My three month internship has involved me working alongside Katie and her company, Made By Katie Green, during the rehearsal process, initial performances and associated workshops of her Dancing in Museums project. I primarily applied for the internship because I was passionate about broadening my knowledge and experience of the professional industry that I aspire to work in.The 5 week intensive rehearsal period was a chance for me to completely immerse myself in Katie’s creative process. I was asked to research different historical information based around the museum artefacts identified. I also took rehearsal notes, photos, interviewed the dancers for the company blog as well as completing various administrative tasks for Katie. Being in rehearsals was important to gain a solid context for the project: I had an insight into Katie’s vision so far and then watched that come to life.
Throughout these rehearsals I got a chance to work closely with the company dancers. My knowledge of being self-employed was limited, so this time gave me a chance to ask lots of questions and gain a real understanding into how they organise their work, as well as all the technical things, such as self assessment for tax and national insurance.
Seeing Katie’s organisation, hard work and passion for the project was inspiring. Her choreographic style encouraged the dancers’ input and creativity. It was interesting to see how the dancers responded to set tasks and how Katie honed their ideas and material. Katie had numerous other strands that ran alongside the creative studio work. She had to be in regular communication with the costume designer, composer, writer, lighting designer and organising marketing throughout, making sure that all aspects of the project were running smoothly. This really gave me an understanding of the time, dedication and motivation that is needed when running your own company.
As part of my internship I spent a day with Morton Bates Arts Services who offer consultancy and areas of management to Made By Katie Green. This time gave me a clear insight into how companies such as Katie’s are supported. I had the chance to observe another artist’s consultancy meeting which helped me to contextualise the role of Morton Bates Arts Services even further. I found this work experience inspiring and I was excited by the work that Joe Bates and Claire Morton do. It gave me a chance to meet someone who is at the top of their field in an area that I aim to work in, and to ask them questions.
As part of my time with Katie, I accompanied her to different events that she goes to as a dance artist. I had the invaluable opportunity to meet a number of professional people working in the industry. I had the chance to network and introduce/conduct myself as a professional, discussing my internship and my future aspirations. This led to getting some fantastic advice about my next steps as well as discussing and learning about other people’s careers and projects. I was also told about job vacancies that I might be interested in.
In conclusion, this internship has given me a chance to get invaluable experience for my future career. It has undoubtedly equipped me with skills and knowledge that I will take forward.
Since completing the internship, I have successfully been appointed as an Arts Engagement Worker of the Transported project based in Boston and South Holland (www.transportedart.com). Without a doubt, my experience gained over the course of the internship contributed to this appointment.
I would like to thank Katie for giving me this opportunity and for generously sharing her knowledge and time and the University of Lincoln for supporting the internship.
Picture from the www.transportedart.com website.
No comments:
Post a Comment