Browsing by Subject "yleisötyö"

The aim of my study is to find out the methods and forms of activity in which the Finnish National Ballet practices their audience engagement for schools. I also describe the goals and aims of the Finnish National Ballet’s audience engagement. Finally I place the cooperation of The Finnish National Ballet and schools in Yrjö Engeström’s (2004, pp. 107—109) sets of interaction. Traditionally audience engagement has meant different kind of workshops, art projects and open rehearsals (Aunola, 2014, p. 131). Audience engagement has been a way of attracting new audiences and making the art form easier to reach and understand (Hietanen, 2010, p. 4). In a pedagogical point of view the core of audience engagement has been participation (Aunola, 2014, p. 135). The Finnish National Opera, including the Finnish National Ballet is mostly funded by the Ministry of Education and Culture (OKM) and the cities of Helsinki Metropolitan area. These financiers have an impact on the practices and aims of the Finnish National Ballet’s audience engagement. I Interviewed the Finnish National Opera’s Audience Outreach and Social Responsibility Manager Lauri Pokkinen for my study. The interview along with an article Kasvatuksesta yhteistyöhön (Hietanen, 2010) forms the research material of this study. I analyze the material by using theory-based content analysis and classification. The most common ways to practice audience engagement were open rehearsals, projects and workshops. Open rehearsals were the most traditional form of audience engagement. Workshops and projects meant practicing ballet or making a choreography in the guidance of professionals. The most important workshops were Balettienergiaa pojille and So you think you can move. The most fundamental aims of audience engagement seemed to be expanding the audiences, answering to demand, developing the art organization and participating children. Participation was by far the most significant aim of all. The experiences as well as the feedback of the Finnish National Ballet’s audience engagement was mostly positive. Of the sets of interaction by Yrjö Engeström (2004) the best one to describe the cooperation of the Finnish National Ballet and schools was the set of communication (Engeström, 2004, p. 109). The cooperation seemed to be dialogical and reflexive.