Professional Profile

I have been working professionally in the musical theatre industry for 6 years. My credits include ensemble and understudy Billy/Stan/Jordan in Dirty Dancing, West end; Swing and assistant dance captain on We will rock you, West end; ensemble in Gaddafi with the English national opera, London Coliseum; and swing in the original German cast of We will rock you.

I trained at London Studio Centre where I gained my DipHe Theatre dance. During my professional training I developed skills in all areas of theatre and performance including stage fighting, singing, acting and all aspects of dance. Since leaving London Studio Centre I have been lucky enough to perform all over the world including television shows, stadium tours and corporate events. I also teach west end workshops for Pineapple performing arts and at many other theatre schools up and down the country.

As my career develops I hope to move onto performing more principal roles in musical theatre and then eventually moving behind the curtain, where I am interested in using the skills and knowledge I have gained as a performer, in the management and production side of the theatre industry.

Getting started and returning to higher education

Finally, after attending the induction day last Tuesday i have the time to sit down and start my blog. It was really great to be there last Tuesday and meet a few of the people who will be travelling with me on my journey through higher education, i'm really looking forward to being an active blogger and helping others (who i hope in return will help me) in the form of critical commentary and support.

I suppose one of the first things i'd like to blog about is how daunting it is returning to higher education after 6 years of working professionally in the musical theatre industry. I trained at London studio centre where my higher education was very practical, giving me the tools i needed to succeed in the theatre industry. As many of you who have trained in theatre will know it's a physically challenging time and i'm really looking forward to doing a degree that doesn't involve pulled hamstrings or bruised ribs!

I think that perhaps the most daunting thing for me is going to be changing my life slightly to accommodate the work that needs to be done. I'm very settled in a busy schedule and i suppose i'm worried about finding the time to give my degree the attention i feel it deserves. I think for me one of the little added learning experiences will be how to use my time more effectively.

In 2000 i started my first degree in Mechanical Engineering, that was before i decided to join the circus and be an actor. I stayed at Aberdeen university for 1 year and i was thinking back to my experiences the other day. 10 years ago, if you were writing a dissertation or notes from a lab session, it was all done by hand and then later typed up in a communal computer room. Even just 10 years ago, laptops were the size of a DVD player and cost far more than many students could afford. Now, 10 years on, i'm looking forward to a very different learning experience where i can take my work with me anywhere. I'm having images of sitting on a beach in Thailand whilst discussing the finer points of reflective writing! Using the web 2.0 technologies have so far been a pleasure and i really think it's the future of learning. It makes you think on your own, rather than being spoon-fed information and being asked for black and white answers. Learning is far more than that, I think learning is self discovery, and i'm looking forward to using the skills i develop over the next year and a half to make me a better professional and a more rounded prospect for future employers.