also is where the vending machines are that the dancers get their before practice snacks out of. Another main use of this focal point is that the dancers do their ritual of stretching in the commons as well. The commons leads to the gym, as well as to two other hallways of the school, the cafeteria, and the auditorium. In the middle of the commons there are some benches and tables where some students sit after school. I am very familiar with this focal point because not only did I practice there as a dancer, but I attended that school for high school, so I am very familiar with the commons area.

Trip To Georgia

In September 2008 I traveled with my boyfriend's family to Fort Benning, which is located in Georgia. All six of us drove down there together in a van type of vehicle. It was extremely crowded. Once we finally arrived at Fort Benning, it was a whole new type of atmosphere. Wherever you looked there were soldiers walking around very properly. Everything was so strict and there were so many rules. The whole point of our trip was to go watch my boyfriend graduate from boot camp. We almost couldn't even get on base because we didn't know exactly what his company number was. Once we finally got on base we got lost looking for the graduation area, since there were about five other graduations going on at that time. However, we found it, and just in time because right once we pulled up the ceremony was starting. The first thing I noticed was you had to stay behind a certain line while watching the ceremony. Also all hats were removed. There were soldiers everywhere in their uniforms watching over the ceremony. Nobody could talk at all during the ceremony, and when we could clap it was specifically announced. When the soldiers' separate companies were being announced they could not smile or anything as they walked by and saw their families for the first time in three months. That was very awkward to me. Finally after all of the speeches and announcements were done, they said we could go hug our soldier. So we ran out there and found him. Once with him, we learned more rules. He could not display hardly any affection, in other words no PDA. Also he talked a little differently and acted a little differently. We soon found out that was just while he was on base though. After we all went back to the motel and out to eat, we realized he was still just as goofy as ever. Although while we were leaving Fort Benning, I realized just how strict their lives were. The soldiers could not walk and talk on a phone, they had to stand completely straight up, perfect posture and looking forward. There were many other rules to their lives that I just don't think I could live by.

Week 5 (The Task)

So far this researching is going great. I am getting a lot of research done. Last Friday I went home and got a lot of information done. I went to the field site early before the game, so I could spend more time with the dance team. I got to watch them do their make-up to get ready, and sit it on the before game practice as well. I then went to the game with them and watched them perform. After they performed I stayed with them till the end of the game and spent more time with them. I think to finish up my mini-ethnography I am going to give them a survey type of questionnaire to fill out to gather some more information. I also need to still go to the library to collect some more broader information about dance teams in general. I need to specifically research a little bit more about their new rituals. I noticed a few while I was there. I am planning on visiting the field site again shortly also. They have a major ritual at the end of each season called their "senior dance" which I will definitely be there for. I am going to be conducting most of the interviews that night and maybe one or two over the computer. So to finish the assignment, I am going to be going to the field site again, and finish up the interviews, and conduct the survey. As of right now I don't have any questions about the assignment. Everything is pretty well explained on the class site.

In class writing (rewrite)

• 1. caring, helpful voices of employees
• 2. scents of hair dye and finger nail polish
• 3. wall to wall views of endless beauty supplies
• 4. familiarity
• 5. the comfort of being a child and going on this "trip" to Sally's with my mom

Box #15

A spot that brings back a rush of details to me would be from my childhood. The place is called Sally's. Sally's is a beauty supply shop. My mom is a beautician, and when I was younger she use to take me in there with her at least once a week to get supplies for her customers. Right as we would walk in to Sally's the voices of the workers would be the first thing I would hear. Their kind voices were always at the front of the store to greet us and ask us if they could help us find anything. Soon after we were done talking to the workers, I would recognize the unique smell of Sally's. It had a smell unlike any other. The smell is hard to describe, it was like a clean smell. But it also smelled like many shampoos and conditioners of the best scents, along with a fresh smell. I just loved it. As you look around the store there was endless beauty supply possibilities. Everything was sold there; nail polish in every color imaginable, hair colors of all kinds from neon colors to black, hair weaves and extensions, bleaches, hair repair products, curling irons, blow dryers, straighteners, and much more. The sounds that I remember hearing were either the workers talking to a customer, or the sound of the door chime as someone would walk in.

Dogtown and Z Boys

I think this is both an ethnographic study and a work of entertainment because it has some history involved in it and facts, but also it is very entertaining and easy to keep watching. Surfing and skating itself is entertainment. The interview subjects are members of the surfing and skating group. They were all like a close group of friends. They are important because they are the heart of the story. The interviews are major roles in the film. The interviews enlighten the story and give it more meaning. They do move the story along, because they give the viewers and insider point of view. The attitudes that contribute to this subculture would be the overall "I don't care attitude". They were going to skate and surf wherever they wanted to no matter what. Their rituals were they skated every single day. The artifacts would be the surfboards, the skate boards, their logo tee shirt that was blue. The structure of this piece was easy to follow and understand. The way they did their interviews and put them into the piece with the music and pictures made this subculture easy to understand. I didn't really have any stereotypes about skaters because I grew up with all of my guy friends skating. Almost all of the stuff I saw in the film was true about my friends that I grew up around. Yes I trust what the film maker was telling us. If he was a skater, then it probably has some bias to it, but he flat out showed us everything like it was. My emotional response was excitement, I really thought it was interesting and fun to watch.

Week 4 (Conclusions)

So far from what I know about my subculture I can make a few conclusions. I know that they are open to sharing information about their subculture in any way. They are willing to share rituals, secrets about getting ready or learning their practices. So I am happy to know that I won't be prying into them about anything. I am going this Friday to visit my field site and learn more though, so I am very excited! I think mainly that this subculture (high school dance team) would be the same at any high school for the most part. However, everywhere you go, of course there are going to be different personalities made up within the team. Also the teams might be different in the types of dances that they do, and the rituals like practices might be slightly different as well. But, as far as their language and group terms that they would be using, I'm sure it would all be relatively the same. This subculture is located in a very country area. It is mainly surrounded by corn fields and three very little towns. So everybody knows everybody on the team, and altogether in the whole school. A difference between locations at a different school would probably also have more students and maybe a little more difficult to make it onto the team.

Box #12

Privileges = Female, born in U.S.A., good education, loving and helpful family...

I think that my privileges will be sort of helpful as I enter my field site. All of the members of the subculture that I will be researching are all females. The coaches are even females. Within the subculture there are some differences in race, but all of them are American citizens. They are all currently in high school. They are attending the same high school that I attended, so they mostly have the same educational background as I do. Not every person has the same family history though. Some people have poor family relationships or other types of family problems. All of the members of the subculture are within two to three years of the same age as me. Since I will be having many of the same privileges as the people that make up this subculture I will be able to relate with them on the same level.