What classes will you be teaching at Simply Theatre?

We’ll mostly be teaching dance for the Performing Arts courses. We’re really looking forward to this, as we’ve choreographed quite a few musical theatre numbers in the past and that it’s a dance style which we really enjoy teaching.

We’re looking forward to working with a group of youngsters who have the same passion for the performing arts as we do. We love the fact that students in this school often not only dance but also sing and act, and we’d like to try and motivate pupils to really enjoy the dance part of the courses too. 

What would you say to anyone wanting to take up dance who hasn’t quite found the drive to go for it yet?

Give it a go! You might be surprised at how much you enjoy it. It’s not always easy to take up dance, as there are a lot of fundamentals you need to learn in the beginning. It might help to start with a dance style which really motivates you, and maybe from there on you can try and expand to other styles. That’s what happened to us! When we were younger we absolutely loved tap, but we refused to try ballet because we didn’t think of it as being fun. The director at our dance school finally managed to talk us into trying one ballet class, and now we couldn’t imagine our life without ballet! Sometimes you need to give it a try, you never know what might come out of it.

And what would you say to people who are wanting to take their dance to the next level?  What top tips do you have for them?

If you want to be a good dancer, you have to work for it. You have to remember that even though dancing is a lot of fun, it’s also very difficult and physically demanding. You can’t be a good dancer if you don’t practice, and that doesn’t mean only in the studio! We can remember spending hours when we were smaller practicing our steps in front of the mirror, or going over and over a difficult tap sequence which we couldn’t quite get until it was perfect. Sometimes, when people see dancers perform, they only see the finished product, and they don’t realize the hours of rehearsals that go into even a single performance. As a dance student there are always things you can improve on: learning new technique, improving your facial expressions, building your strength and stamina, working on your flexibility, etc. Just remember: ‘Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard’!

What would you be doing if you weren’t dancing or teaching dance?

We’re actually both qualified secondary school teachers in the Swiss school system. So if we weren’t doing anything dance-related (which we can’t imagine), we’d both still be teaching!

The post Part 2 of our interview with Swiss and World Tap Dance champions Olivia and Rebecca Grobety, who join the Simply Theatre team in September first appeared on Simply Theatre.

At Simply Theatre Academy we call the soft skills that are referred to above “life skills” – and life skills are one of the key areas in which we seek to empower our students. Theatre classes give young people a safe environment in which to practice many life skills over a repeated duration of time – but how exactly do performing arts classes help address communication and resilience?

Communication and Team Working

To quote Justin Cash in his brilliant piece Drama’s Link To Employment Skills, “By their very nature, theatre-making and play building are group tasks, involving the ability to successfully work in team through collaboration with colleagues. This is where leaders are born, where the difficult skill of negotiation is carefully crafted, where compromise is viewed as a positive outcome instead of failure, and where oral communication skills are paramount”.[2]

Resilience

Most of us are not natural actors. Many aspiring actors have to learn their craft – which means putting it into practice often – and often getting it wrong, in front of other people. Performing Arts classes therefore build resilience in pupils, preparing them for life outside of the rehearsal room. In an article from WHO Communications on the benefits of drama for young people, Simply Theatre student Lisanne Hopkins, who was 17 at the time and had been a Simply Theatre student for 8 years said: “I have learned to not constantly put myself down for doing things wrong, but to pick myself up…”.[3] The article concludes that whether or not your child is destined for the stage, Performing Arts experience can translate into success in countless other aspects of life.

There surely can be little doubt that experiences in the Performing Arts give students detailed practice in life skills, giving them confidence in their chosen pursuits and goals later in life – and crucially address the lack of soft skills that are indicated in the British Chamber Of Commerce Workforce Survey.

If you are based in Geneva, Zurich or Zug then take a look at our Drama, Performing Arts and Dance classes for young people aged 4-14. From courses that cover an entire academic year to week-long summer camps, there’s something for everyone – visit www.simplytheatre.com to find out more.

[1] http://www.britishchambers.org.uk/assets/downloads/J4990%20-%20A4%20BCC%20WORKFORCE%20SURVEY%20INFOGRAPHIC%20final.pdf

[2] http://www.thedramateacher.com/dramas-link-to-employment-skills/

[3] https://simplytheatre.com/ArticleMedia/Files/WHO%20article.pdf

The post Why our children’s careers will depend on theatrical skills first appeared on Simply Theatre.