Around 40 drama stars of the future teamed up with DanceEast and The New Wolsey Theatre to look at a variety of career options in the performing arts industry.
The learners – all studying at Suffolk New College – had sessions with a poet, a dance practitioner, a digital app specialist and a green screen expert in an event that was organised in partnership with Sizewell Creative.
The idea of this occasion that was called ‘The Future is Now’ was to support young people think about the wealth of career options in a sector that contributes billions to the UK economy.
Rosalind Parker is the Creative Director of Sizewell Creative and she worked closely with the partner organisations to bring the day to life. She said: “We started Sizewell Creative last year as a way of positively investing in the community. This is the first of a sequence of events that are aimed at raising aspirations of young people and getting them to be aware of the many career opportunities and vocational opportunities that are available in the arts. The workshops and practitioners helped explore transferable skills, it went brilliantly and the students were really engaged. This is the beginning of a partnership between Suffolk New College, The New Wolsey, Dance East and Sizewell Creative and it has all been about empowering young people to take opportunities in their own hands.”
Tony Casement is the Head of Creative Communities at the New Wolsey Theatre. Tony said: “We have a longstanding relationship with the college and we work together on lots of projects. This event was all about coming together with other arts organisations and putting on an event based around creative careers to help make students more informed. It’s gone really well.”
Laura Wright is a freelance community dance artist. Laura said: “We helped the students look at the digital career possibilities in dance. It’s crucial that students know the importance of the different jobs in performing arts and there are so many avenues you can go down. There is teaching, technical, education, producing, costumes, make-up, producing, directing, engineering, stage management, agents – there is a whole world out there. The students loved it, got so involved and asked some really good questions.”
Tom Bowes is a Producer for Children and Young People at DanceEast.
Tom said: “We are massive advocates and champions of creative careers for young people and this event was very exciting. It gave young people an opportunity to expand their thinking in terms of what they do next.
The roles young people will do in the future might not exist yet – so today was all about giving them the tools and skills now – so that they are ready and prepared for the tomorrow.”
Carlos Batista, 22, from Ipswich is on a level three performing art course at the college. Carols said: “We did some different workshops that gave us new techniques and ideas, had talks from professionals and it has made me feel more confident about the future. It’s good to know there is always another option.”
Jazzy Able, 16, from Ipswich is also on a level three performing arts course. Jazzy said, “This has really expanded my knowledge on what I want to do next. It has been really fun and it has made me change my mind about my future – I always wanted to be a screen actor but I now feel that this could be the first step in terms of me becoming a children’s TV presenter.”
Chris Gilbert is the Director of Creative Arts at Suffolk New College. Chris said: “Our students have been inspired to think about their futures because of this amazing collaboration and we would like to thank Sizewell Creative, Dance East and the New Wolsey Theatre for their amazing support on this project.”
This collaboration is one of a number of activities that learners get when they study performing arts at the further educational establishment based on Rope Walk in Ipswich.
Most recently, a group also got to work with the National Theatre by staging a new play in an educational project called Connexions. The college looks forward to working with the New Wolsey Theatre and Sizewell Creative again for the “Wolsey Takeover” project on the 17 of June where students will work with local schools to help promote the arts industry.