Blog Post

Building confidence, ability and creativity through Bodens Courses.

Adam Boden • May 05, 2016

Another Summer holidays, another opportunity to create...

Every Summer we welcome a group of young people to Bodens on Monday mornings, and send them off at the end of the week hoping they have enjoyed a week of their summer. They make new friends, at least for the week. They appear to grow in confidence, standing on a stage of sorts in front of some people, taking risks, achieving personally etc. etc. etc... and they grow creatively, well they must, because after all, we've been doing 'stuff' to do with the 'arts' and... things. But how do we know all this? How do we know they've grown in confidence because of the project they've undertaken? How do we know their confidence wouldn't have grown more in other areas by staying at home and freeing eleven hostages in an X Box provided situation? How do we know they've grown in creativity? I was in Pinnochio once. I remember wetting myself backstage. That's all I remember. I didn't grow creatively, and if I said I did, then perhaps my nose would be growing, but not creatively. How do we know the project will have any affect on a young person whatsoever in a rapidly changing world becoming more and more difficult to prove the impact and sustainability of anything when so many factors play a part in so much of the development of our young people.

Most of the time we can't prove the impact in the present, or the sustainability in the future.... but we do know it's there... because we can see it. As Theatre Practitioners working with children and young people, we see it present in their shiny eyes. We see it throughout the week as they begin to take more moments. We see it during the lunch break as the inhibitions vanish and relationships blossom. We see it behind the stage, and then on it.

And we know it works. Because we're not just out of work actors, singers who have sung their last aria, or dancers that have hung up our ballet shoes. Our team at Bodens is a team of teachers. Take me... I'm actually an Applied Theatre practitioner specialising in the development of young people through the provision of safe risk in a theatrical environment. Sounds good, doesn't it. It should do. I spent ages on it. I know it works because that's my craft. It's what I do. How I teach. We don't just put on a little show... Well we do... But it's how we do it. How we provide the young people with a platform to perform as themselves... to have a voice that is heard. How we give them opportunities of safe and manageable risk so they can step outside of their comfort zones and increase their sense of achievement, growing their self-belief. Drama isn't the soft subject. It's an incredibly important opportunity to grow as a person, achieve amazing things, and while you're at it, put on some really, really good theatre.

Our 2015 devised theatre course started from scratch and ended up embroiled in the world of the Cambodian street children. A group of thirty incredible young people created a story of hope, fear and understanding. They didn't just create an astonishing and powerful piece of theatre... they thought about the world, and their position in it. They made others aware through their research and performance. They gave children from half way across the world a voice here, through verbatim work. Additionally, they raised money for a Cambodian street child. That's a perfect example of Applied Theatre. It entertains, informs, opens dialogues, and where it can, it's nice if it educates us all in some way, staff and students alike... after all... we're also on the summer course. We might as well learn something too.

For one of this year's courses we're going a step further and in a different direction, with a film production week. We'll be writing and shooting an entire film in just one week, and after a couple of months off, returning for a premier cinema screening. Even the young people on our popstars course will be shooting a music video to accompany their Saturday night theatre performance. Even within a week of choreography paired with singing performance and technique, there's still room for personal challenges and ways to maintain a sense of fun, crucial to keeping our young people engaged from start to finish. For the youngest students, aged 4 - 6 years, they all get individual chances to shine in a safe environment as their confidence builds throughout the week as we explore some incredible stories and immerse ourselves in adventure and play.

And that's some of what we'll be doing this summer. It was great last year. You're more than welcome to come along and join us. Here's a little video that shows some of what we got up to last year.

