Julia Lewanczyk, one of Dance Consortium’s Spring 2024 LIPA Placement students, reflects on her experiences while on tour for a week with São Paulo Dance Company and Dance Consortium.
Pictured: LIPA Placement students Erin O'Connell (left) and Julia Lewanczyk (right)
The Experience
The week was a quick fire taster of all the incredibly valuable jobs within Dance Consortium and the theatres we visited that make it possible to take amazing works like São Paulo Dance Company’s “Anthem” around the UK. We had the opportunity to work with Technicians, Tour mangers, Front of House staff and so many more. Providing us a closer insight in what each role entails and how we, as future mangers of the creative industries, will collaborate with the different fields.
Learning Opportunities
As my first dance/theatre focused work placement, I learnt so much with Dance Consortium. They gave me the opportunity to learn not only from their staff on tour but also the staff at the theatres we visited, which made all the difference for me as I am particularly interested in working within live events venues in the future. This allowed me to build real network connections that are already making a difference with my career building.
I really enjoyed hearing each person’s role and how it makes the tour come together. Such as Joe Bates explaining his role within the company and his creation of a businesses plan and company culture. As well as Karl Steele from the Wolverhampton Grand theatre who explained his job as a programmer and creative director and what he looked for when adding Dance Consortium to the year’s programme. But also including more hand-on work such as with Cat James where we learnt the ins and outs of what a get-in looks like for Dance Consortium, and even letting us join in getting the stage ready for the dancers.
São Paulo Dance Company in rehearsals
Key Highlights
One of my favourite moments was getting to know all the dancers personally; because they were so lovely, I felt welcomed into their world and learnt a lot about touring from their perspective as the performers. Our interview with Daniel Reca was so fascinating as he explained his passion for his craft and how he became a part of the São Paulo Dance Company.
Pictured: Julia Lewanczyk (left) and Erin O'Connell (right) at Wolverhampton Grand
