Blog by Bodens

"I believe there’s a hero in all of us" - Aunt May

Sun, 16 Apr 2023 09:55:11 GMT

Making A Movie on a Bodens Summer Film Course

Every summer a group of young people aged 11-17 years get together for a week at Bodens Performing Arts school and make a film. Then they come together in October at The Phoenix Cinema in Finchley, and watch it. But it's not any film It's a film, film. A proper film, film. A full-length movie with storyline, proper acting, a great script. character development and incredible locations. So how do we do in just one week. The answer is, we don't really know. When everyone works relentlessly towards the same goal... it just sort of happens.

We produced a slightly better film every year for the next four years, including our first horror 'The Sea Scout Project' and, among others, our first superhero flick 'Super John and his Sidekick Peter', the martial arts epic 'The legend of the Seven Golden Warriors' and an adventure film 'Crusaders of Time' filmed on the set of Holby City. But people were growing up. They had degrees to get and drama schools to go to. And the original group of students flew the nest. And while we produced some excellent theatre with those that remained, and the younger students that joined us - film courses ended up taking a back seat. All the way until 2009.

Off the back of the London Premiers of High School Musical 1 & 2, we had a vibrant group of 12-17 years olds. They were just like the original group of students: creative, hard-working & committed (only this group was twice the size (and possibly twice the talent). It felt like the right time to begin summer film courses. But this was a different time - with less excuses. Technology was better, we had more connections, costume storage and the Barnet studios. So, if we were going to do it, we were going to do it properly. Two of our original students came back to help shoot and edit and we changed the lyrics to songs from the High School Musical films, got a musical director, a church, school coach, basketball court, some restaurants, make-up artists, and HIGH SCHOOL FUNERAL was made. This was a full hour and ten minutes film with songs, dancing, and special effects. We we're back. The film was. an enormous success and was one of the best things we had ever created. The problem was, the experience of the students was amazing, but for the team, the whole process had overtaken our lives for three months. We didn't get paid for more than a week of it (at the most), and the budget was blown about four times over. So, it was the last one for a while... again. Bodens summer film course was amazing... but impossible to achieve every year. And it always would be... The truth was, we could never deliver a film in a week properly without it being an enormous amount of stress and hard work. It would always be hugely challenging and very difficult to balance the books. But after a few years away from them, we realised that the benefit to students taking part was so great, we should start doing them again anyway.

On our returning 2016 film course, we had plan. Keep it simple. Students would arrive on day one, and we would start to create a film from scratch. The next two days we would write the film, and the last few days, film it. We would aim for a reduced running time film, with simple locations nearby, and keep dialogue to a minimal. We ended up with a fifty-minute movie 'The Family' which was nicely shot, a little slow paced, but with some good performances and an unfolding film. I did realise in those opening days, that whatever source material you put in front of young people, they tend to come up with cult or apocalypse. Like, every time. So, we worked hard with our creative play and improvisation to find some other angles. In 2017 we produced REPLAY, a stranger things role-playing adventure, 2018 was RUN around an athletics is event, in 2019 a Time Travel film, Tweakers, and 2020 was a comic book detective film, Agnes Shields : Case Cracker. But every year - without fail - students had pushed for a zombie film. So in 2021, we gave in.

We knew A ZOMBIE FILM, as it ended up being called, could not be decided on the first day of the week. It needed planning. So, in 2021 we came up with a very rough story line of a group of friends wanting to make a zombie film, a zombie apocalypse kicking off, and them deciding to keep going with the film because real zombies will make it even better. This gave us the weeks before to book make-up artist, a stage combat and fight sequence coordinator, get cars, hockey pitches, schools, and weapons. We still approached the first few days of the course devising and writing, but the pre-planning meant the course ran smoother and had a much more rounded story line and overall character development. Almost thirty years on, we had finally discovered a brand-new winning formula - know roughly what you are doing before you start.

