Talia

I am currently studying level 3 BTEC musical theatre in college and come from a background of dance training. I train in ballet, tap, contemporary, jazz, commercial and street. Specialising in street and contemporary, street and commercial. I have also taken vocal lessons previously to joining a musical theatre course. I have performed many times on stage in dance recitals and musical theatre productions. I played the role of Maria in ‘West side story’ and also played ensemble roles in pantomimes. I compete regularly in street and also have taken exams for ballet, tap, contemporary and street. I also have experience as a gymnast which has increased my strength and flexibility. Previously to studying musical theatre I also took vocal lessons for 2 years and performed in a choir in Birmingham town hall. I also studied music and drama for GCSE's which gave me some experience in acting and singing before joining a musical theatre course. Dance has always been a constant in my life and always given me the same feeling of achievement and self pride when I learn a new skill or routine. Studying musical theatre in Sandwell College has allowed me to expand my skills and experiences as a performer as it's given me opportunities in singing and acting as well as dance.This has helped me to progress in dance with characterisation, confidence, and stage presence. Last year I played the role of Maria in a section of west side story and playing this character helped me develop strategies to get into character more such as analysing the script, creating a character's backstory and hot seating. This massively pushed me out of my comfort zone to sing a solo on stage and pushed me as a performer to have more confidence. I enjoy a variety of dance styles specialising in contemporary and street/commercial . I enjoy contemporary dance as it incorporates extensions with contractions in movements that I enjoy as it can really tell any story and portray any message to an audience as it has no rules or limits . Last summer I attended a summer school at the Northern school of contemporary dance which developed a lot of skills such as improvisation and body isolations and pops/locks in the hip hop infused contemporary class I took. I found this experience to be very eye opening to the different interpretations of contemporary dance and how other dance styles can also have an influence. At my local dance school, I teach a contemporary class to children (aged 4-8) with one other junior teacher. I like teaching as I like working with others and teaching younger dancers' new skills and helping them to progress with their technique. I also lead warmups/ stretches which has helped me develop leadership skills and confidence speaking in front of a group of others. I also train in ballet as it gives you a basic technique for any style of dance and builds strength and endurance which is essential to execute any choreography to the best of my ability. Commercial dance is very expressive, and I like performing a lot as I can engage with the audience and use facial expressions as well as movement to perform and syncopate the dance with the song. I also really enjoy street dance as it is such a broad dance style, and every routine can look so different by changing the dynamic of choreography. have achieved honours in my most recent IDTA freestyle bronze exam and going to complete silver this year too. I am currently committed to two dance schools as one focuses on ballet, tap, contemporary and jazz, while the other school is a street/commercial school that attends competitions. I enjoy both dance schools as they provide me with different but both important experiences to progress in different aspects. By attending two dance schools it has helped me to be organised and balance my college work with extra dance outside of my course and remember a lot of choreography. I would love to further discover parts of the world and myself through dance on a higher level course focused on my passion and career goal of working in the dance world in the future.