Reflecting on My Work Experience at The Place

As a young dancer who hopes to pursue a dance education and, eventually, a dance career, I knew exactly what area I wanted to explore when the time came that I was asked by my school to look for a work experience placement.

I’ve been a dancer with The Place for five years now, spanning a range of different courses and companies (Shift, Shuffle and CAT to name a few) and so it seemed only natural that I’d try both to give back to the institution that has done so much to help me. I also wanted to try and get a behind-the-scenes view on the inner workings of such a well-established and respected place in the dance world. As such, I was incredibly excited when I found out that I had been accepted to carry out my work experience placement with The Place.

In my week, I managed to discover things I never knew existed (something that feels hard to believe after spending so long here) and gain experiences I may never have even thought of had it not been for the help of the team at The Place. From joining in on LCDS classes to selling tickets in the box office, I was able to take part in just about everything The Place has to offer and I’m so glad that I did.

My week began with a building tour from Richard in HR before he taught me a bit about how the HR department runs their recruitment drives which concluded with me posting a hiring call for a new member of staff! After a short break, I was given the opportunity of sitting in on an LCDS class. This was particularly thrilling as, as a contemporary dancer, I’ve been interested in joining LCDS for about as long as I’ve known it existed! Once I got to the class, I discovered that I’d actually worked with Arran Green, the teacher/choreographer, before and so he let me take part which was such an amazing experience. I finished the day in the costume department, helping them to prepare for the busy schedule of show’s happening around The Place in the busy holiday period.

The next day, I spent some time working in the LCDS office which allowed me to ask questions about the school’s management and try to glean as much information as possible to help me when the time comes for me to start applying. I then headed to a rehearsal for one of the LCDS 3^rd year students’ upcoming show which let me see the true breadth of talent and creativity fostered at The Place. To finish off, I spent some time in the CAT office after which I was given the chance to join in on a class taught by Jatie Tucker.

Wednesday was a jam-packed day and included some time in Visitor Services, an LCDS class where we explored the movement of the spine and playing with the sensations of individual vertebra, a short session with the box office and a staff meeting in which everyone was split up into focus groups to discuss how The Place can work to help such issues as diversity in the workforce and eco-sustainability.

Thursday’s highlight was undeniably being given the chance to sit in on the LCDS 3^rd year’s music collaboration project in which young choreographers worked with students at Guildhall School of Music and Drama to create a piece of dance and a piece of music symbiotically. It offered an amazing insight as to the kind of opportunities students at LCDS are exposed to and also the range of ideas and stories that the students wanted to have the chance to express.

Finally Friday came and I spent the day learning about how IT is managed at The Place, the various programmes in place regarding The Place’s fundraising procedures and how The Place is working on its relationship with social media in order to reach a broader, more diverse audience in order to help more people discover the joys of dance. At the end of it all, I was asked to write this blog about the experience so that others may be tempted to come and enjoy such an incredible week as I did.

I’m so glad that I applied to spend a week working with The Place as it opened me up to all the different areas involved in the upkeep of such a great building, gave me some really deep and helpful advice/knowledge regarding the dance industry and how to enter the world of professional dance and in general just let me spend a week having huge amounts of fun.

Thanks so much to all the departments and staff I worked with, particularly Laura and Richard without whom this wouldn’t’ve been possible. I’ll be sure to remember this week forever!

By Zac Shury