Moving to 2022, and already regretting choosing DISASTER as the theme, we included the idea of a DEVISING DAY a week before the course. This gave us time to work together on ideas, then a week to get costumes, props, and locations before beginning the actual week of the course. It worked well in a way, but the outrageous ideas on the devising day left us needing Downing Street, MI5 headquarters, a science lab, a nuclear bunker, aliens and earthquakes, and of course, a meteor. But six days was better than no days, so we started our search. And we got them all, including a giant underground government bunker. No... actually. Achieving what we have achieved with the last two films, has left is with our biggest problem of all. How do we do as well as last year? Although we have some new students joining us each year, many of our students come back for more, filled with expectation.

"With great power comes great responsibility" - Marvel (Well, Shakespeare actually.)

So we arrive at 2023, and summer is around the corner. This year we have chosen the theme of SUPERHEROES. We will have our devising day once again, on Sunday 2nd July, before embarking on our seven-day adventure, Saturday 22nd to Friday 28th July 2023. Following the success of pre planning with Zombie Film, we have a general story in the pipeline, to give us the head start we will need if Superheroes has a chance to become one of our all-time greats.

So.... Following a terrible accident, our superhero hangs up their cape, vowing never to use their powers ever again. But when the world find itself in trouble, and there is no one to turn to, a small group of friends must step up - and might just need to become Superheroes themselves. Or something like. We'll see... But whatever we do, we'll make sure it's a brilliant experience that the students will always remember and be proud of.

"I'm the best there is at what I do." – Wolverine.

Through the Labyrinth

adamboden@mac.com (Adam Boden) — Sun, 08 Jan 2023 18:01:24 GMT

The early stages of our new immersive, interactive, promenade performance of Minotaur, based on Plutarch's Theseus.

Creating an ancient world for an audience to wander around in is a challenge in itself. Add one hundred young people whose education, enjoyment and experience you have to worry about, an ocean crossing, a giant maze and a minotaur... you might well have a problem. It takes planning, imagination, resources and talent - and if you want to involve the young people throughout the entire creative process, it also takes time.

For those unfamiliar with the terms immersive, interactive or promenade, there's some information below.

In our first term, we began to unpick the story of Theseus and the Minotaur. We used media, literature and storytelling workshops to unlock the words and themes of this ancient Grecian story. Students recorded their thoughts and feelings; what stood out to them, what resonated with or unsettled them. While our intention is to set the story against the backdrop of Ancient Greece, we can't help but consider the story in our contemporary world. When Theseus breaks his promise to marry Ariadne for her help against the Minotaur, many of our young people wondered who the hero was after all. When you are collaborating with your cast, moving forward, this has to be at the forefront of our considerations. This is when the story ceases being Plutarch's, and starts to become theirs.

With any immersive theatre, a crucial decision to be made is how to bring your audience into the world of the play. With a story like Theseus, you have the added problem of history. How do you ensure your audience understand the world of the play and what has happened previously, before they begin to watch a story unfold within it? We have created the Museum of Athens where the audience will begin their journey under the watchful gaze of one of our tour guides: Aphrodite, Hermes, Apollo or Athena. Alongside ancient artefacts that the audience will later see in their original life, young performers will appear as animated history in our interactive exhibitions.

A promenade performance works by rotating some of the scenes. As the audience move from location to location in smaller groups, actors repeat sections so that everyone sees as much of the action as possible. At points during the piece (the marketplace, banquet and boat) the audience come together and experience the story as a whole. This requires the actors to have the ability to improvise either side of the scripted scenes, within the world of the play. Students spent a term working on their improvisation techniques in preparation for anything that might happen in a production like this. Improvisation is also a very important part of devising characters and story. When we are forced to generate ideas in the moment, we are more likely to create something new or different, that we wouldn't necessarily have put forward if we were sat discussing ideas around a table.

Having chosen the parts of the story to be included, we started the process of creating a script. In this challenging production the text is being written in different forms of verse. For example, the Athenians speak in Iambic Pentameter, similar to much of Shakespeare's verse. The cast have worked on finding the rhythm and poetry of the text, while trying to maintain the storytelling, or communication between the characters.

So as the setting sun softens her stare

Hides behind the earth like a glide downstairs

The dark of night fall shadows anxious air

And silence shrouds the Athens market square

Still you can hear the memory of the war

The dread and fear of what has come before

So long ago the Cretian prince was killed

Yet still the blood of innocents is spilled.

