I have had a wonderful experience performing in the summer season at Kilworth House. I was involved in 19 performances, acting alongside West End actors in the performance of Carousel. Kilworth House has been recognised in the national press as one of the Best Outdoor Theatres in the UK, and it really was an amazing opportunity, performing in such beautiful grounds. The theatre being outdoors presented a few challenges; performing in the heat of a very sunny afternoon along with managing to walk around a very slippery stage in heavy rain. I had the opportunity to chat to professional actors, enjoying their company whilst waiting for our turn to perform on stage and asking lots of questions about to find out about different musical theatre colleges.

Later in the summer I was invited to spend 2 weeks learning, rehearsing and performing with industry professionals on a British Youth Music Theatre (BYMT) summer programme. These programmes are highly competitive to achieve a place and I was thrilled to discover my audition was successful. To live and breath musical theatre 24/7 for a fortnight was in itself an unforgettable experience. What I learned has taken my performing to a different level and I made some wonderful friendships. We performed a newly commissioned musical theatre performance called Cabaret Havana, inspired by the remarkable true story of Anacaona, under the direction of Tiffany King. We performed at The Mack, the theatre at the prestigious Mountview.

Inspire did not directly fund these two opportunities, however through the 121 and competition dance lessons that you are kindly funding, I believe I am growing in confidence and my skill level in dancing is improving all the time.

The next set of dance competitions are next month so I will be back soon to let you know how I get on with my first couple of solo competitions.