Behind the scenes: Department for Learning

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18 August 2008

Part two

Of course, a number of other members of the Company have long been involved in the department's work, notably various Company dancers.

'I think that really began when the Hippodrome was refurbished,' says Pearl, 'and the dancers' schedules weren't quite as busy as they are today. So it was an opportunity to use them and to develop their skills as teachers.

'Many of them who have been through the training programmes will very much say that they've benefited from those experiences.'

And many of them already have. When interviewed earlier in 2008, Principal Dominic Antonucci credited his work with the Department as an integral part of his development.

'I never would have been able to teach the company, and I never would have had the kind of insight that I have now into our work had I not done the education work myself,' admits Dominic.

'In the last few years I've had to slow down my education work because I've started teaching class, and I've had fatherhood too so I've got more responsibilities,' he says, 'but also I wanted to step out of the way and give the younger people and the less experienced people an opportunity to do that kind of work.'

Likewise, a number of dancers with the Company took part in projects when they themselves were students. Speaking just last month, Laura-Jane Gibson praised the projects for allowing her to meet members of the Company long before she joined as a dancer in 2007. 'I've done summer schools here before, which was great at the time, and it also meant I already knew quite a lot of the Company members,' she said, 'so when I came here I felt at home straight away.'

Looking ahead, the focus for the department has become much more orientated towards access. 'During Ballet Hoo!, because it required such focus, we weren't able to do any of our regular outreach work in our touring venues, like Plymouth and Sunderland', says Pearl. 'So since then we've been trying to rebuilding those relationships.

'There is a constant juggle between providing projects where we work with a group over a sustained period which could be a week, six weeks or longer, and the one-off projects where we visit a school for a day.

'You're going to have more impact from the longer projects in some ways, because you can develop the relationships and develop the work that the students do. But then, it is important to be able to reach out to as many schools as possible so as many people as possible have an opportunity to work with Birmingham Royal Ballet.'

For now, however, Pearl feels happy with the position of the department and the future of their work.

'What Ballet Hoo! really left us with was an increased understanding of the effect and power of the work that the Company does, and how the passion of individuals can impact on such a massive scale.

'The Company is committed to giving young people opportunities to achieve in and through the arts, and we're enjoying closer relationships with Birmingham City Council and the Youth Service. Since April we've been talking and developing ideas with them about what we can do next. From September we'll start to work on staff development between the youth service staff and Birmingham Royal Ballet staff.

'Because to engage young people, we firmly believe that we first have to engage those gatekeepers, those people who work with young people, to get them engaged and involved and as passionate about the work as we are.

'It's great when the whole Company gets a buzz from the learning and outreach work that we do!'

ENDS

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