Every ninth year the names must be revealed

And for the chosen children fate is sealed

The people stand together, but alone.

Soon some will suffer heartbreak in their homes.

A booming voice, then the silence smothered

Breath held tight, a loved one clasps another

‘The time has come to read the names aloud!’

Waves of sorrow flood the frightened crowd.

So now we move onto the audition and casting process. Every single participant needs to play an actual part, with an emotional journey and an impact on the story. This term we have already begun the process of characterisation, considering the physical tension, openness, height and eye contact of the character, before working on the voice. Then we shall return to the finished script and make sure we end the penultimate term before the show ready to move into the final stages of rehearsals.

So the last remaining question... to make it a musical, or not a musical...

Providing our young people with opportunities for Manageable Risk-Taking

Sun, 30 Jan 2022 11:35:00 GMT

In addition to the arts capabilities to nurture social and personal growth, performing arts schools are in a position to provide young people with an opportunity to take risks. Risk-taking is a crucial part of the transition into adulthood, fulfilling developmental needs and helping young people to form their identities and begin to shape their futures.

The developing adolescent brain is geared towards seeking out the new in search of thrills and rewards. This is not something we should aim to avoid, but to embrace, as young people develop the initiative, autonomy and awareness they will need for successful adult life.

Drama classes are full of opportunities to provide safe and manageable risk:

These ‘risky’ opportunities help the school earn the students’ trust and confidence, allowing them to take those risks and gain those rewards.

We enable our students to participate in all manner of performances, maximising the benefit of those safe risks by providing them in different forms. Of course, performing in front of an audience comes with risks attached, but when you place the audience on either side, or all around you, allow students permission to take creative risks mid performances or invite the audience to inhabit the world with the performers, these risks are suddenly magnified, and with that, even more, beneficial to the young participants.

We often involve our students in large scale Immersive Theatre projects that are innovative and exciting, providing performers and audiences with exposure to uncertainty. These factors entice our young people to take risks, and while the world of the play may be fictional and the environment safe, the risks, and the benefits attached to taking those risks, are genuine. Through the provision of all our productions at Bodens, particularly the immersive theatrical experiences, comes an opportunity to place our young people within another world, providing them with the chance to take manageable risks in a safe space.

Individual Progression

Tue, 11 Jan 2022 19:49:00 GMT

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.

Bloom’s Taxonomy

Bloom’s Taxonomy, created by Benjamin Bloom in 1956, is a hierarchical ordering of cognitive skills that can, among countless other uses, help teachers teach and students learn. Every student is in a different place on the ladder of learning. Once we know about something, we can start to understand it, then apply it, evaluate it, and use it in our lives. If a student is trying to apply something before it’s understood or evaluate it before they can apply it correctly, the learning will be unsuccessful.
One of the most critical parts of teaching is knowing where a student is on the learning ladder and helping them get to the next step. It shouldn’t matter where all the different students are in relation to each other; if a teacher uses Bloom’s taxonomy framework as a guiding principle, they can work on the individual child’s progression in a class of many.

Learning Objectives

Classes should be structured towards clear and concise learning objectives. If a student is aware of precisely what they are learning, they know what is expected of them and what to be able to do at the end of a class that they couldn’t do at the beginning. It also means the teachers have to plan and structure these smaller targets to move the student towards achieving the more significant long term objectives in their performing arts training.

Differentiated Questioning

Once we have established a learning objective and are aware of where a student is on the learning ladder, we can target them with questions specific to their progression. For example, a student who knows about an acting technique could be asked to explain it, so they focus on understanding the objective. A student who has already applied this technique could be asked to discuss its effect on an audience; they start to learn how to evaluate it.

Termly Feedback

The children and young people attending our classes receive termly feedback from their teachers. Feedback is directly related to the learning objectives within lessons, where tutors have had regular opportunities to assess the student’s engagement, understanding and ability. Feedback will draw attention to what the student has been doing well and what they can work on together to ensure constant progression over the coming terms. Feedback offers an opportunity to see the areas where a student is improving, where they have been performing to a good standard, and where they are demonstrating excellence. Future lessons will often contain specific objectives and criteria to help a student reach the next level of learning.

