And so on Friday and Saturday to the “Perform 2012” jamboree at Olympia. Many thanks to those who came to our seminars – we know who you are, we have your e-mail addresses, we shall be in touch very soon!
Well, it’s an impressive event – lots of serious drama teachers, lots of serious students, plus THOUSANDS of wanabee Kylies – who rather outnumber the wanabee Judi Denches. The Perform2012 dramafest coincides with something called Move It! which is there to satisfy the great aching need created amongst so many young folk by The X-Factor, BGT, Strictly, etc, to dance and sing like Beyonce and Lady Gaga, to sweat and grind and stretch and spin their way to fame, they all just want it so much…So guess what, the dance academies, the dancing shoemakers, the spangly leotard makers, the sound-system makers, the bouncy stage-makers, the make-up makers, the showbiz photographers, are there in droves to cash in – in a much more sexy, in-your-face, pro-active way than we timid acting teachers, who creep into our sound-proofed seminar rooms (the main hall is incredibly noisy) and talk earnestly of art and commitment…
But it’s a great net-working opportunity, and a very good place to garner information about the world of drama training. Certainly the 80 or so drama teachers and students who came to our seminars seemed to appreciate the opportunity to talk face-to-face with experienced practitioners, and out of the discussions came some ideas for new live workshop programmes for teachers, about which we at
teachyourselfacting.com and our colleagues at dramaschoolauditions.com will swiftly get into talks. Keep in touch with the websites, and of course this blog!
Most of the drama schools have stalls at the event, along with support organisations like the Conference of Drama Schools, useful publishers like The Stage, Sardines, Nick Hern and Methuen, Teaching Drama, and clever new back-up initiatives like The Actors’ Cafe and Surviving Actors. It’s certainly worth noting in the diary for next year.
Incidentally, those of you who are in the amateur theatre world will know that “Sardines” is now the leading UK amateur drama magazine, and it was very pleasing to meet up with Paul the editor at Olympia. The latest edition is due out any minute now, and amongst its rich and varied menu you’ll find an article about TYA and me.
On the way back from Olympia in the afternoon, something had gone wrong with the electricity supplies on the Overground, and we spent an inordinate amount of time admiring a trackside back-garden in leafy, sun-dappled Finchley. However, I got home in time to miss only the first five minutes or so of the Six Nations rugby match on the telly, which despite being a patchy game marred by an apparently alarming injury, yielded a highly satisfactory 14-point margin for Wales.
What amazing weather – say it cautiously, nay whisper it, but has spring crept early into London…? It certainly felt like it yesterday, in my Waterside garden…
