It is always a pleasure to have work experience students join us at DanceEast over the summer months. This is a chance for students from local high schools to join the different departments across the week and find out about the variety of roles in the arts, including teaching, programming, sales and admin, marketing, and tech. Most recently, we were lucky enough to have students Harry, Grace, and Charlie join us for a week. Read on to find out what a week of work experience at DanceEast looks like.
At the start of the week, students often get to shadow the first class of the week, Dance for Tots, led by Lizzie, which is a great insight into how a dance class is run and the prep needed beforehand. Harry shared “I found this helpful as it stuck us right in the deep end which helped me to get rid of any nerves.” Grace added “the class felt like such a safe and energetic space to be in which made the experience even better and it was a lovely way to start off the week.”
The students also had the opportunity to shadow and experience how dance classes are run to provide health and wellbeing benefits, including out Dance for Parkinson’s classes which are run here at DanceEast. Grace found this experience heart-warming to be part of, sharing that it really “helped me talk to lots of different people and experience dance in different ways” and discovered that “it was a very supportive and safe environment which made me feel warm and content to see everyone helping each other.”
The students also had the chance to find out about running programmes for young people their own age, including helping with planning for the Youth Festival, and the Centre for Advanced Training (CAT). Harry said he enjoyed learning about the DanceEast CAT and discovered “how accessible it is to everyone no matter what which I think is incredible”, and Charlie added he was impressed “how it is run in an extremely concise way considering the complexity of managing a national dance program.”
They also found out about different roles in the industry, such as marketing, and programming. Harry enjoyed working in the marketing team as “it was something I had never thought about before and Amy was incredibly helpful and explained it very clearly”, and Grace added that she enjoyed “making Instagram, Facebook and Twitter posts about the different shows happening” as it “brought out my creative side.”
Greg and Conor from the DanceEast tech team also gave the students an introduction to how the sound and lighting systems work. Grace found this inspiring as “whenever I got to watch a show I never realised how the lighting works and how they time the music perfectly but now I do!” Harry particularly enjoyed working on lighting as “I learnt how effective it is in a piece of theatre and how you can change the mood by just slightly deepening the colour of the lights.”
Lizzie also showed the students some of the processes box office use to book tickets, and sign class participants in. Grace shared that “by working in the box office, I realise that there is more behind it than you might think!”
Overall, Harry said “my time here has been nothing but positive! I have loved every aspect that we have learnt about, and I would love to come back to DanceEast whether to watch a performance or take part in a class!” Grace added “my time at DanceEast has been amazing. I have learnt so much about all aspects of putting on shows and the behind the scenes. How to work in an office. and how to talk to new people and grow confidence.” Charlie shared “I loved every minute here at DanceEast and all three of us can’t get over how fun, relaxed and interesting this place is. I will truly miss coming to DanceEast to work. We have learnt something new every day that will help us in almost every job. This was beyond anything we expected, and I hope that one day, I can work in a place as interesting and fun as here at DanceEast”.
If you’re interested in finding out more about the work DanceEast does, we have regular volunteering opportunities, which you can find out more about here.