Teacher Training

Throughout the term, the teaching team at Bodens are observed by senior staff members and given feedback to ensure student progression and achievement is at the heart of our performing arts training. We also hold regular training sessions where the teamwork together, discussing students and sharing techniques and experiences.Although our teachers are already highly qualified, and many also undertake professional performing work, they are encouraged to take training courses to maintain, develop and improve their skills and knowledge in the performing arts.

How to Build your Child’s Confidence

Fri, 07 Jan 2022 18:20:00 GMT

While performing arts is a very effective way to boost a child’s confidence, family and friends can do plenty of things to help.

As a parent, you want your child to succeed in everything they do. You want them to feel confident in their abilities and be able to take on any challenge that comes their way. But how can you help your child build confidence? While all children are different, these tips should positively affect any child.

1. Praise your child for even the smallest accomplishments. It can be difficult not getting caught up in the moment, but taking time out from whatever we’re doing at home and telling our children how much they’ve done well will always make them feel better about themselves! This is a great way to show your child that you are proud of them.

2. Encourage them to try new things, even if afraid. Try to get them out of their comfort zone. They may be scared of making mistakes or doing poorly in an activity, but you can help them overcome their fear by encouraging words and taking small steps. It will also open up new possibilities for both of you! It can help to remind them that there’s nothing worse than regretting not taking a risk when you could have tried something different!

3. Help them learn how to deal with failure and disappointment. When they experience setbacks, offer support that is comforting and allows them space not to feel overwhelmed or stressed out by the problem at hand; this will allow for more realistic expectations in the future.

4. Let them know that it’s OK to be different from everyone else. Try reminding them that everyone is different and to be proud of their differences -people come in all shapes and sizes, so why should they try to be like everyone else? They have unique talents that make life worth living, and the world needs more individuals with precisely what they have to offer!

5. Give them plenty of positive attention and love. Affection and care are the main foundations that shape your child’s future. Children need our love to grow into successful adults, so let them know they’re important by showing it through words or actions every day!

6. Teach them about self-respect and respect for others. Help your children understand that they have a responsibility to others and themselves, including being kind to everyone. Make sure they know that all people deserve to be treated equally, no matter their gender or race! Teaching your child about respect for others and themselves starts with a strong foundation.

When building a child’s confidence, many principles can help. This post has covered six of these tips, and we encourage you to read through and try them all so you have an idea of what will work best for your child, who is, of course, an individual, and you will know what’s best for their learning. Our team at Bodens is here 24/7 to answer any questions about the content in this article and provide guidance on how we can help your child gain confidence and achieve their potential! Let us know how things go if you incorporate some of these strategies into your parenting practices.

Does Drama Really Matter? Are you having a laugh?

Sat, 09 Feb 2019 15:42:14 GMT

Let's stop shouting out for drama and answering the question it's unbelievable we're even being asked.

I'm not here to bang on about EBAC proposals or defame another Tory MP, but I have seen article after article this year answering the question 'Does Drama Really Matter'? Why are we even responding to a question that is so distinctly rhetorical. Ask Google. It also wonders 'Does theatre matter'? Lists the even worse 'Why does theatre matter to you'? Follows with 'Does theatre even matter'? and the aggravating 'Why does theatre education matter'? Siri led me to an article entitled 'Drama Matters: Does It?' Of course these links mostly lead to articles, blogs and videos from advocates of drama, but posing the question in itself suggests the possibility that it doesn't.. Isn't it time to stop entertaining the negative altogether, when the positives are so clear to see in any good drama education, inside or outside of school.

Let's change the question. Can I suggest a few.

What would the world be like without the arts? Answer - Even Worse.

What life skills can be learnt through the arts? Answer - Most of them.

What six day a week mundane jobs can be relieved between clocking off and the next impending shift by the arts? Answer - all of them.

Additionally, while I think about it... What incredible affects can the provision of arts training have on our young people?

