About Me

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Born in Toronto, I began dance training at an early age starting with ballet which eventually progressed into a main focus of jazz. Starting at the age of six I began my constant flip flopping of living in England and Canada. When in Toronto I attended the Interplay Dance School. In England I attended classes at Bodywork Studios. After alternating between living in England and Toronto with my family, I graduated from the Bethany Hills School near Peterborough, Ontario, to attend George Brown Dance with their foundation program. After George Brown I flew back to England for the third time in my life to attend the Cambridge Performing Arts College for three years, my major being dance, but discovered my true calling was the fashion industry. I have worked as a freelance model for three years and a stylist for just a year, also freelance. I put a lot of what I learned from my years of performing arts study into my modeling and into my styling, on occasion have actually had to model as a ballerina or style for dancers. I have worked with many prestigious people in the fashion industry already.

Wednesday 15 February 2012

Log Five- Getting Back Into the Swing of Things

Hello!
It has been terribly long since I have made another blog entry. After writing the research paper I was overwhelmed with castings, shoots and other items that don't involve my modeling. I have signed up with the University of Toronto's Continuing Education program for French. I had already passed levels I, II and III, once I receive this last course I will be given a certificate in languages. I originally started the French lessons not only because I love the language but it also helps you gain better jobs and gives you a higher net worth, especially here in Canada where French is a second language. I've also been studying to become a fitness instructor so I can have a back up job and more income. I would also love to be able to incorporate my dance training from Cambridge Performing Arts College into my fitness.
I have also recently decided to bite the bullet and sign with a modeling agency. I ultimately chose Icon Model Management in Toronto http://www.iconmodels.ca/. They are an up and coming agency here in Toronto who specialize in fashion and commercial modeling. I would really like to do Toronto Fashion Week especailly since a fashion model retires so early in life and I only have so much time left. Being signed with Icon can ultimately help me get a casting for one or more of the shows hopefully. Also with Icon's help I hope I can break more into the commercial side of modeling.
I have also recently appeared in Votive Magazine http://votivemag.com/. Shot by Stephen M. Loban and makeup by Kyla Jackson who I've worked with both on countless occassions. The magazine is a San Francisco fashion magazine so we were all very excited to be picked up by them. Here's a little sneak peek of the photos and accompanying article.
My ad campaign for PSB Speakers has also begun to spring up which is pretty exciting. Everyone in the UK has to let me know when they spot it! It's my very first ad campaign, I hope to get plenty more in the future. I don't have the tear sheet yet but I thought I'd show with this picture I took from my phone.
I have also begun reading into Course Reader 4. Currently I am reading into the "Identifying Knowledge and Skills in the Workplace" section. Going back though to the section before on "Links to Work Based Learning" the question is asked, "Are there any ideas from work based or organisational knowledge theories of learning that could be used to understand your own professional inquiry?" I have actually unconsciously been using professional inquiry since I first began my adventures into the modeling industry. Usually people in this industry don't see the use of work based or organisational knowledge based theories as a means of helping them in castings or being picked for certain types of jobs. If you aren't casted you put it down to things you cannot or find hard to change like not the right height, weight, size, hair colour, etc. But I have found using certain theories has helped me achieve the jobs that would have been impossible for me to gain. One essential tool is obviously Web 2.0 with the social networking like Facebook and Twitter. Another theory which has been brought to my attention is the "Single Loop and Double Loop" learning. One way I have used this I find in the past was observations at castings. I watch what the girls who were casted wore, how they walked, how they presented themselves at the castings and followed suit for the following opportunities. Here I used single loop learning where I have gone through the "error-and-correction process" (http://www.infed.org/thinkers/argyris.htm). I don't recall using double loop learning, especially in a situation where simply what I wear or how I act at a casting is not enough. I'm not sure how I would use it when "error is detected and corrected in ways that involve the modification of an organization’s underlying norms, policies and objectives" (http://www.infed.org/thinkers/argyris.htm). Maybe if I knew the designer or photographer preferred to use brunettes I would change the colour of my hair. Sometimes in my industry it is impossible to apply certain theories and it really comes down to your height, weight, measurements, etc. I've been changing measurements to suit that standard for fashion lately so I can better my chance of getting a show in Fashion Week. What I don't understand though, would that be considered single loop learning or double loop learning? I'm still reading into Argyris and Schon so hopefully I'll soon have a better understanding.
I will now leave you with some of my latest work and keep you posted on more jobs a little more frequently. Hope everyone had a lovely holiday!






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1 comment:

  1. Paula Nottingham19 February 2012 at 06:46

    Wow Victoria you are starting back on Module 2 and seem to be making up for lost time. Thanks for your updates and your beginning thoughts on the ideas from Reader 4. Yes the single and double loop learning of Argyris and Schon make it clear that to analyse situations, there can be different levels of action that we may have to consider. The double loop , for me, is when the current rules in existence in an organisation, or in a freelance custom and practice situation, become limited, so you need to think beyond the 'norms' to find solutions. The givens like height might be difficult to use as an example, but how people make decisions about models in different agencies might be; in single loop one agency decides in a certain way so that seems to be 'the way' but then another agency uses different rules to makes choices so you know that there is a higher level of abstraction that determines choices. There are other types of critical thinking, but this type of abstraction is useful in thinking through issues and topics.

    Yes, I think you have been thinking about professional inquiry as you have been establishing your career - many of the methods are good for people going through changes. Looking forward to reading more about your topic area for Module 2.

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