Future Development Plan

 My future development plan begins with me completing my current course which is the Level 3 Cambridge Technical Extended Diploma in Performing arts with a grade of D* across all of my subjects, this course gives me a great basis for me to further build my skills with the course covering a wide range of styles that has made me feel more confident and versatile as a dancer and an overall performer. 

To help me further improve on my dance skills in the performing arts sector, I will continue to be apart of IODS (Ipswich Operatics and Drama Society) - put together musicals that are performed in the theatres within Ipswich. These musicals have a heavy dance element to them and require prior dance experience in order to complete the dances to a high enough standard. In addition, I am also a member of the Wolsey Youth Theatre group - performs a wide range of theatre styles with more physical ones branching to dance. I have been a member of this for multiple years and we have looked at a wide range of styles with most being more physical which even branch into contemporary dance at times. 

In my dance experience in the past, I have mostly focused on Contemporary dance in the past. I wish to build up my confidence and experience in a different form of dance in order to become a more versatile dancer. To do this, I would take an afternoon ballet class at DanceEast to improve on more classical styles. 

While training in the industry I will also be working in a non industry related job which is being a waiter at a restaurant . This will help me to build upon my soft skills that will go on to aid in my dance too. For example, due to me being a waiter I require good time management skills in order to make sure that I arrive on time for my shifts. I also require a great amount of teamwork to allow me to work effectively with the other waiters and waitresses and the kitchen team and I also need to be very adaptable in order to cater to the changes in how busy the restaurant is at different times of the day. Finally, I also require a great deal of communication skills in order to properly talk to those I am working with but also with customers to provide them with a good social experience while they are eating with us. 

Italia Conti 

I plan to complete my pre professional training at Italia Conti whereupon I will acquire a BA Hons in Musical Theatre. From my research, this institution appears to be regarded as one of the greatest performing arts training locations in the country with it having 18 acting, dancing and singing spaces all being equipped with high quality sound systems and all amenities that studios require to perform all disciplines of the performing arts. In addition to all of this, each student is assigned to an agency after graduation, this ensures and adds security that every person who graduates will be able to get their foot in the door within the industry. In terms of being a member of a union, Italia Conti offers help and guidance in terms of joining a union and will offer help to get student membership. 

Italia Conti has the reputation of being one of the best performing arts institutions in the whole of England, they are well known for creating fully trained individuals who have gone on to have great success with graduates working in the West End and on Broadway in musicals and in plays, in national and international tours, in cabarets and on cruise ships.​ They also have graduates working in Film and in Television and have produced some of the UK’s top recording artists - solo artists and band members. Some of the most famous examples include Sam Tutty who was the lead role in Dear Evan Hansen, Zaraah Abrahams who starred as DC Emma Ryan in “The Bay” and Layton Williams who played the lead in “Everybody’s Talking About Jamie”. One of the former students, Awen Jones, said this about the institution: “Having the most supportive faculty (many of which are working professionals), who are always pushing you to be the best version of yourself has made my transition into the industry a seamless one.” 

De Montford University 

I plan to study at De Montford University doing a performing arts BA Hons degree. This course specialises in creating a well rounded performer and does this through providing students with sector leading studios, rehearsal rooms and completely equipped performance spaces while being supported by technicians and being able to book out equipment such as cameras in order to create the best pieces possible. This course explores a wide range of different all possibilities of performance on both camera and stage and highlights a wide range of genres and practitioners from the more traditional styles to the more contemporary, through studying such a wide range of genres, I will be building upon my knowledge and overall skills which I will be able to apply to my dancing going forward. 

De Montford University has an incredibly good and long lasting reputation for having a very successful performing arts department, with renowned theatre companies coming to visit them such as Lost Dog, Gob Squad, Frantic Assembly, Imitating the Dog, Théâtre de Complicité, and Kyuu Theatre Company. They also have brilliant connections to surrounding theatre companies making internships straight from graduation an incredibly viable option. Their connections also extend to such places as the Curve in projects where former students have gone to work, with other students becoming teachers themselves and passing their skills to others. Tanya Verow, a former student at De Montford said this about her time there: “This degree course gave me the opportunity to study a range of different contemporary Dance styles and practitioners including Martha Graham, Merce Cunningham, Pina Bausch, DV8 and Doris Humphreys.  The range of different performance and choreographic opportunities over the 3-year degree course, enabled me to not only be successful in my PCGE in Secondary Dance, but gave me the confidence and knowledge needed to be a successful Dance Practitioner.” Hearing from a previous student only furthers my confidence in this university that it really does create graduates that go on to be successful within all aspects of the performing arts sector. 

Bibliography

Italia Conti - https://www.italiaconti.com/courses/ba-musical-theatre/

De Montford University - https://www.dmu.ac.uk/study/courses/undergraduate-courses/performing-arts-ba-degree/performing-arts-ba-degree.aspx