LEADING LEEDS ARTS ORGANISATIONS TO TAKE PART IN DISCOVER! CREATIVE CAREERS WEEK
Leeds Grand Theatre & Opera House, Northern Ballet and Phoenix Dance Theatre are welcoming young people into their buildings next week to inspire them to consider a career in the creative industries as part of Discover! Creative Careers Week (Monday 18 to Friday 22 November 2019).
The initiative has been backed by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport in England and is designed to find and encourage new talent for the country’s booming creative industries.
Working alongside the Broadway and West End hit We Will Rock You which is currently in residence, The Grand’s Learning Team are offering students from Allerton High School a tour of the theatre (including backstage access) on Thursday 21 November, followed by a chance to explore non-performance job roles in the theatre, including programming, marketing, finance and house management. Through practical activities, the young people will learn about skills that are required by the sector and take part in mock interviews to help prepare them for the world of work.
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 at their building in Quarry Hill.
After an introduction to the two companies and a tour of the building, students from Leeds City College and Mount St Mary’s will have the opportunity to speak to a range of staff from both companies in a speed-dating style ‘Meet the Professionals’ session. Staff will be from across a wide range of departments, including Communications, Front of House, Technical, Education and some of Phoenix’s professional company dancers. The students will also take part in a dance workshop led by both companies.
“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.”
An estimated forty thousand young people aged 11+ are expected to make visits to creative businesses as part of Discover! Creative Careers Week. Employers opening their doors range from advertising agencies, film studios, theatres, architect practices, museums, heritage properties, libraries and design studios.
The Discover! Week is one strand of the Creative Careers Programme, an industry-led programme which consists of several practical and sustainable activities including a brand-new online creative careers finder, training about jobs in the creative industries for careers advisers, a programme of speaking events in schools and work experience opportunities.
The Creative Careers Programme aims to raise awareness of employment opportunities in the sector, reaching more than 160,000 students by 2020. It is hoped that around two million young people will be able to access better advice about pursuing a creative career. The programme was a commitment made by government and industry as part of the Government’s industrial strategy, championed and supported by the Creative Industries Council.