by Adam Boden 16 Apr, 2023
Making A Movie on a Bodens Summer Film Course
by Adam Boden 08 Jan, 2023
The early stages of our new immersive, interactive, promenade performance of Minotaur, based on Plutarch's Theseus.
by Adam Boden 11 Jan, 2022
In a class of students of mixed age and ability, how does a teacher ensure children and young people are individually challenged? What does it take to ensure every student progresses at their own pace and achieves their potential? Knowledge, experience and support.
by Adam Boden 07 Jan, 2022
While performing arts is a very effective way to boost a child’s confidence, family and friends can do plenty of things to help.
by Adam Boden 09 Feb, 2019
Shouldn't we stop answering this question and waste any more time giving weight to the possibility that drama is anything but important.
by Adam Boden 24 Apr, 2018
Director Adam Boden talks about why Bodens Performing Arts is providing their young participants with immersive theatrical experiences; students gain in confidence and ability, and through the provision of manageable risk, are helped in their transition to adulthood.
by Adam Boden 22 Jun, 2017
A little bit about our approach to productions at Bodens performing arts.
by Adam Boden 09 Jun, 2017
I would have given my right hand for this kind of opportunity when I was sixteen years old. Instead of the Arts Depot stage and a microphone to sing out the soaring rock score of Spring Awakening, I spent most of my summer in the local park with a 40p can of Scandia Green and Bryan Adams on loop in the background. Bryan Adams. (Sigh). Following three incredible years at Bodens College of Performing Arts, we had already expanded what was on offer by introducing a brand new gap year course for 18-19 year old students with a year to spare before their next Drama School auditions, so what else could we offer? We wanted to share our brilliant teaching team and fantastic studios with those young people not studying performing arts full time that still share the same passion and enthusiasm as our full-time students; so we planned an amazing three week summer course, worked out the nitty gritty, got the funding in place, and now now ready to offer our New Fully Funded Summer Course. From Tuesday 1st - Saturday 19th August, we will be offering a three week long Performing Arts Course for young people aged 16-18 years. Depending on age and experience, students will undertake a Level 2 or Level 3 Certificate in Performing Arts. This fully funded course will enable the participants to perform in both a full length play and a complete musical. This will be a very rewarding experience and does require commitment, energy and passion from any young people wanting to take part. It is an intensive training opportunity, studying all aspects of Musical Theatre throughout each day. We will produce the full musical Spring Awakening, analysing text and lyrics, exploring movement and gesture through the discovery of subtext. Students also produce a contemporary imagining of the play Woyzeck, where together we will explore text, character and relationships through workshops, concentrating on a contemporary play. An intense opportunity to unlock, rehearse and develop these productions ready for performance to an audience. These are two incredibly demanding pieces of theatre, chosen to ensure we have the material that allows us to work at an advanced standard. Two very strong, character driven productions to challenge our young company to produce incredible performances in just three weeks. This is an opportunity for the complete drama school experience without the cost. And as it's packed in to just three weeks, it still leaves you over half your summer to hang about in the park. With the course currently just over half full, we are auditioning over the coming month on a Sunday afternoon to fill the remaining places with capable, talented and passionate young people, to help us produce some incredible theatre this August. So if that sounds like you, or someone you know, then get in touch at info@performingartscollege.co.uk or on 020 8447 0909. Remember, it's fully funded and students taking part receive an accredited qualification in Creative and Performing Arts. You can view a brochure here https://irp-cdn.multiscreensite.com/3e9c4e73/files/uploaded/BODENS%20COLLEGE%20SUMMER%20COURSE%20201...
by Adam Boden 18 May, 2017
I remember when we took on High School Musical all those years ago. The only reason we did it then, is because we did it first. Producing the London Premier of the Smash Hit Disney Musical while it still held pride of place on the whole world's sky box office planner, was it's redeeming feature. We were all in it together before everybody else got their heads in the game. Thousands of production followed nationwide, and the start of something new definitely wasn't. But we got in first. Matilda was a different story. We couldn't get in first because you weren't allowed to produce the show, and by the time an abridged thirty minute version of the show became available for schools to perform, it was too late. Matilda was naughty in almost every school hall and community theatre across England; As far as we were concerned as an innovative and forward thinking organisation, an abridged version of Matilda was as attractive a prospect as High School Musical 3. Forward three years later, and we are in a very different place. While Matilda still maintains a rightful place on the West End Stage, schools have ironically returned to High School Musical, allowing us, to sneak along the hallway and mix up our own production of Matilda. We are blessed as a school with incredible talent across our groups, but it is in particular abundance with our 8-12 year old students. Matilda is perfect for them. An opportunity to be stretched with challenging choreography, demanding lyrics and musicality. We have studied the story, themes and characters and unlocked our performance through creative play: we use the image theatre of Augusto Boal, the naturalistic acting of Stanislavski, using our bodies as the set in a Grotowskian Poor Theatre style, exploring movement techniques of Laban, Jacques Lecoq's levels of tension and bringing it altogether through hardwork, passion and commitment; i'm talking about the students.
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