What do you do when you can't do what you do?

This question has floated and resonated a lot with a lot of people in the last 18 months or so!

I was lucky, I got with the program and adapted! Quickly too!

But for other people in the arts it's not been quite so simple.

I'd like you to meet Charlotte Steen, this fabulous young lady is a West End performer.

A dancer and singer and actor with a list of credits as long as your arm.

When C19 hit her industry was more decimated than mine, the theatres went dark and there was no alternative.

Well, one day I decided that I needed to reward my faithful pupils for all their amazing work on zoom, and their commitment to learning new things.

My youngest ones got visited on zoom by Queen Elsa who sang to them and played games and was super sparkly, the middle group had a fabulous workshop with one of the cast from Billionaire Boy, but what to do for the big ones??

I suddenly had an idea! Let's do a zoom stage make up workshop!

I spent a few days asking round the Internet and enquiring, but came up with blanks or people who were not specific make up artists for the stage and wanted ridiculous fees!

And then, while scrolling, I came across Charlotte, who I knew via her fabulous mum, Jo at Stars Dancewear. And the light bulb moment happened!

I messaged Charlotte and explained what I was after and she agreed to give it a go!

Who better to teach us how to apply todays style of relevant stage make up than a performer!

Charlotte gave the girls a fantastic lecture, clearly explaining everything, and giving the girls insights into her life as a performer. She chatted to the class as she demo'd her routine and the girls followed along.

It was interesting to hear that most stage make up now appears to be facilitated with 'regular' make up products and is not the blue eye shadow and red lips of our local dance school shows, natural but more accented.

So we followed along and just below are the results of a couple of us :)

Reflections on Summer Camp - by Miss Gem

We are currently sending out surveys after our summer camp this week - we had 22 5-12 year olds in our dance studios for lots of fun themed performing arts and crafting days. We had a Teamwork and Cheerleading day where we danced our best moves and made pompoms. We then had an Under The Sea sort of day, moving like sea creatures, and performing songs from The Little Mermaid and Bedknobs & Broomsticks - guess which ones!

We then had a cat-themed day, learning about the cats from the poems of TS Eliot, listening to snippets of the songs from the musical and using our comprehension skills to turn the characters of the cats in the story into little dances or plays. On Thursday we had a Back to Shcool theme, where we talked about rock music, big feelings and Revolting Children! Stick it to the Man! Friday was all about inflatables, face paints and cake, and revisiting our favourite dances and songs from the other 4 days.

So we're sending out a survey to see if our attendees enjoyed the fun times, and to ask if they gained any confidence with their performing arts skills. But to be honest, good singing and dancing skills is actually the very last thing I would wish for them to take away from this week.

A performing arts education, even a condensed, week-long one, supports children in all developmental stages. Motor skills are explored as they learn different ways to use their bodies and really think about how they move. Reading skills are enhanced through the speedy following of scripts and considering the words and rhythm of song lyrics.

Emotionally, children learn to recognise feelings, how to convey them in a healthy way, and how to channel them through play and performing roles. Reading skills are enhanced through the speedy following of scripts and considering the words and rhythm of song lyrics. They discover the importance of clear communication and listening, by working together towards a shared goal - making the performance/production as good as it can be. They learn to always be ready for lines and cues, to be centred and ready for action.

Socially, they learn more about taking turns, and develop patience and tolerance. At one point, 9 out of 10 members of one group LOUDLY complained about me playing Pink Fluffy Unicorns. This truly upset the one person in the crew who actually is a unicorn and was dancing away merrily to it - so we stopped and sat down and talked about how to be a supportive audience. That it's absolutely fine to not like something, but you mustn't make people who DO like it feel bad about it! Then I high-fived my little enthusiastic pink fluffy unicorn because how can you not love that song?!

"Even if somebody is standing on a big stage by themselves and singing and dancing in just their PANTS, I would expect to only see a friendly and supportive audience!"

They learn how to encourage, support and cheer for each other, especially when they are audiences to performances by older children and they get to see how they do it. They might learn that they're not always the 'best' in the room, but they also learn that they have a louder voice than they think they do, and that they can use it if they grab every opportunity that they can. They learn about courage - true bravery is not about NOT being scared, but feeling the fear and doing it anyway!

So, especially since the global pandemic has threatened the livelihood of theatres and performers and other facets of the performing arts world, it's important to talk about how valuable it is to make performing arts available to every child. I hope, with our dance school, that we can be the starting point for future performers who will pass on this message to any future governments who might de-fund and devalue performing arts education and stick it to the Man!

The Non Prom Night!

Our senior girls are a fantastic group of young women who are kind, hardworking and supportive of each other.

Which is so wonderful and was demonstrated once again to us the other week when, due to Corona Virus, P's prom was cancelled!

E and R, two of our head girl team, decided that this was a very bad thing and super unfair to P as she'd already 'bought her prom dress and everything'.

So these wonderful ladies asked if it might be possible to have a surprise not prom party for P!

Roll on lots of sneaking about, planning behind P's back, white lies to P's face! (and lets face it everyone knows that dance teachers continually tell fibs anyway!)

Even P's mum was in on it, on the Monday she gave P bunting for us to hang, and on the Thursday evening she handed P a holdall to give to me, containing her prom dress!

Our seniors brought cakes, scones, fizzy pop, crisps and all manner of other delicious things to picnic with, then after their first class of the Thursday, we decamped into the drizzly garden to decorate the gazebo with the bunting, and lay out the picnic :)

P was late to class that night... Mum's tell lies too!

She walked in to an empty room and gave me the holdall, which I gave back! I wish you could have seen her face when she opened it and found her dress inside! And then when she realised everyone was outside.

The seniors insisted she show us her dress on, and it was BEAUTIFUL!

They proceeded to have a lovely photoshoot together, to eat their picnic and to have a truly lovely evening.

I feel incredibly proud of these amazing girls, their values and supportive natures. I am one lucky dance teacher :)