Archive for July, 2016

West End Training At Young Michael Jackson School

Thursday, July 21st, 2016

West End Training At Young Michael Jackson School for Marcellus

 

We are so proud of our student, Marcellus, who recently aced his audition in front of a top West End children’s casting director and is now through to Young Michael Jackson (YMJ) School this summer.

This training is in preparation for the opportunity to play the role of young Michael in the West End show – Thriller Live!

Marcellus will be very busy this summer learning drama, dance and singing twice a week at an intensive training course.  He will be working with the production’s London Creative Team, including the West End Musical Director and one of the choreographers from the show.

Marcellus said, “I am really looking forward to this and I am so excited about going to London every week, meeting the other children at YMJ School and working with dancers and singers from the show – this will be my best summer ever!”

Marcellus has been a student at Spotlights for 6 years and started his training with us when he was just 5 in our Little Stars class.  Marcellus has previously been in another professional production of Peter Pan at Bromley’s Churchill Theatre but if he gets through YMJ School this will be his West End debut.

Whatever happens this is a fantastic opportunity for intensive training with a cast of West End professionals. We can’t wait to see Marcellus moonwalk!

We hope he has a brilliant time and if he makes it through to the role of Michael we’re booking front row seats!

If your child would like the opportunity to audition for professional roles in theatre, TV and film the first step is to get in touch with us to try one of our performing arts classes.  We offer all new students a free trial.

After becoming a member of Spotlights all current students then have the chance to try out for our Agency.  We represent young people age 4-18 who have demonstrated a flair in drama, dance and singing.  We provide training in audition technique and give parents support through the casting process.  If you think your child may be the next big thing we would love to hear from you.

 

 

 

Pokemon Go! – A Parent’s Guide

Wednesday, July 20th, 2016

Pokemon Go! – A Parent’s Guide and our tips for helping your child navigate the “real” world

 

The latest phone app game craze hit the UK this week.  If you haven’t heard of it yet we’re sure you soon will.  It’s called Pokemon Go!

The game is an app that you install on a smartphone.  The game is all about catching monsters – Pokemon.  The twist is that this phone app uses augmented reality to show the monsters (using your phone’s camera) in the “real” world.

Whether or not you like your kids having a smartphone, let alone playing games on their phone at all is one debate.  However, this game takes everything up a notch.  In one way the fact that the game encourages the player to get outside and breathe some fresh air rather than slump on the sofa will be something that most parents would encourage.  However, there are some safety points to consider too.

We have found a great article for parents on the Boots WebMD website with a summary of the game and safety points to bear in mind.

In our view Pokemon Go! looks like a bit of entertainment if parent’s are able to monitor their child’s use of the game carefully.  We think there’s still nothing quite giving your kids a fun experience in the “real” world.  If you would like your child to really stretch their imagination this summer you should take a look at our summer school.

We can’t promise that there will be any Pokemon to catch or that our venues in West Wickham and Beckenham will become a PokeStop but we can promise that these performing arts classes will be lots of fun.  We have an Alice in Wonderland workshop for 4-6 year olds and a Shrek the musical workshop for 7-16 year olds.

We will take your child on a real adventure in drama, dance and singing for a whole week where they will interact with other real children and make real friends.  They will learn how to work as part of a real team as they get ready to put on a show at the end of the week.  They will build their confidence ready to face the real world and you can come and watch a real show at the end of the end of the week.

We are running a contest on Facebook to win a free place at our summer school.  You simply need to like the post on Facebook and write a comment about how you like to keep your kids entertained over the summer.  The comment with the most likes will win a free place at summer school.  The closing date for entries is Friday 22nd July at 12pm GMT.

Why not do this now?  Maybe try it on your smartphone!

 

 

 

Spotlight on the Lam family

Thursday, July 14th, 2016

We recently caught up with the Lam family to find out how Morgan (age 11) and Lexi (age 4) have been doing in our drama, dance and singing classes in Orpington.

 

Morgan has been coming to Spotlights since she was little and her younger sister Lexi has recently joined.  We wanted to know what attracted their mum, Lee, to Spotlights in the first place:

“I wanted somewhere that was fun for children, to use their imagination and promote self-confidence.  The attitude of the teachers is brilliant, really treating the children on their level, and helping them feel great about themselves”.

It is always interesting to hear what children themselves say to their parents about our classes.  Morgan and Lexi, “both love how each dance or song is taught to them.  Morgan now loves that she is asked to demonstrate some songs and her confidence has grown because of it.  Lexi loves the drama games and really gets involved in the story that is being told”.

We love the fact that we get lots of friends of current parents bringing their children to a free trial class.  Lee tells her friends, “the classes are professional but fun – they get the combination of discipline and fun right.  Other parents are always asking why my children are so confident, and I tell them that Spotlights has helped them realise how to lose nerves and realise that they can do anything”.

When we plan our lessons in drama, dance and singing we make sure that every child is given opportunities to build their confidence in each discipline.  It’s great to hear that Morgan has benefited from this, “her confidence has gone up a great deal.  Morgan started when she was very little and hadn’t become self conscious, but I know that there were times when her friends were becoming very shy and anxious and she hasn’t and I think this is due to the Spotlights methods”.

As well as our regular tuition in drama, dance and singing we like to offer students further opportunities to develop drama skills through exams judged by LAMDA or by being part of our agency with opportunities to audition for professional work in film, TV and theatre.

We are very proud that Morgan has been successful in her drama exams and winning auditions for roles on TV.  We are pleased that Lee agrees, “Morgan has completed 5 LAMDA exams and it has definitely helped her understand the process of drama more, and how to apply herself to a piece of drama that is more serious, and what is required”.

“Morgan has attended several auditions and has been lucky to get a couple of the parts.  The process can be quite daunting, but Spotlights has always prepared her well, advising her of the format and content of the audition, what the part is for and they are happy to spend time with her beforehand to make sure she feels her best when she goes in”.

If you would like to find out more about how our drama, dance and singing classes can help your child please get in touch.