What in your daily practice gets you really enthusiastic to find out more about? Who do you admire who also works with what makes you enthusiastic?
From a very young age I always knew that I wanted a career in the arts. Performing has always been my passion and from the few opportunities I have had previously to teach drama to children (work experience at school, assisting at school summer camps etc) I know that it is something I would also love to do in the future. I have taken the next steps towards this and will be teaching Musical Theatre to children in January after my panto contract ends. I am very excited about starting my new job and I feel ready to pass on what I have learnt throughout my training and hope that it will be a rewarding experience. I admired a few of my teachers at college but my biggest inspiration from a professional point of view has to be my singing teacher, George, who is primarily an actor. Teaching is his secondary job to keep him afloat in between and alongside his professional performing contracts but he is completely dedicated to helping his students achieve their goals. He is so committed to helping his students I feel that I can contact him at any time for help. His enthusiasm motivates me to work hard to provide the same level of professionalism that he maintains. I aspire to be like him when I begin teaching and I hope that my students gain many new skills and confidence from my classes. I also admire my new employer, Megan, who owns the school that I will be teaching at. She took a huge risk of setting up a company which might have failed and has worked to promote her business and ensure it is a success. I am looking forward to working with her more in the New Year and learning from her.
What gets you angry or makes you sad? Who do you admire who shares your feelings or has found a way to work around the sadness or anger?
The performing world is a very small one and I get angry because of the politics that exist in the arts. I have known people to be successful not because of what they know but who they know and it is sad to think that they have had it easy and have not had to work hard to get to where they are! It also saddens me when people make comments such as: "oh you studied Musical Theatre, that must have been easy, anyone could do that". Correction. It was not easy, in fact it was the complete opposite. I was in college from 9-6 (usually later) every day, 5 days a week, working and sweating my butt off to improve my skills and it annoys me when people who haven't trained think that they could walk straight into the industry without proper training. I found a blog online that I really relate to and I admire anyone who is in the arts who never gives up on reaching their end target or goal. It is an industry filled with rejections and is brutal, but I couldn't see myself doing anything else. http://www.poisonandice.com/tuesday-talks/lets-face-it-your-art-degree-is-going-to-get-you-nowhere
What do you love about what you do? Who do you admire who also seems to love this or is an example of what you love?
I love the feeling of achievement that I get at the end of any performance when the audience are giving their applause because it shows that they have respected the work that you have presented. Hopefully the performance sparked something inside of them which will encourage them to experience more live theatre. Performing always gives me a buzz of adrenaline and even though the industry is tough, I will continue to fight and push harder because the feeling I have when I am performing onstage is irreplaceable. Having worked in The Disney Store for over 3 years, I love working with children and I cannot wait to start my new teaching job. I am looking forward to seeing how they improve over the course of the term. I admire (most) actors who are now big stars but have publicly shared their stories of failure, I recently read about Meryl Streep, She was told at the age of 27 when she was an unknown actress just starting out in the industry that she was "too ugly" to be cast in the film, King Kong. Her love of acting was too strong to let this comment defeat her and she used it as fuel to keep going.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/11988870/Meryl-Streep-told-she-was-too-ugly-to-act-in-King-Kong.html
What do you feel you don't understand? Who do you admire who does seem to understand it or who has found a way of making not understanding it interesting or beautiful, or has asked the same questions as you?
I don't understand why drama and arts subjects are under valued in schools. When I was at school, my first drama lesson wasn't until I was in my 3rd year of senior school (age 15) when I was allowed to pick the subject to study it as one of my Standard Grade exams. If you did not choose drama as a subject then it was never on your timetable. I completely understand that children need to study other subjects like English and Maths as a priority and that not everyone (like me) wanted to make performing their career but drama builds confidence, helps to develop communication skills and encourages children to co-operate. It can help shy children make friends because drama games or exercises encourage teamwork and will also help to develop emotional intelligence. I highly admire the work of the Arts Council who just last year pushed for a 'cultural education challenge'. Schools Minister Nick Gibb said "an academic curriculum and a cultural education can only compliment each other, whether it is reading a wide range of literature; broadening your understanding of Shakespeare's plays; giving you the historical knowledge to contextualize Picasso's paintings; or allowing you to read Racine in the original language". I completely support his statement because when it came to studying Shakespeare in my English classes at school, I was already ahead of others as I had studied some of his plays previously in my drama classes and whilst completing my Speech and Drama exams.
How do you decide the appropriate ethical response in a given situation? To what extent are disciplinary responses different to that you might expect more generally in society? For example, what level of physical contact would you deem appropriate (and not) from another professional that you would find unacceptable more generally? Why?
I am actually looking forward to exploring this question more when I start teaching in the New Year. Because the children will not be typically sat at a desk doing written work I think I will need to work hard in order to find the correct balance between work and play. It is a bit more challenging trying to gain respect from the children as the musical theatre classes I will be teaching are more of a hobby to them rather than a school subject and I need to ensure that they still view me as a teacher figure rather than a friend. I am going to ensure that my classes are fun and enjoyable but that I am still able to take control. I am now DBS checked and understand the rules when working with children are very strict. I am going to try and have a 'rule system' so that the guidelines are laid down at the start of term so if any of the children do misbehave then they know the 'consequences' from day one, for example, time out etc. This will also make sure that I am consistent with my discipline and keep all the rules the same for everyone in the class.
Great post! I completely agree with you, work is essential to succeed in the arts, and especially when someone rejects you, you need to use that "as fuel" like you said to get better, rather than take you down.
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