A Wonderful Work Experience Week at The Place!

Spending a week at The Place, a contemporary dance and performance centre in London, was nothing short of exciting. As someone who had only ever experienced dance from an audience’s perspective, I never realised just how many different people and departments work together to ensure smooth operations behind the scenes!

One of the highlights of my week was without a doubt the Camden Schools Festival. Watching the rehearsal was really inspiring as the primary school pupils were brimming with energy and passion, and their excitement for dance really resonated with me! Helping on the actual day of the festival was just as much fun since it was a very practical job (a big change from my regular schedule at school where I sit at a desk all day...) I got to assist with ushering groups between the various studios at The Place, giving me a real sense of how much work goes into organising large-scale events and a whole new appreciation for performances! Despite this week being my first time at The Place, I very quickly became familiar with the layout and successfully showed pupils and teachers around, which surprised me!

Another surprise favourite part of the week for me was working with the CAT office. It was very hands-on, and I loved the variety of tasks I got to try out, from organising boredom boxes for injured dancers and registering students’ attendance to purchasing flowers for graduates and shredding documents! It opened my eyes to the administrative work that supports the dance scene here at The Place.

Throughout the week, I also got to explore more analytical roles which I hadn’t previously associated with a dance organisation. With the Finance Office, I learnt how to process and code invoices, which was surprisingly satisfying and and gave me a whole new perspective on how arts organisations are run. I also worked with the HR Office, analysing LCDS employee contracts and detailing key information on an excel spreadsheet. This required a lot of attention for detail and helped me develop my concentration and data inputting skills, which I will definitely take forward with me in my future pursuits!

Spending time in the costume department was another major highlight of the week for me! I was in awe at the sheer number of clothing items and props, as well as how organised everything had to be. I was given the task of locating specific items of clothing based off tags with rather vague descriptions and no images, which was far more challenging than I had anticipated. It really felt like solving an escape room or completing a puzzle (but I still got the same feeling of satisfaction at the end!)

Performance-wise, I was lucky enough to watch several sharings throughout the week. The BA3 Panto was one of my favourites, as there was a great atmosphere amongst the audience, and the comedic style of acting was very entertaining. I also got to enjoy a BA2 South Asian dance sharing, which was like nothing I’ve ever seen before! The live singing, rhythm and flow of movement were all so unique and beautiful.

Another enriching aspect of my work experience was getting to speak to several different teams at The Place. My conversation with the LCDS admissions team was very useful as I learnt what makes an application stand out and what qualities they look for. Even though I’m not a dancer myself, I hope to put what I learnt into practice when I begin applying to universities and jobs. Speaking with the Theatre Programme Team was equally insightful, as I explored in detail how they collaborate with different artists and groups to put on performances.

Overall, my week at The Place allowed me to try out so many different things: event coordination, admin work, finance skills, costume design and more! Most importantly, I’ve learnt how every role, even if it doesn’t seem directly connected to dance at first, contributes to the running of performances. I can say for certain I’ve developed a range of skills which I will take forward with me in the future!

By Sanya Ahmed