As I approach the hindmost lesson of the year, I start to think about the growth that occurred in

myself from the beginning. When I began this course in September I wasn’t as open and
vulnerable as I am now; I believe this course has helped me improve both emotionally and
professionally. I have assimilated how to be a storyteller. One thing I’ve learnt to accept, and
embrace is that I’m a good musician as well as a great storyteller. It’s hard to be so trustworthy
in yourself and allow the impulse to guide you but this is something I’ve figured out and have
been incorporating into my work.

Something I was very worried about before joining the course were the movement elements as I
didn’t look at myself as a mover. Now, I look back at myself and I want to laugh because I have
learnt so much and I believe that I’ve come a long way in all my movement classes and I’m
proud of that. Movement technique with Max really opened my eyes to what movement is and
how it can be for anyone. One of our first projects at the start of the year was to create a solo
movement performance which I was afraid of. I found it hard to devise movement to create a
story as I have little previous experience with moving. However, I would say that this was a
stepping stone for gaining confidence in my movement. Max’s feedback encouraged me as he
said ‘I have a great way of moving with the human body‘,which made me realise that there’s
more to movement technique than meets the eye, expanding my understanding and experience
about the topic.

Near the end of term one I was diagnosed with dyspraxia which took some weight off my
shoulders and without bringing my confidence down, it rose it up.This consequently made me
incorporate neurodivergency into my extracurricular, and every movement piece done in class.
I’ve tried to branch out with my movement as I know it’s a weaker skill for me; compared to the
plethora of other various skills I attained. There was a recent collaboration with the Northern
School of Contemporary dance, that was arranged by Erin Carter, which attracted my attention
as I believed that it would help me break out of my comfort zone and discover how dyspraxia is
expressed through dance and music. It was an amazing experience and I'm glad I signed up
and met other artists in this generation with a love for the arts.

The skill I think I’ve improved massively in is music, in which I’ve always felt that there was more
to explore, and you could never know enough; and this year’s proved that to me. One of the
many elements that’s helped me improve this year, has been my one to one in lessons. I have
always been an auditory learner and this year especially with my ensemble music assessment
has taught me to read sheet music and learn quickly in a different way then I have before. I've
greatly improved my sense of imagination in regards to incorporating my instruments into my
storytelling; which has allowed my creative abilities to further improve. Moreover, another
element was my one to one’s; which helped me massively, especially when it came to the
ensemble music assessment. We were given the bass sheet music, which up until that point
was something I wasn’t too familiar with. Although the fast and plentiful learning put me under a
lot of pressure, I was able to quickly adapt and learn to a high standard. Another element that
improved in my solo work was the solo assessment; which meant I learned how to use a loop
pedal, which fascinated me as it is a corner of the music world that I was yet to explore. That
solo assessment did have its problems, however as an actor musician I learned to adapt to
them and use them to my advantage.

During my artistic development tutorial with Erin at the end of Term one, she gave me some
feedback that carried a lot of meaning, which was quite interesting to embrace. She pointed out
that I have an ‘original and unique energy’ but I should learn to take in more as ‘artistry is so
connected to who we are and it’s okay to value yourself as an artist’. This is what I've tried to
come to terms with over the last three trimesters. Something else Erin touched upon was that if
you feel an impulse you should act upon it ;as there is much more in the ‘doing’ then the
‘watching’ even if it's failing. This stuck out to me and pushed me to develop my artistic
development skills, as well as discover other affiliated technicalities in class.

Yoga has been an educational blessing this year. One of the great advantages and pleasantries
it offers that I experienced was relaxation; not just physically, but mentally too. Christina has
shown us lots of different poses which I now use in my daily practice. I feel grateful as it has
taught me how essential it is in an actor’s training. Something I have been working on in both
yoga and voice is posture; which admittedly was not that great. However, in classes; Jo had
shown me tricks to have my head held high and to not hunch over. I did feel and see a
noticeable improvement. It is through the lessons and lectures that I realised how important of
an impact these exercises have on the physical and mental abilities of an artist. I have learned
that through relaxing, repetitive physical exercises, and learning to be in control of your body,
you are automatically thinking better, while also retaining better posture.

This is something that I have taken into my daily warm-up practice where I make sure to pick
certain exercises that are related to how I'm feeling on a given day. Furthermore, as part of my
daily routine, I like to check in with myself and say some kind affirmations to myself, or have a
quiet morning.

Voice class has been a whirlwind of information for me, as only towards the end of the year I’m
making the connections; and have realised how much content I have actually taken in,
increasing my understanding of the subject, the exercises and what impact they have on myself.
One thing that I’ve noticed an improvement in is my breathing, wherein I don't get as breathless
as quickly as before. This has allowed me to perform better, and be more mindful in different
exercises, increasing my mental cognitivity in not only university work, but in other aspects of
my life. This coupled with the benefits surrounding posture in yoga have significantly changed
my performance for the better.

To conclude, I have greatly expanded my understanding through either participating in or

analysing all of the creative processes associated with actor musicianship; and have an
appreciation for how they build up and start to come together in the long run. I have also
discovered that I learn best through repetition, as tasks that I repeat on a daily basis are easier
to remember. This can especially be seen in my instrumentation; practising lines; reciting
pieces; and in screen acting. I feel more in touch about how I work as an artist, the strengths I
have relating to my creative processes. One of the direct impacts on my daily work where this
can be seen is my ensemble, which I now have a greater appreciation for. For the future I am
thinking of making my goals a reality and creating a plan (like I did for my personal development
plan) and slowly but surely allow my missions of myself to grow. I had the idea of practising for
10 minutes a day on my new instruments to test if that would work and improve my knowledge
of improvisation and working with musicians in the class. This and other ideas will be my
ongoing plans to improve myself as a storyteller and an artist.