As a quick update, I am now a proud student at GSA (Guildford School of Acting) going into week seven of my first year as a BA Actor. It's a proud thing to write, considering that the entire content of this blog up until now has been dedicated to getting in to drama school and questioning the rights and wrongs etc. Now as I am beginning to settle in to the way of life at GSA, I am looking forward to continuing the next chapter of this blog, and my life, and all posts on this can be found under the tab 'Life at Drama School'.
So to begin this new section I thought it would be a good idea to do a post describing a little about what it's actually LIKE once you are here. We spend years of our life dreaming about it, but very few people actually know what it's like once you are here: course structure, lessons etc. and although most places will give you an outline, it's very helpful to hear first hand the true experience of it all. Just to clarify, this is still all very new to me, and this post is definitely not the B all and end all of what all drama schools are like. This is simply a depiction of my lessons and my experiences from just a few weeks at ONE particular drama school, and for many people it could be very different.At GSA you have classes in VOICE, ACTING and MOVEMENT, something that every drama school does. However, what I did not know what that these are just broad terms for the sort of lessons you do throughout the week. So for example rather than just one general voice class, you have five. The voice classes at GSA are: ensemble singing, acting through song/anatomical voice, practical voice, voice and text, and accent and dialect. Similarly with movement, there is not only one movement class but: actor movement, laban, ballet, historical dance, and physical acting (languages of mime). Finally, there are three types of acting classes: two types of general acting one of which is based more on text, the other more on the actor in a raw sense, and storytelling. Therefore in total there are 13 classes all spread across the week, all of which are taught by different teachers.
This brings me on to what I feel I have learned about what drama school training can offer and why (i feel) it's so sought after. For me at GSA, I absolutely feel like every single part of me as an actor is being worked on so intricately, and by people who know what the fuck they're on about. There is not a single teacher that I have at GSA that does not amaze me with their knowledge. Voice teachers don't just teach you how to sing, they will tell you biologically each and every muscle involved in the singing process, and what ones are used for different types of singing qualities, and how to exercise them. Larynx placement, different ways to breath (as if anyone ever knew there were other ways) the actual scientific process of how a sound is made, and that's all in one lesson. Think of that thirteen times over in a week in all different fields. It is truly an honour to be surrounded by teachers who are not only industry professionals, but experts in their teaching field.
The timetable is undoubtedly full on, but the sheer variety of lessons throughout the day means that you don't notice it a huge amount. Everyday begins with a half an hour 8.30am warm up of intense cardio and stretching and directly after you begin your first lesson. Most lessons are an hour and a half and usually you will have four a day. Some acting lessons are three hours however, so on some days you may only have three lessons, or you finish later. My time table is 8:30am until 4.30pm every weekday with one 6pm exception. This means that my contact hours are around 42 hours a week.
Finally, GSA offer a huge amount of extra bits and pieces to get involved with. The fact that the school shares a campus with the university of Surrey means that you immediately have all of those resources at your fingertips like a library with pretty much every play you could ever need, societies and sales and SU events etc, not to mention student accommodation. But that is truly the tip of the iceberg. GSA organise extra dance classes in everything from ballet and tap to contemporary and extra stage combat classes. There are also so many student led projects like 'GSA lab' where people bring along their own writing to work on with other students, film projects etc. There is also a theatre opposite GSA where all of the third year shows take place, which all students can go and watch for just £2 at an inevitably professional standard. Last but not least GSA itself have their own SU that created their own freshers week full of genuinely hilarious and fun events like scavenger hunts, an icebreaker night of games and challenges, frat parties etc. you name it. The thing that anyone will tell you about GSA is that there is a community atmosphere like no other with everyone is so open to meeting everyone on every course. I never imagined third years would ever even want to talk to me, let alone invite all the freshers to their houses to meet them all. There is a GSA facebook page where people regularly post praise about work that they've seen each other do, lost items, pictures of #thirdyearnaps and #firstyearmassages and so much love its unreal. All of this combines to make an experience like no other, that no prospectus or course outline could give give justice.
Like I say this is just the first few weeks, and already I have covered so much but in such brief detail. There really are so many posts I could do on the subject of structure and experience alone, so don't think that this is it. I hope to write posts as regularly as my timetable will allow about how the process is developing, my feelings about it, and whether my opinions change etc. Any requests would also be happily accepted. I know for sure that when I was going through the application process, I had SO many questions about every tiny detail.
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