Maybe that's the one we should be asking.

For decades, leading drama providers for young people use the phrases 'have fun', 'develop confidence', 'realise potential', 'make new friends' and in recent years we've started to add 'develop life long skills' and 'explore creativity' to our websites and snapchat stories, as we attempt to combat a politically induced stigma surrounding the arts. But it's never been enough. Do we need to try a little harder? As arts providers, it's been made clear to us, that as wonderful as these benefits to participants are, the government, and an increasing number of parents, don't think it's enough. And maybe, maybe... sometimes it isn't. If we are using great teachers, providing arts classes at the very best level, then we are providing all these transformative skills, and additionally, much much more, that even more importantly, is incredibly relevant to the problems currently facing not just our young people, but our society today.

Don't get me wrong, as the principal Applied Theatre practitioner at one of the UK's foremost performing arts schools for young people, I'm as guilty at the next school's social media marketeer. In the paragraph above, I probably just paraphrased my own last Instagram post, set under a couple of really smiley children having incredible value for money. It's difficult to start including #grit and #criticalthinking when it's hardly going to get the parent down the road to click on a pirate adventure day. This is definitely not happening overnight.

I'm not pretending here that I'm at the forefront of critical engagement within the provision of arts. Far from it. I spend most of my time teaching, while incredibly educated researchers are putting in hour after hour of tremendous work to try and prove the worthiness of the arts to the non-believers. But that doesn't mean I can't do my bit at this level. Let's be honest, after school and weekend performing arts schools are where this all starts for so many. It is a massive stepping stone in the struggle to prove impact and sustainability in the arts. So it's important that we get it right. We know that teaching children a song and dance number from Oliver can boost confidence and co-ordination skills, AND if the choreography leans far away from the original, we're even boosting creativity. Children have fun performing 'A hard knock Life' and they can improve their vocal skills, but start to talk about the orphans situation in the correct way, AND we start to include empathy in the process, something which naturally declines in the adolescent brain. At Bodens, we have belief in increasing our student's grit and determination. Already articles suggest it has no effect on academic achievements (Daily Mail.. does that count?) while suggesting perhaps it is more useful after the age of 16. What does that mean? How is that a negativity? Aren't we building students up to achieve and keep on achieving throughout their lives. Apparently not. Just up to the exams. So we need the drama to compliment the rest of the education. The Maths, English, Science etc. are an incredibly important part of who our young people become, and so is the drama education. Emphatically. I once worked at Toys R Us with an A Level student. He had four of the things. All A grade. Couldn't sell a 'Cozy coupe' to a toddler though. Maybe not the most important thing in the world, but he also failed to talk warmly to a customer, make eye contact, understand the social perspective of a young black girl's parents wanting a black barbie (this was 1990 and change was on it's way). And to be honest... cozy coupes usually sell themselves.

Anyway. Getting back on track...

Bertolt Brecht spent a lifetime challenging audiences to think for themselves.Our young people are facing a spiral of fake news in their feeds and have to be able to think for themselves... something which many subjects are actually steering away. You can't get much further from critical thinking than a Scholastic Aptitude Test.

Brazilian Practitioner Boal works to heal communities, surely there is a place for his teachings within our own fractured towns. Starting with the next generation is usually a good idea.

It was 1942 when Russian Practitioner Michael Chekhov specified his acting teachings were most probably for the actor of the future. Well here we are, and his techniques centre around focus, being in the moment and spiritual awareness. If you ever wanted mindfulness away from a smartphone app, there it is right there.

These are merely a few examples demonstrating what the arts can offer in school, after school and at the weekends, alongside having fun and making really good theatre. But you have to have the right teachers to do it. The danger is that by this continued dismissal of arts education impact, and a lack of schools and funding providers taking the subject as seriously as they should, we are losing amazing drama teachers on a daily basis. Of course there is a plethora of young performers willing to turn their hand to teaching until the next acting job arises, and they do bring an amazing inside knowledge of the industry to their classes (something which we always try to include at times throughout the term) But they are not actually teachers armed with the knowledge of what the arts really can do for our young people. What the arts can really, really do for them in the right hands, with the right backing. That's what we need to be going on, in school, after school and at weekends.

