Revisiting my inquiry plan has been extremely useful in helping me to consolidate my thoughts and intentions for the project at hand. To reiterate and clarify, my project is focused largely on one question:
“Do performers need to be multi-skilled in order to have a successful career in the arts?”
Using this as my line of inquiry I intend to use the full variety of investigative tools available to me. To take the subject further, I would also like to examine the issue from some other angles; I want to look at the business of the performing arts as a whole, evaluate other practitioners’ experiences, approaches to work, and their achievements.
The impetus for this inquiry is the limitation in my career progression which I have often felt, through a lack of clear guidance from any discernible mentors around me and the sometimes too broad range of options I have been fortunate enough to have. It has been a constant concern for me and I have anecdotally learned that many of my peers have at one time or another felt hindered in much the same way.
In my professional inquiry plan I stated:
“For some time I have questioned which path to take, do I concentrate on one particular style or do I conquer all?”
I need to discover which approach will work best for me and will therefore offer me greater career opportunities and fulfilment. The Performing Arts industry is very competitive, so the most obvious tactic for a focused performer would be to aim for competency in as many skills as possible, theoretically leading to a higher success rate in securing work. However, to master even one skill as a performer you need focus, dedication, good work ethics, and many hours of training. To try to equal this skill level in a variety of disciplines could prove to be near impossible.
As I pursue the avenues of employment available to me, I am discovering that even in a depressed economic climate there is a lot of work to be gained if the skillset matches. The paradox is that this deepens my concern that I will at some point make the wrong choice and end up closing as many doors as I open, resulting in unemployment.
