Cambridge Technicals Level 3 in Perfoming Arts Unit 1: Prepare to Work in the Performing

Lesson Element

Unit 1: Prepare to work in the performing arts sector

The beginnings of a promotional strategy

Instructions and answers for tutors

These instructions cover the learner activity section which can be found on page 4. This Lesson Element supports Cambridge Technicals Level 3 in Performing Arts.

When distributing the activity section to the learners either as a printed copy or as a Word file you will need to remove the tutor instructions section.

The activity This lesson element will begin the process of developing a promotional and progression strategy for learners. These will be specific to the needs and skills of the learner but the following activities will give common starting points for these strategies.

Promotional materials will all look very different for musicians, dancers, actors and technicians but they will all need to talk to professionals in the sector, think about how their skills (and personalities) can be presented and know what particular kinds of contract will come up in their niche area of work.

The activities will be based on the assumption that the learners are on the threshold of professional work rather than progression to further training, but they could project themselves forward to a place where further training through university or specialist school has taken place.

Suggested timings Activity1: 1 hour

Activity 2: 45 minutes

Activity 3:1 hour

ABC – This activity offers an opportunity for English skills development. Activity 1 Ask you learners to write a short profile (100 words) that sums up their skills and techniques and the personality traits or transferable skills that they feel would be an advantage in a range of professional roles/jobs.

Preliminary work could look at what these transferable skills are, one source for these can be found at https://nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk/Pages/Home.aspx

However the main point is to have some fun and get used to the idea of being snappy yet succinct and to develop editing skills, this will become important in the development later on of showreels and music demos. It also encourages the use of the phone as an aid in documenting work, which is currently an underused resource.

You could also reference The Apprentice opening statements.

Activity 2 Learners should use Case Studies at some point in the delivery of this unit to be able research and possibly replicate the approaches and strategies of working professionals in the sector.

This activity is intended to design a questionnaire that gets the maximum information from professionals; learners will have limits on how many questions they can ask so there will be a need to be clear and focused on the information required.

The activity will also have implications for general research methodology which also asks for clearly designed questions, ones that are open and inspiring but ones that also gain the maximum amount of relevant material from the interviewee.

A limit of five questions could be put on the questionnaire.

Examples could be:

 Describe the route you took in getting to be a professional actor/singer/dancer/designer?

 What was the best advice you ever had?

 What advice would you give to an aspiring performer/designer/technician?

 What do you do to maintain skills and techniques?

 What’s been one of the most fruitful methods of getting work for you?

Version 1 3 Copyright © OCR 2015 Activity 3 One of the things that learners sometimes complain about is the level of commitment and professionalism their fellow students have. This is more common amongst performance groups where a lot of time can be wasted in waiting for late performers or in postponing rehearsals when people don’t turn up at all.

This simple activity is intended to be a preliminary exercise before learners do more in depth research into sector employment contracts and conditions of service. A full list of these can be found on union/professional association websites and at www.uktheatre.org

Learners should work in groups to decide what they would expect during rehearsal and performance periods of all members of a company, in whatever capacity.

They could consider:

 Working hours.

 Punctuality.

 Breaks.

 Remuneration/expenses.

 Communication and reasonable expectations of behaviour.

 Keeping to schedules and deadlines.

 Notice to quit/be released.

Not all these will be relevant to their situation but at least the discussion could decide on the scope of such contracts and what can be reasonably asked of fellow artists.

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Unit 1: Prepare to work in the performing arts

Learner Activity

The beginnings of a promotional strategy In this lesson you will begin to put together the materials and information you will need for your marketing strategy; the strategy you will need to develop to get work and to place yourself in the optimum place for sustaining this work.

Most of this research and development will be down to you ultimately, as you are unique in your skills and approaches and you will know exactly what kind of work you will want and what kind of company or arts organisation you will want to work for.

The activities will give you an indication of the general approaches you will need to take; they will involve:

 Editing and presenting a succinct profile.

 Asking the right questions of working professionals.

 Developing a professional approach to work.

Activity 1 Write a short profile. This should highlight your skills and personality in a way that will appeal to a range of jobs that you are thinking about. Don’t get too specific, in other words, you will want to give general statements and maybe make an impression over and above what you are actually qualified to do.

Someone looking at it might say ‘she doesn’t actually have what I want in skills but I’m going to take a chance on her – she has the right attitude and approach and can obviously learn fast’!

You will work in groups and record the short profile as a presentation on the camcorder of your phone. Record it a few times, see how it can be improved and what can be taken out/added.

Version 1 5 Copyright © OCR 2015 Activity 2 Part of your research into your chosen professional route and your development of a promotional strategy for getting work will be asking questions of working professionals. They will give you first-hand accounts of the trials and tribulations of working in the sector and may also provide short-cuts through to the right places to go and people to see.

They will also be realistic about how likely work will be in your early years and how money you might make! To get the most useful answers you will need to design focused questions, ones that will ‘open up’ your interviewee and maximise the information that you get back.

If you can get to someone ‘live’, a face-to-face interview would be more useful and you can have a longer conversation. But if we assume an emailed questionnaire it would be better to think of five focused questions that you could ask.

Artist Management sites could be a place to start, for instance the Co-operative Personal Management Association members are much more likely to respond to a request for an interview with one of the clients. www.cpma.coop

Activity 3 Working in small groups and have a discussion about professional attitudes and working contracts. You could start with listing those things that might annoy you about working within groups during rehearsals and classes.

General moaning might not be that helpful and productive but it will help you to understand what can reasonably or unreasonably be put into a contract.

Start by including the things that can be put into a contract:

 Being on time.

 Regular attendance.

 Bringing the right equipment/clothing.

 Reasonable behaviour towards others.

 Keeping to deadlines (line-learning etc).

Are the following clauses also reasonable?

 Level of energy/commitment.

 Keeping fit.

Discuss how you would put these into contracts (or a letter offering employment).

What else might go into a contract if, for instance there was money and timescale involved?