My role within MHE

The focus of this module is choosing an inquiry topic within your professional practice that you can then use to better your work within your practice in some way. This approach to my work has made me reflect on my journey as a Musical Theatre performer so far and what I hope to achieve in the future.

I graduated from Bodywork Company in the summer of 2013. That winter I performed in a pantomime and by the summer of 2014 had accepted a job offer to work for an entertainment company in Spain. My role would be a dancer and singer performing at one hotel. There was a total of ten one hour shows with a wide range of music and dance styles to be performed by a cast of ten performers. It was my first long term contract outside of college and overall it was a great experience and I learned a lot. Firstly the rehearsal period was very intense as we had just six weeks to learn all ten shows. At five shows in it felt like my brain would explode but I found that the easiest way to remember everything was to compartmentalise each show. After one show was premiered I would have to start a fresh and focus on the next. When it came to the next performance of each show I was pleasantly surprised by how much I had remembered. It was also a great learning experience for me in terms of expanding my skills. The company expects a team to work together to achieve all elements of the show. This includes costuming, lights and sound. As a result I improved my knowledge in these areas as it was my responsibility to ensure everything that I would need was properly prepared.

The next summer I was offered a contract to return and work for the company. This included an increase in my wage to take control of all aspects of costuming and the position of dance captain. What this meant was that the main choreographer would take most rehearsals but when she was unavailable I would be in charge. During rehearsals it was also my responsibility to take small groups to run and clean pieces of choreography. This experience was when I first leaned that taking part in a rehearsal can be a very different experience to being in charge of one. 

Since 2015 I have continued to work for the company as my role, responsibilities and therefore learning have steadily increased. During the summer of 2016 our choreographer was suddenly taken very ill. This meant that for four months I was completely in charge. This involved the running of all rehearsals, ensuring all technical aspects of each show were correct and the casting of a new show. At the beginning I felt truly 'thrown in at the deep end'. However it came at a great time in my career and my journey within the BAPP course. I was able to use methods I had leaned in Module One to reflect on my experience. Through this reflection I established that teaching is a real passion of mine. It is very rewarding and satisfying to work towards a piece, teaching the choreography and cleaning it to then see the finished result on stage.

Although I have learned a lot through my journey so far I decided this inquiry would be a great opportunity to increase my knowledge on the rehearsal process. I hope to improve my current work withing my company but also learn things that I can then incorporate into my future work where I plan and hope to work as a Musical Theatre and dance teacher.