The competitive world of Acting and Musical Theatre makes getting into a Drama School for 3 years training very hard. There are large numbers applying with very limited spaces in each school. Its hard to bounce back from getting rejected from schools but you just have to! There are other options to do whilst you keep auditioning. Many people gap year and ‘find themselves’ others work and try again the following year, or there are Foundation Courses you can audition for.
Last year I didn’t get into a school to begin in September so I auditioned for the Foundation Course at GSA. After much deliberation with my family I went to the audition and I got it. I was over the moon and couldn’t believe it, I was so excited for what the year was going to bring. I can honestly say this has been the best year of my life.
The Course gives us basic training to prepare us for a three year course. We also go beyond that. We start learning things that first years learn and explore. This is really cool because we can gain more knowledge which is never a bad thing. Different schools teach the practices of different practitioners so you may or not repeat things in first year but most likely go into more detail with them. We also get one on one tutoring for the audition process.
But apart from the education part, I have learnt so much about myself and this industry. This industry is hard. You need to be tough. I didn’t think I was before this. But I now know I am.
This course really knocked down those emotional walls I had built up over the years. This was really hard at first and I didn’t understand why they were trying to break me! But that isn’t what they were doing. For me to be fully capable of providing an honest performance I have to be honest with myself. And these walls were preventing me for understanding myself properly. Over the years things had happened to me and I’d subconsciously, brick by brick, protected myself behind a huge wall.
However there has been nothing I haven’t enjoyed on this course. Of course it threw us all out of our comfort zones at some point throughout the year but after doing these things everything got easier. I know feel more confident in general. I feel more confident in auditions, in class, in relationships and just in general life. I would highly recommend this course to anyone!
I can’t wait to continue my training whenever that starts. And this year I’m going to use everything I’ve learnt in everyday life and also keep everything fresh so I can take all this knowledge and experience into auditions and the beginning of my training.
I’m feeling good about being reflective on the year and feel super positive for the future. But you can’t live in the future, you looking forward and feel excited but you have to live in the moment.
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