After I completed my MA in Applied Theatre at Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, I found myself left with this question... If we can make really great theatre with young people, teaching them to act, sing , dance and realise their potential, and alongside that have an opportunity to impact on the rest of their lives: transferable skills, how they see the world, truly thinking for themselves, grit and determination, mindfulness, acceptance (personally can't abide the word tolerance) and the ability to perform in the real world as themselves... then why would we not make the most of it?

At Bodens performing arts, our fully qualified teacher's also have training along the way, at every level of teaching, to ensure they make the biggest impact they can. It's not always easy, and it demands planning and passion that is admittedly 'possibly' easier to sustain in a privately funded school where our hands are maybe not as tied.

We need the arts to be backed as the serious subject that it is, so seriously good teachers are teaching it, and the impact is as powerful as it can be. All over the UK there are pockets of amazing performing arts schools with incredible teachers working their magic on the future of your young people, and within schools up and down the country, drama teachers worthy of a Robin Williams film, with their backed departments, are having incredible success both within the teaching of the curriculum and the transformative powers their classes can have. We need to shout out about these teachers, embrace them, embrace the arts, and embrace the fact that the future of our young people, needs drama education. And that matters.

Hamelin! Why Immersive, Promenade Theatre for young people at Bodens?

adamboden@mac.com (Adam Boden) — Tue, 24 Apr 2018 18:27:13 GMT

With the opportunity for our young people to experience immersive, promenade theatre, comes the possibility of providing them with additional moments of manageable risk. Through practical and theoretical research, we believe this increases their growth in confidence and ability as performers, and, in its own way, helps our young participants with the difficult transition into adulthood.

Some years ago, we attempted our very first large scale immersive, promenade event as we took to the woods of Oakhill Park with thirty 7-12 year olds, to tell Roald Dahl's versions of Little Red Riding Hood and The Three Little Pigs. It was an extraordinary start to our summer, and the incredible response and personal growth in our company members throughout the process led us to question what exactly had been the special ingredient that had heightened the impact of this event on our students.

As they led the audience from sticks to bricks, hiding in the bushes or forging ahead to the next location, there was certainly an element of independence; tutors kept a safe distance away to allow the performance to flow, and every single company member was responsible for themselves throughout the show.

Being immersed within a different world brings with it a sense of the unexpected, and while the constructed world itself is of course as safe as houses, within the imagination there can be a sense of excitement, sadness, danger, happiness and other emotions throughout.

It was later, through research carried out within the fields of youth and immersive theatre, I was led to explore areas of neuroscience, and RISK caught my attention.

Within the field of neuroscience, a multitude of research projects can be found linking risk taking with the development of young people, and the actual need for them to take risks. Risk taking is a positive thing for our children, but as a risk prevention society we continually construct barriers that prevent them from doing so safely. There is a possibility to provide them with safe opportunities to take risks, particularly when you consider that as long as they perceive the risk to be a risk, it has the same benefit to their development. So, the trick is to provide them with safe and manageable risks that they perceive to be not so. Within drama we often present our students with risk. Getting up in front of your peers and reciting a script, joining an improvisation, or showing your new costume can all feel risky, and it is up to us as practitioners and facilitators to ensure these risks tend to lead to successes and not failures (though failing is often part of the learning). These immersive theatrical experiences can provide the participants with heightened versions of the risk taking opportunities they normally undertake within a dramatic process; being independent and responsible for a theatrical production, having lines to deliver, props and staging to move, costume changes to undertake, hitting the note, flowing the floss. But additionally, being within an imagined constructed world can present participants with the perception of all manner of risks within the dramatic experience.

Here, I am paraphrasing thousands of words of research into a more manageable coffee accompanying blog, but hopefully you get the gist. At Bodens Performing Arts we are creating really good theatre that the students enjoy, but we are also ensuring all of the young participants have dialogue, opportunities and responsibilities that help them overcome their fears, and improve their ability and confidence through achievement and learning. Then we place all that within an imagined, immersive world, add a promenade audience wandering from set to set, take a few steps backwards, and let them fly. It's amazing. So why not also make it a brand new musical and see what happens? www.visithamelin.com

INTO THE WOODS... IN THE WOODS

Thu, 22 Jun 2017 09:22:15 GMT

So whose stupid idea was this...

