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Describing you and your practise

Wednesday 16th September 



Describing you and your practise 


I thought I would start my journey by finding out some definitions…


What is a practitioner ?

noun

a person engaged in the practice of a profession, occupation, etc.

eg. a medical practitioner.

a person who practices something specified.


https://www.dictionary.com/browse/practitioner

-someone who works in a job that involves long training and high levels of skill:

‘He has years of experience as a senior practitioner in the financial service industry.'


https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/practitioner





What is a practise ?


-verb (used with or without object), prac·tised, prac·tis·ing.


https://www.dictionary.com/browse/practise?s=t



-To do or play something regularly or repeatedly in order to become skilled at it:

'I'm quite good at tennis but I need to practise my serve.'

'She practises the violin everyday'

-'His written French is very good but he needs to practise speaking it.'


https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/practise




So how am I a practitioner and what and how do I practise?


I decided to start and create a word diagram of my initial ideas and thoughts, about what springs to mind when I think about my practise.


When I think about what my practise is, I immediately think of being a Dancer / Musical Theatre Performer. That's how I identify myself….


As I kept adding to my word diagram, I kept finding that the points were all interlinking and many trends started to form. I have also thought deeper into how my practise is a huge part of my identity and has helped form me into the person that I am today. It has had a huge impact on my life. 


My practise was a hobby and a passion and now Its my career. I also met my fiancé on a performing job. He is a dancer and we work together on cruises; therefore my practise is even heavily involved in my relationship.


 



I remember finding it hard at first when I decided to try and turn my hobby into a career and how emotional I became. I realised that passion wasn’t always enough and that casting came down to height, hair colour, will you fit the costume?,  who you know; even if you have the talent and skills for the job. This is something that I am sure all fellow performers resonate with.


When looking through my two CVs, (performance CV and overall CV) I realised that every job related to my practise and my training, has given me transferable skills to contribute to my everyday CV when applying for other industries. This has been very evident during the current covid-19 pandemic, as I have had to find myself a non performance job.

In my job interview for a cleaning / waitressing position at a local pub, the manager said he was confused as to why I was applying for the position, as my latest job had been Dance Captain on a cruise line. I assured him I was hardworking, had great customer service skills (mainly through experience working on a cruise ship and from good old acting lessons) and that I am reliable. All these skills I learnt from a young age through the discipline of dancing / performing.


I respect anyone who works in the arts! I believe we all have such resilience and drive and are extremely passionate people. I think thats why we are so adaptable and employable across many fields, because we are used to fitting in and trying to tick the right boxes.


For me my practise is my income, my identity, my passion and a skill I wish expand on and a to pass on to other people!


Comments

  1. This is a great post! I think i'll take a moment to reflect on my practice and the diagram is perfect to help.
    I agree.. and I always live by the fact that people in the arts are the best employees in any career path we then go into.
    They are hardworking, loyal, and like you said resilient.
    When I finished my career on a ship, I got a job in an office for a little bit. Admittedly it was a booking company for stage shows, but I 'll always remember vividly , when I went for the interview, the director of the company said he always try to hire someone involved in the arts as you know they will never let you down! And I completely concur! Great post x

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  2. Thank you Clare! I thought it would be a good place to get some thoughts flowing to begin to understand the process! I can't wait to read your thoughts! We performers are certainly a special group of people and I can't wait to see our journeys through this course!

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  3. I love your thoughts on 'type casting' and the phycological struggle that all performers face. Its a subject that I'm quite eager to touch on in one of my blog posts.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Harry, sorry I have only just seen this comment! I will take a look through your blogs! I think type casting is huge part of auditioning! I was always told at college I would play certain acting roles because of how I look, and it baffled me but It is kind of true! I think our industry is one of the only industries that gets away with putting people in a certain box because of how we look or what they perceive we can do! Its just an interesting and very debatable topic!

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  4. Hi Emily. I have been reading through your blogs and they have really been helpful to me . Because I am struggling with where to start my essay!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Emily. I have been reading through your blogs and they have really been helpful to me . Because I am struggling with where to start my essay!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Olivia, sorry I have only just seen this comment! I am actually just going through my blogs to remind myself of what I have discovered over the last few weeks so I can begin to write my essay :) I am glad I have helped!

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