Teaching and Learning in the Conservatoire
Hosted by Guildford School of Acting (GSA), University of Surrey
Welcome to Be the Change. Over the next three days, we will be examining how conservatoires can drive change to improve the teaching we offer our students and to enhance their learning. The focus is on action, not talk. We aim to provide those teaching in conservatoires and beyond with ideas and practical steps to work differently, to create the change we want to see, with each day honing in on specific areas.
Most of the sessions will follow a similar format: an hour-long Zoom discussion between experts led by a senior practitioner from GSA, although International Perspectives on Thursday will last 90 minutes. Anyone attending can post questions in the chat. The final session on Thursday will be more interactive and wider input welcomed - see below for details. Feel free to join for as many sessions as you can, or just one if you prefer to specialise.
Day 1: Tuesday 13th April 2021: Inclusive Curricula
We consider the conservatoire’s role in increasing representation and inclusivity. For too long, people have felt excluded from audiences and from careers in the industry. Efforts to broaden access have had some success, but change is too slow.
Zoom link: https://surrey-ac.zoom.us/j/95358346095
10am BST: Accessibility in training: Systemic Change
Nicholas Scrivens (GSA) in conversation with Rita McDade (Royal Conservatoire of Scotland)
GSA’s Disability and Neurodiversity Champion, Nicholas Scrivens, talks with Claire Lamont about her leadership of the BA Performance in BSL and English at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and what lessons on practice and access the wider drama school sector can learn from her experiences.
12pm BST: Cultural Intelligence and Actor Training
Dominic Rouse (GSA) in conversation with Nina Fog (Actor, Performance Artist) & David Thackeray (Intimacy Co-Ordinator, Actor and Director)
In this session the notion of the embodied listener is explored in relation to an essential and timely need for cultural intelligence in actor training.
2pm BST: Gender: Enablement, Empowerment and Actor Training
Anna McNamara (GSA) in conversation with Lucy Kerbel (Tonic Theatre)
In the post #MeToo era the creative industries have a responsibility to re-examine its systems, structures and relationships. Conservatoires have an opportunity to enable confident voices that will create and embody change through empowering the voices of both students and staff in wide and open dialogue about the challenges that face all of us in the creative industries.
Day 2: Wednesday 14th April 2021: 21st Century Pedagogy
Covid has forced all forms of teaching online but the use of technology is just one of the ways 21st Century pedagogy is considered by Be the Change. Enabling performers to have sustained careers includes care of well-being, and structured approaches to intimate scenes.
Zoom link: https://surrey-ac.zoom.us/j/97499875863
10am BST: Resilience and Wellbeing in Actor Training
Andrew Davidson (GSA) in conversation with Professor Ian Maxwell (University of Sydney) and Dr Parvinder Shergill (NHS)
Across the conservatoire sector, resilience and wellbeing have come into sharp focus during the global pandemic. This session presents Andrew Davidson, director, musician, teacher, and Wellbeing Champion for GSA in conversation with Ian Maxwell, lecturer and researcher at The University of Sydney, and co-author of the Australian Actors’ Wellbeing Study; and Parvinder Shergill, award-winning doctor in mental health for the NHS, and published writer, actress, and filmmaker. The conversation considers current challenges for acting students and teachers, and the lived experiences of graduates and professionals in the industry.
12pm BST: Technology Enhanced Learning and Actor Training
Tom Turner (GSA) in conversation with Niall Bailey (GSA) and Richard Neale (Arts Ed)
The conservatoire sector has had to rethink and re-imagine the delivery of actor training in the wake of the Covid 19 pandemic. This session presents Tom Turner (GSA) in conversation with Niall Bailey (GSA) and Richard Mulholland (Itali Conti). The talk will consider the repercussions of the increase in TEL, exploring the impact on pedagogical practices, the role of the tutor, creativity, autonomous learning, and the benefits/challenges of hybrid learning and teaching. What lessons can and should be learned as we move forward?
2pm BST: Intimacy and Actor Training
Rose Ryan (GSA) in conversation with Vanessa Ewan (Royal Central School of Speech and Drama)
Even before #MeToo brought us distressing stories around intimacy in the performing arts business, it had been observed that actors would say that many of them felt vulnerable, unsure and compromised while portraying intimacy and sex scenes both for theatre and the screen. The creation of intimacy guidelines has put in techniques that keep actor’s safe, which will let them act fully and create the best intimate content that they can. This is an opportunity to hear Vanessa Ewan talk about her work on intimacy and how it is integrated into actor training.
Day 3: Thursday 15th April 2021: Futures
The final day looks toward the future and the potential impact of action today.
Zoom link: https://surrey-ac.zoom.us/j/95791514847
10am BST: International Perspectives
Professor Sean McNamara (GSA) in conversation with Professor David Shirley (Western Australia Academy for Performing Arts - WAAPA), Hilary Wood (The Lir Academy of Dramatic Art, Dublin), John Bashford (National Institute of Dramatic Art - NIDA, Sydney), Dr Peter Zazzali (Lasalle College of the Arts, Singapore), Dr Ricardo Abad (Asia-Pacific Bond of Theater Schools – APB, University of Manila) & Cathy Young (Boston Conservatory at Berklee)
Aware that across the world, the actor and performer training sector is undergoing very significant changes in response to the creative, economic and social effects of the global pandemic; the impact of Black Lives Matter; and the creative opportunities afforded by a range of innovative digital technologies, this panel seeks to engage with and explore some of these issues from an international perspective. Drawing insights from leaders of professional training in the UK, Australia, Ireland, Manila, Singapore and the USA, the discussions presented consider conservatoire training in an age of change and a change of age. This session lasts for 90 minutes.
12pm BST: Sustainable Practices
Pippa Treharne (GSA) in conversation with Katy Downton (GSA), Professor Graham Miller (University of Surrey), Marty Moore (Freelance Production Manager) & Jennifer Taillefer (Unicorn Theatre)
This session presents Katy Downton in conversation with Professor Graham Miller, Marty Moore and Jennifer Taillefer. They will outline some of the initiatives that GSA and the Sustainability in Production Alliance (SiPA) are implementing to drive forward sustainable practices within the curriculum and production delivery, and will explore what steps we can take as a conservatoire to make a change not only within GSA but also to influence the wider conservatoire sector, and have a lasting impact on the future theatre industry. Professor Graham Miller will give further insight into sustainable practices in the travel and tourism industry and how some of the initiatives in that sector might be adopted within the theatre industry and conservatoire sector.
2pm BST: Reimagining the Canon
Kevin Michael Cripps (GSA) in conversation with Sheri Sanders (USA, author of Rock the Audition) & Nina Kristofferson (GSA)
A discussion exploring the topic of inclusion and diversity within the world of musical theatre education. The panellists aim to examine necessary changes to curriculum, language and content, and what must be done to implement these changes.
4pm BST: What Next?
Grainne Byrne (GSA) facilitating an interactive international forum actively inviting and utilising insight from attendees from the conservatoire and industry
An interactive international forum actively inviting and utilising insight from attendees from the conservatoire and industry. We will create an Open Space at the end of this conference. Each participant that cares to identify some question related to our theme for which they have a genuine interest but not necessarily any expertise. We will allocate a room for each issue raised, and the remaining participants may join the room that interests them most.