I've always said that it would save me rather a lot of money if we had someone in place to keep a creative check on me. Of course we have our funders to consider, Ofsted to impress and policies all over the place to keep us on our toes and make sure everything runs smoothly; I'm not talking about that kind of 'in-check'. I mean when I have a bright idea such as 'If we're doing High School Musical 2, we should have a real swimming pool on stage' and my brilliant creative team rally round me and say "OK'! - when it might be best if they get me to reconsider and approach the show in a cheaper and more realistic way. However... that doesn't appear to be the way we do things around here, because everyone wants the same thing - to create incredible and amazing theatre, that not only provides training and experience for our students, but also offers something special and memorable for our audiences.

I suppose we didn't need a real flaming torch in Trojan Women, but it added a sense of risk and danger to the proceedings, heightening emotions and surging dopamine into our armour clad soldiers and grieving widows.

We could have all sat down and watched The Wiz in our studio theatre, then we wouldn't have needed to hire a marquee and paint a forty foot yellow brick road on the courtyard floor, or require the wind turbine machine to create the tornado in the front dance studio, but it complimented the cinema projected opening Kansas scene, and if the audience hadn't moved in to the Emerald City for the second half, who knows where we could have hidden the 12 foot wizard.

5 Money saving hints to self.

1.) When you shoot a film on a summer course, if you don't write in to the script blowing up a coach and having a zombie outbreak in a church, you don't need to get a church, a coach or make-up artists! (Though to be fair I did blag the church from my father-in-law. Though unsure that I told him about the zombie outbreak bit.)
2.) The floor in the theatre is already grey. Possibly don't need to put two tonnes of earth on the floor for Midsummer, or a tonne of Agate Stone for our Classical Performance.
3.) You could achieve the Edexcel BTEC criteria with a performance of some monologues in a studio space, and don't necessarily need the full productions of Les Miserables, Dark of the Moon, Grimm Tales and Love and Infomration in the space of a month.
4.) When you spend time and money creating an indoor forest for your forthcoming Dance Show, Flight of the Fairy, don't take the other show you are doing at the same time which is set in the afore mentioned forest, and perform it somewhere else.
5.) You definitely do not need a real swimming pool full of water on stage to do High School Musical 2.

1 Extra hint, just for me...

6.) Just don't do High School Musical 2... or 3. Definitely not 3.

Metropolis would have worked nicely on the round, as opposed to taking the audience through eleven different locations as the company rotated and repeated complex scenarios; just as Revolting Rhymes is a lovely little show in a school hall, but something seems to make it a bit more special when you take the audience around the local woods to view the three pigs properties. But blacking out the entirety of our front studios and turning the back studios into banqueting suites can be rather expensive. And hiring a wood costs a little more than you might expect. Lesson learned? Not at all. At Bodens we take a show and think what can we do to make this amazing. We come up with a plan, a budget (sort of) and then we sit down and think, what else can we do to make this even better? I get let loose, Rodney goes off on one, and before you know it, we're up to our necks in creative trouble once again.

So we find ourselves rehearsing in the woods. It's been beautiful so far, though the weather is set to turn. But it if does, we have umbrellas, and plenty of them, and in a way, it will just add to the experience. Experience being the important word. We want our college students to be a part of something incredible, in a way they may never again. We always try to engage them throughout their drama school experience and musical theatre training in different ways, and so far this seems ot be working rather well. We want the audiences to remember this show for the talent and creativity, but also for the experience of actually seeing it where it is supposed to take place; though a small use of imagination is required to top Monken Hadley Woods up to Magic fairytale Forest, although it is very beautiful, so just a 'little' imagination required.

