I’m Leanne, a third year dance student at Bath Spa University. Over the Easter period I have spent two weeks in the Earthfall office on work placement. I initially wanted to do my work placement at Earthfall as I wanted to gain an insight in to what went on ‘behind the scenes’ within an established company. Having previously worked with the company within my degree in a performance context I had a good idea of the style and work ethics of the company, this was also something I wanted to be a part of. From day one the office was very friendly and was more than willing to answer any questions I had in regards to the company or the tasks I was set.
Over my time here I have been given an insight into a wide range of roles that take place in order for the company to run successfully. These roles included education, marketing, finance, tour preparation and other general job roles and policies that the company runs by. As a performer it was great to see the background to the happenings of a company and gain a deeper understanding of the sort of preparation that is needed to run a tour. From a performers perspective I have gained information about performers contracts and the reality of being a dancer within a company such as Earthfall. This information will be very beneficial in transferring to other opportunities in my future career.
From my time here I am taking away a portfolio of work including; e- flyers, newsletters, press releases and posters which I have made to advertise up-coming projects within the company, as well as lots of information documents to aid my development as a dance practitioner. As well as spending time in the office I was given the opportunity to experience Siobhan Davies’s performance work in Bristol with Jess Cohen (co- artistic director), this was an insightful night that I wouldn’t have had the chance to see had I not been here.
The placement has aided my professional development in terms of understanding how a company runs, It has been eye opening to discover the amount of preparation that goes into running the tours. I think it is very beneficial to do a placement before graduating or when having recently graduated to experience the work place environment and other opportunities that are out there for dance practitioners. Although I aim to be a performer in the short term future I feel the skills I have learnt through this placement will be transferable to performance work as well as any other pathways I may take in my career. Overall it has been a insightful experience and I hope to visit Earthfall again in the future.
