As part of Discover! Creative Careers Week, three of Leeds leading arts organisations will be welcoming young people into their buildings next week.
Leeds Grand Theatre & Opera House, Northern Ballet and Phoenix Dance Theatre hope to inspire them to think about a career in the creative industries.
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport in England has backed this initiative to find new talent.
We Will Rock You is currently in residence at Leeds Grand Theatre, and The Grand’s Learning Team is offering students from Allerton High School a tour of the theatre (including backstage access) on Thursday 21 November. The students will also have the opportunity to look at the non-performance roles involved with theatre productions, which include programming, marketing, finance and house management. Practical activities as well as mock job interviews will be a part of the day.
Catherine Hayward, Education Manager, says: “Our Learning Programme offers students the opportunity to engage with our heritage theatres and learn more about the wide range of jobs available in the sector (not just performance). This event has been opened up to students in Yrs7-9 who have shown an interest in the Arts and creative subjects, and we hope that we will encourage more students to study creative subjects into Yr10 and beyond.”
Northern Ballet and Phoenix Dance Theatre are delivering a joint day of activity on Monday 18 November at their building in Quarry Hill, for students from Mount St Mary’s and Leeds City College. There’ll be an introduction to learn about the two companies do, then a tour of the building and a speed dating style of speaking to individual staff from a variety of disciplines, including some of the Phoenix Dance Theatre’s dancers. There’ll also be a dance workshop.
“Discover! Creative Careers is a great way for the creative industries to use our collective power to demonstrate how many exciting and diverse careers are available in the arts and cultural sector,” says Leanne Kirkham, Director of Learning at Northern Ballet: “We are passionate about creating opportunities for local young people to find out about the range of opportunities in the arts, particularly in roles they may not have considered or even know exist. Discover! Week is a great vehicle for us to shine a light on those roles.”
The week will see an estimated 40,000 students aged 11+ visiting businesses in the creative industry, such as films studios, theatres, advertising agencies, architects and design studios.
If anyone misses out on next week, this is just one strand of the Creative Careers Programme – there are other chances to find out more about the industry, including a new online creative careers finder, and a programme of guest speakers in schools, as well as work experience opportunities. The aim of this government programme is to ensure that around 2 million people in the U.K. will have access to information about a career in the creative industries. It is championed and supported by the Creative Industries Council.
Photograph provided by Leeds Grand Theatre.
