Creative Beginnings – A Retrospect

A lot of this module was very personal and geared towards ME: my needs, my concerns, my problems, my experience. Being introduced to the Programme staff, the Academy building and other staff, the Academic Administration and Support Department (aka ‘The One Stop Shop’), Health & Safety, the Principal and ultimately the Creative Beginnings module – and what was involved in it – was all very interesting and helpful and, although tedious at times, necessary. Despite all the introductions it took sometime before it finally sunk in that I would be here, at the Academy, for the next three years at least. In fact, if I’m totally honest, it never really sunk in.

The first proper Workshop was led by Contemporary Theatre Practice students in their second year and it involved running round in circles, playing games and mapping out (both mentally and literally) a map of our lives up to the point when we got into the RSAMD. I assume it was supposed to help us get used to reflective practice (which it did to a certain extent) but it made me realise just how little I remember of my childhood. I think this is probably because it was a happy one. I have very few painful experiences from my early days branded into my memory which I am very grateful for.

Whilst we’re on the subject of ‘me’ we may as well skip to the last Workshop we did in Creative Beginnings; Personal Development Planning. If the first workshop was to help us look back, then this one was certainly to help us look forward. It involved considering what I have achieved, where I want to get (by setting goals), what might prevent me from getting there and how I can overcome those barriers. This is all well and good and I understand the necessity for looking ahead but I am always cautious when it comes to focussing on oneself. I believe setting goals is important, achieving them is important, achieving success can be important but these things should never be top of the priority list. If they are they can lead to a mind which is self-centred, self-obsessed, insensitive, uncaring and ultimately power-hungry. The creative industry is a collaborative industry so such a mindset should be avoided at all costs.

Of the Body Image Workshop I will say little. I had thought this would be a very integral part of the module; learning how to be a healthy practitioner, exploring body image as portrayed by the media and the ethics concerning how we perceive others’ physicality. Instead it seems it consisted mainly of a slightly over-weight pretentious woman telling us to spell rude words using our bodies. At this stage in the module I was impatient to get started on the actual course anyway and I couldn’t help feeling this was a waste of my time. I got very little from it.

Where Creative Beginnings really succeeded for me was in the workshops which were designed to highlight the importance of collaboration. I think especially of the infamous Dérive. I think it would be fair to say that most of the students (myself included) were rather sceptical about how effective a silent walk around a city would be. It turned out that it was very effective for scaring members of the public. If there is one thing more threatening than a group of ten youths walking towards you it is a group of ten youths walking towards you in complete silence. There’s no telling what they’ve got in mind. However I do readily admit that it was a unique exercise that I would not have had an opportunity to experience in normal circumstances (and yes, these are not normal; I’m at the RSAMD for goodness sake!) and therefore it was worth it. Creative Improvisation and the Film Discussion were other examples of workshops that illuminated the importance of collaboration and etiquette.

All in all Creative Beginnings did what it said on the packet. It was full of Creative mumbo-jumbo and it was the Beginning of my experiences and relationships at the Academy. I feel I will come to be grateful for it, sometime in the future, but at present I’m more grateful that I’ve actually started doing what I signed up for.