Hey guys...
Day 1 of blogging starts today!!!!
What to say? Well, I went to my induction on Tuesday for BAPP and thoroughly enjoyed it. I am quite an academic person and was at school so when i turned to performing arts it surprised my family and friends a lot. I gained my trinity diploma at LCPA and have wanted to turn it into a degree to open more windows for me in the future and help me get my foot into teaching. We had great discussions at the BAPP induction and thoroughly talked about reflection and what it meant to us. Reflection to me is thinking about what I have done previous whether it be on the day, a week ago or a year ago. Hopefully, if you have the chance to do things again you can learn from your mistakes and from the reflection process do them better next time.
Listening to people's stories that are on the BAPP course with me tells me that they all have a great passion for the performing arts area and want to then take that passion and knowledge and pass it on to others, as the majority want to teach. I think teachers should have great passion and knowledge other wise learning for the students would be boring and it would boring for the teacher too because their day job would not be as enjoyable and just be something they do for the money. This is why I would like to go into teaching, because I have a great passion for performing arts and would like to pass this on. Not only my passion but my knowledge and experience.
During the session we talked about the course and then read through some newspaper and chose an article that jumped out to us. The article I chose was purely chosen from the picture. It was a picture of a model not looking her best, she looked like she had been dragged through a bush and her lipstick was not perfect, which when you look through a magazine you expect to see models looking perfect so I started to read the article. It basically said that red lipstick has been around for a long time but it isn't perfect and smudges too much. I personally wear red lipstick a lot and never find that it smudges. Yes, it fades and you have to re apply it every now and again but that is the same with all lipsticks and lip glosses. I think every lipstick is made differently but so is everyone's skin. Therefore, what works for one person may not for another, so testers are great for an individual to test what works for them the best. The fashion and make up industry is so big and their is so much competition and sometimes the most expensive brand are not the best. An example of this is one of my friends who I will not name LOL wears mac make up which a lot of people think is amazing but on her it does not suit her skin and makes her skin look orange and clammy but she thinks it is amazing!!
What do you think about the make up industry and how people wear it? Do you know what works well for you or do you just shop for the cheapest items?
After the induction I stayed with friends who are all trying their hardest to get into the performing arts business. One of them is in a west end show and doing exactly what he loves so he is in there and his hard work training has paid off. Where as, my other friends are still auditioning and struggling with money to pay rent and generally struggling to live in London. Being with them made me feel very confused about my future performing career because I have always wanted to move to London with them but staying with them made me think against it. Being at home and travelling to London for auditioning is more fun when you do it randomly and the fact that I am working near to home and still living at home the costs for living are not as much which makes me feel more financially safer. I think living in London I would also feel quite lonely because my friends and family are at home and the friends that I would live with are always working so I would mostly be alone.
I had a conversion with my friend Sophie who is currently working two jobs and she disagreed with me totally and said if you want to perform that much then you will do anything to dance, but she isn't dancing. I still attend auditions and am now doing BAPP to improve my future but my friends are against doing this themselves.
Why do you think they are so against BAPP?
I think everyone would have their different opinions about this situation but at the end of the day it is up to the individual themselves to determine how they would be happiest. Teaching performing arts
to me is being in the industry because you are still working with your chosen subject.
What do you think about this situation and subject and have you been faced with similar decisions?
First blog coming to an end now, not so scary!!!
Please comment and tell me your thoughts!!
Good luck everyone on your blogs whether you have already started or not and I look forward to reading and commenting on them.
Ruth xxx
Hi Ruth, very informative first blog! I understand what you are saying in the last part about your friends not agreeing with what you are doing as i have a few friends who agree with what i am doing but there is a few i can tell do not share the same view. At the end of the day you have to do what makes you happiest and what will help you with your future. It sounds to me that you are really looking at going into teaching and if your friends don't like the idea of teaching an just want to perform then i can understand why they wouldn't want to do the degree. You never know in a couple of years time they may be asking you for advice as they've changed there mind and want to do the degree! Just a tiny thing that may help improve your blog is that you wrote your friends name, you may have asked her permission to do so but if not i wasn't sure if its best to just say 'a friend' (Just been reading about ethical considerations!) wasn't sure if this was an example of it or not? Let me know how i can improve mine! Look forward to reading your next Post! :-)
ReplyDeleteHey Heather! I have told them I want to teach but I think they are so dance performance based that they do not want to think about teaching till they have to so I suppose they think I should be doing the same. I did think about that but took a risk and put it but I'm taking on your advice and next time I'll put my friend, stop any future trouble that I could get in :-)
ReplyDeleteHi Ruth! The last part of your blog really relates to me and I very much agree with you on this. I graduated from Bird last year and was all against moving home and didn't even think twice about the BAPP course. Alls I thought about was performing and that I needed to be in London for it to happen! I was working near enough 7 days a week to pay rent and live and wasn't able to attend many auditions as work would always get in the way! I couldn’t attend classes as much as I would have loved to because of work again! After battling to stay down there for 5 months I had a serious think and realised the best option would be to move home, find my feet and commute to auditions. I was so worried and anxious about moving home and I questioned would I lose my independence? Am I taking a step back and not forward? After living away for 4 years and growing so much I felt as though I was back to square 1 but in fact I couldn’t have been more wrong! It was the best and most realistic decision I made. I commute to as many auditions as I can now whilst teaching two days a week, working part time and doing BAPP to improve my future like you. A lot of my friends are in shows, on cruises or on tour but a lot are still down there struggling to get by. Some of them don't think its the best option what I am doing as they say you need to be in London but some say I am doing the right thing but after all its what's best for you isn't it? Hope this has helped to know I went through the same as I always feel its good when you can talk to people in similar situations. Speak soon Ruth :-)
ReplyDeleteHey Ruth,
ReplyDeleteI'd totally have to disagree with those people who do not necessarily 'approve' of BAPP, but perhaps that's because I've just decided to start the course so of course I'm likely to disagree!
We both have decided to choose this course so that it opens up more career opportunities, perhaps in teaching? That is definitely what I would like to do, but it shouldn't mean that people think you have any less passion than anyone else?? I think to have a love for the performing arts, and practical experience as we have had during our training/working, to be able to pass that knowledge on to someone else is a great thing! Some people are natural teacher and good at it, so if we enjoy it, why not? I mean, there's nothing to say that upon completing this course, we HAVE to go on to teach immediately, it just means we have given ourselves plenty more options!
Personally I love teaching, and am looking forward to being able to apply for permanent positions in schools where I can start to do this. As for living in London? I'm totally with you on that one. My agent still gets me into auditions and all it means is that I have to commute further for them. And as for cruises and travelling the world...? Who knows where teaching will take me!! (Asia would be lush though...!)