Work Experience at The Place

Hello, my name is Izzi and I’m a dancer training at The Brit School, Royal Academy of Dance, Ashtead Ballet School and The London Ballet Company Associates. This is my blog to talk about how my week of work experience was like at The Place.

On the first day we had a building tour which I think was very beneficial for me as I would be staying the week there; it helped me get familiar with the space and where I needed to go. As it was our first day, we were given quite easy tasks as we were still getting familiar with the surroundings and everything. We did costume and reception work which I think was quite interesting because we could see what happened with the costuming behind the scenes and how to work at a desk and do all the reception jobs. At the end of the day, we watched an LCDS class which is the London Contemporary Dance School which I found really intriguing to watch to see how the teachers taught and what type of vibe the class was like. I also found that having a live musician that wasn’t just piano was really cool because I’m used to having a pianist or playing music on speakers in my dance classes, so seeing that the classes here had drummers and guitarists playing music brought a really good environment to it.

On the second day, the first thing we did was participate in an Over 60s class which I found really wonderful as it is quite cliché to think that older people aren’t as good at dance but they were all so amazing and were so lovely to Harry and I which was extremely nice of them. I think they liked having younger people to talk to and to have a conversation with. They were all just so welcoming and polite to Harry and I. We then got to spend some time in the Classes & Courses office which is where we were taught about how they work on putting together classes and workshops and how they get them out so people can book them which I find quite interesting because I’ve never really thought about all the things that go behind me just taking a dance class. We then had a tour of backstage, and the light and sound booth with the tech office. We were shown how everything works when prepping for show day and on the show day and there is lots that go into making a show. For the final part of the day, we spoke with the Development team which taught us about the fundraising for The Place which helped me understand how everything is funded and how much effort and money it takes to keep a dance school like The Place.

On the third day, we did some admin work in the HR office where we had to create a job description page for The Place website so that someone who wants to apply for a job can see how it works and a description about it. I created my page on Producing & Touring which is basically how The Place can produce dance shows and tour them nationally or internationally. Then we went to reception to do some work like sorting out the Lost and Found and then we were allowed to go and watch a show choreographed by the students which was amazing to watch as we could see there was a lot of effort put into it and what kind of styles/vibes the students managed to create with their music and movement. Next, we went to Theatre Programming where we were taught about the dance show Resolution that The Place puts on January to February each year. Harry and I had to find companies that could be sent the application form. What you have to do is apply to Resolution in the hope that you get selected to perform at The Place and put your work out there for people to see which I think is an amazing opportunity for those who have taken part and those that will take part. Finally we took a Dance Technique class at the end of the day for 11-14 year olds and I found it quite interesting as the age range is very wide at The Place which is incredible for anyone and everyone who wants to dance. It was a really good class and it was really nice to be able to move my body after using computers and laptops most of the day.

On the fourth day, we took part in another Over 60s class which I really liked because it was a bit more my style of Contemporary than the other Over 60s class I attended. It was really enjoyable and a great way to start off my morning. Next we went to Classes & Courses office where we put the information we found on Tuesday into a spreadsheet. About halfway through a teacher came to check on me and how my time at The Place was going and I gave her a tour around the building which was really helpful for me as it showed that I have been able to know my way around the building compared to at the start of the week where I didn’t know the building that well at all so it was good to see that was learning and improving. At the end of the day we watched another LCDS class which was really interesting as the students making up their own choreography with the instructions given from the teacher so it was really nice to see there final pieces at the end of the class.

The majority of our final day was dedicated to Communications and Marketing. We started off by going to the canteen and getting a run down of the courses in London Contemporary Dance School and Harry and I were asked to give feedback from a point of view that wasn’t The Place’s so we spent some time working on that and evaluating the postcard designs. Then we watched a community project which was really enjoyable to watch as you can see the effort put in to the piece and it was so lovely. After that we went back to Communications to put out the summer course information into different websites so that people can start booking them which was insightful as there is a lot that goes on when planning courses like these. Finally we went to HR office to write up this blog about our week here at The Place.

Overall I have enjoyed my time here so much and it has taught me a lot about dance, dance productions, and everything inbetween. I have loved it so much and I would recommend this work experience placement to anyone interested in dance as it is such an amazing opportunity. I hope to cross paths with The Place again in the future.

By Isabella Drysdale