I have been attending self development workshops for nearly 30 years. I have done much work on myself & had 3 years of psychotherapy which helped enormously with my self-esteem issues due to my life-changing injuries from major brain surgery in 2006.
During my journey to better myself, I have been coached by Landmark through the Landmark Forum, Advanced course & SELP, Self Expression & Leadership Program, in London in 2005, to whoever recognises that. I have also attended 2 levels of the American HAI (Human Advancement Institute) course. For 7 years I practised Astanga yoga (Primary series) & was coached, several times a week, by a teacher who had been trained by Pattabhi Jois, the man who rediscovered this extreme form of yoga after thousands of years.
All of that preparation not withstanding, what was required of me during the 4 years of professional training I am just completing, has pushed me far beyond what I thought I was capable of. It has tested my mettle & I have gone through a tempering process like a fine sword.
My professional training in performance began in 2016 when I signed up for a Foundation degree in Storytelling & Performance at the Eden Project in Cornwall. During that training, I attended workshops with Rogue Theatre where I received one to one coaching from their main producers & theatre makers. We received excellent coaching at Eden too from industry professionals. I also received training from Frankie Anderson who runs fooling workshops in Cornwall.
In 2018, after receiving 68.7% in my Fda, I enrolled into the 2nd year of the BA (Hons) in Theatre & performance at AMATA, the Academy of Music And Theatre Arts at Falmouth University in Cornwall. The training, coaching & guidance was provided by industry professionals who had become lecturers & senior lecturers.
The training at the academy was like nothing I had experienced thus far on my journey. The emotional intelligence it takes to become a creative collaborative member of a collective is staggering & our lecturers certainly shone in this regard. The skills I learned there will be with me my whole life. The facilities & technical staff at AMATA were outstanding too & I enjoyed telling people that I was training & studying at one of the top academies for performing arts in Europe.
My training at AMATA has been transformative & necessitated a complete overhaul of what I thought my talents were. We received additional workshops through & at AMATA from Natural Theatre, Kneehigh Theatre & Cardboard Citizens.
PERFORMANCE AND DEVISING CREDITS:
Perspectives, Director Klaus Kruse. AMATA. 2018. Village fate. Self-written play. AMATA. 2019.
Water. Self-written/directed AMATA. 2019. Osho. Solo performance. Self-written. AMATA. 2019.
An Equinox of fragrances. Solo storytelling. Self written, performed to public at Eden Project. 2018.
Orchid. Corporate storytelling performance to Eden Project Directors. 2018.
The Demon’s 3 golden hairs. Performed at Eden Project. 2018.
A gift from the sea. Performed by Eden storytelling students for Mevagissey Christmas advent. 2017.
Spirit of the Earth. Performed by Eden storytelling students for the Society for Storytellers convention. Plymouth. 2017.
The fir tree. Solo storytelling to public at Eden Project. 2016.
Although I have not officially qualified, I have also been trained in massage, yoga & have a few Cranial Sacral therapy techniques which I also bring into the workshops as trust based exercises which are interesting.
Other self taught skills; WordPress; Adobe Premier Pro; Adobe Audition; Adobe Photoshop; Cubase; Reason; Microsoft Word & One Drive.