On Thursday 21st of November, we hosted 24 students from Lyndon School’s performing arts department in our dance studio, as part of the national Discover! Creative Careers Week. The event aimed to inspire them about careers in the creative industries and the potential vast range of jobs on offer, specifically in dance – the day was a huge success!
Starting off with an introduction to Motionhouse, the students had a whistle stop tour of Motionhouse’s 31 year history, watching short videos of our previous productions as well as being introduced to the company’s vision, mission and ethos. We moved on to discuss and debate the company structure, including what roles are vital to the success of our work in touring high profile dance-circus productions around the world. We talked about entry routes into the dance industry and importantly, the fact that becoming a professional dancer is not a straight forward or easy career to pursue!
Each non-artistic staff member delivered a short 10 minute presentation about their individual job role, giving students an overview of the company’s Administration, Programming, Marketing, Fundraising, Learning & Participation and Finance functions. Students asked staff insightful and interesting questions about their journey so far, what led them to such a career and what life skills they need to be able to do their jobs successfully! This discussion, we are sure, enabled the students to think more broadly about their career interests, aims and aspirations whilst supporting their learning. Motionhouse cares about the future of our profession, meaning that the more we can inform and educate students about pursuing a creative career – especially dance – can only mean that our industry will grow and strengthen. It is a common misconception that to work in dance you must train as a performer, however this is not the case!