Once upon a time, this Stephen Sondheim musical tells interwoven fairytales right the way to their happy endings, before act two takes on a very different tone, and we realise that there can't be happy ever afters for everybody. From 6th - 9th July our talented and hard working full time college students, supported by a very capable handful of part-time performers, will bring this brilliant musical to life in the surroundings of Monken Hadley Wood. We want our audiences to bring a picnic to enjoy while the sun sets over fairytale land and our story unfolds. We would love you to be there, not just to enjoy the show or support these amazing students, but also to help us restore a little bit of the budget that we have gone massively over again. When someone said 'let's do into the woods... (wait for it) in the woods', they clearly didn't consider sound and lighting, the need to generate electricity, or the cost of hiring toilets.

So who's idea was it to stage the already incredibly complex 'Into the Woods' outside... in the woods. At this point in time I can't even remember. If it works out, I suppose it was me. If not...

Bodens New Fully Funded Summer Course

adamboden@mac.com (Adam Boden) — Fri, 09 Jun 2017 13:14:54 GMT

Wozcek, Spring Awakening and a Certficate in Creative and Performing Arts

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...

Sometimes you have to be a little bit naughty...

adamboden@mac.com (Adam Boden) — Thu, 18 May 2017 17:01:36 GMT

Taking Matilda to the Arts Depot Studio Theatre!

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.

So we may not be the first to take Matilda to the stage. Yes it might have been done before, but it hasn't been done like this. On Sunday 21st May 2017, three separate companies will take to the stage at The Arts Depot in Finchley to bring their version of Matilda to life... and these little storytellers, have a very big story to tell.

Bodens New Magazine

adamboden@mac.com (Adam Boden) — Thu, 04 May 2017 08:58:58 GMT

Written by young people at Bodens to get the message heard above the noise!

With an uncurbed amount of pop-up performing arts schools emerging across the local boroughs, it becomes increasingly difficult for the proven and established schools to get their message across to those parents and young people searching for excellent performing arts training. With easy access to drama clubs after school, and franchises within a half a mile radius of one another, there is a lot of information to sift through when searching for a drama school to entrust with your most precious possession, and the development of their talent, confidence and most importantly, their ability to perform as themselves.

So how do you make the right decisions. It's hard to say. At Bodens we have our purpose built performing arts studios and regularly assessed outstanding teachers. We have missions, values and aims in place, and at the heart of our school and college is a desire to transform the lives of young people through inspirational teaching, providing exceptional training in performing arts. But just because another school might be newly established, with classes held in a small village hall, run by a relatively inexperienced teacher, doesn't mean that you haven't stumbled across the beginnings of a brilliant new school, and the perfect pathway for the development of your child or young person; a three-year-old rolling around St. Cuthbert's Hall still has an opportunity to roly poly all the way to RADA.

So how do you choose?

We know that word of mouth is one of the most important factors in gaining new students, and of course search engines and social media play an ever-expanding part. I set myself a target this term, to work on search engine optimisation and improve our website to increase traffic to blah blah blah... but within two weeks I fell out with both google and bing, and my brains helpless merger of SEO, SMO, CTR, and CPC left me frustrated. TOO MUCH NOISE. How can we be heard?

I can preach about qualifications and visions until Fagan's boys come home, but it doesn't mean anyone is listening. And is it really worth paying £2.78 a click so someone can visit my website that says it does what everyone else’s website says they do! So, we turned to our new magazine; and instead of filling it with information about us, it's all about them - our students - the children and young people who heard all about us, despite the pandemonium of performing arts promise, and joined our happy little family. We've also got them to write it. So, it's by them, all about them, which is all about us. Seemed to make sense that if we wanted someone to shout out above the noise, it might as well be them. After all, they have a lot of brilliant things to say. They're actually as passionate as I am... and that's saying something.

So the magazine is online at www.bodens.co.uk and you can pick up a hard copy, for free, at any of our performing arts classes. It’s all about the shows, the classes and the students. If you're feeling really lazy, exhausted after all your studious studio searching, then just e-mail MAGAZINE to info@bodens.co.uk and we'll send you the link.

Building confidence, ability and creativity through Bodens Courses.

adamboden@mac.com (Adam Boden) — Thu, 05 May 2016 18:42:09 GMT

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.