My Career: My role as panto dance captain

My Career: Isabel Clifton, performer and actress

Name: Isabel Clifton

Age: 22

Lives: Essex

Job title: Performer/actress

Salary bracket: As all performers will know, this is a very hard question to work out, as most rarely rely on one income and may only be performing for a part of the year!

For example, I have two other jobs that I work in between auditions for shows and performing jobs. A yearly salary can depend on what kind of contract it is, the role and location along with many other factors!

Education background: My most recent education qualification is a Degree in Professional Dance and Musical Theatre at the Urdang Academy.

Hobbies: Going to the gym - I love Pilates! Walking my dog (may not count as a hobby but he is so cute!)

Describe your job in five words: Unpredictable, exciting, hard-work, inspiring, rewarding.

Describe yourself in five words: Ambitious, appreciative, dedicated, organised and approachable.

Personality needed for this kind of work: You definitely need to be resilient for this kind of job, there is a lot of rejection and a lot of uncertainty but you have to be driven and willing to keep going. (Sometimes this can be hard!).

No performer is performing every day of their lives, so I think being open to other jobs that relate to the performing world is a good mentality to have. A good example is a lot of performers, including myself, also tend to teach dance, singing and acting to others. I also work in a dance shop which I love! So I would say flexibility is also a good personality trait to have.

How long are you doing this job?

In terms of training... I’ve been dancing since I was doing baby ballet at two! But fully doing all three disciplines (singing, dancing and acting) since I was 11 when I got my first TV job! But I graduated last year from the Urdang Academy and so now it’s officially classed as my job!

How did you get this job?

I think my interest in this kind of career started when I was 11 when I attended my first stage school in Essex and I got an audition for the role of Hetty in Hetty Feather, a TV adaptation of a book written by Jacqueline Wilson. I was lucky enough to get the role and I did six series of Hetty Feather! It was the most amazing experience that I was so grateful for!

After that, I decided I wanted to train at a drama school after I finished my school studies, so I went to auditions for different drama schools. I wanted to get a degree in professional dance and musical theatre as it linked my love for dance with the acting skills I learnt through TV filming. I trained at the Urdang Academy in London for three years which was always my dream school and it was amazing.

From there, I was lucky enough to get an agent (Andrew Harding Management). The agency puts me up for different auditions. That is how I got my most recent job, which is Cinderella at the Cork Opera house, where I am ensemble/cover Cinderella and dance captain. I’m really excited to be spending the festive period in Cork this year! There are lots of different schools and places to train that will work specifically on what you are interested in doing, so doing your research on what different schools have to offer is very important.

Do you need particular qualifications or experience?

It depends really, the majority of performers I know have trained then started auditioning and working after that. However, I also know some people who haven’t and who have still booked performing jobs. For me personally, I enjoyed my training at Urdang as I felt I gained so much knowledge and technique that I would never have gained had I not gone.

Describe a day at work: A day of rehearsing for Cinderella at the Cork Opera House looked a little like this- we started fairly early around 9.30am and would do either a vocal or physical warm-up depending on what we were working on that day. As I am dance captain, I tended to lead the physical warm-up and always tried to pick a fun song to get everyone moving and having fun first thing. Then we started working on content from the show, whether that was learning choreography from it or refining and going over something we had already learnt the previous day. After a morning of learning and refining movement we then had lunch!

We then got back to rehearsals, let’s say then we were going into a vocal call. If we were learning a new song, we would get the sheet music and be put into vocal groups depending on our vocal ranges. The musical director led these sessions... It may then be that the next day we would put the vocals and choreography together and start performing it as a whole piece. Our rehearsals tended to finish around 5.30pm.

How many hours do you work a week?

If in rehearsals, on average it’s a six day week, 7/8 hours a day, so 45 hours a week.

During the run of the show, it’s normally eight shows a week, however, during the Christmas period it will go up to 10 shows a week.

What do you wear to work?

In rehearsals, we tend to wear activewear or anything that is comfortable to move in. When it comes to the show, we are provided with costumes and wigs from the wonderful costume and hair and make-up departments!

Does this affect you in any particular way?

No, I wouldn’t say so. Everyone has to work just as hard and be just as determined!

Is your job stressful? How?

Rate it on a scale of 1-10:

Six. I think it’s the uncertainty of when you will next get a performing job, which makes it a little stressful, however, at the same time, it’s a very rewarding job when you do finally get to perform and you get that buzz when you are on stage!

Do you work with others or on your own?

When you are auditioning, you are on your own, even though you are in a room full of people , at that point you are showcasing yourself. However, when you are in a show or a rehearsal space you are working with others and it really tends to have that ‘family’ feel as you spend so much time with the cast and creatives.

When do you plan to retire or give up working?

I’m only 22, so no time soon that’s for sure!

Best bits: My family and friends coming to support and see the shows! I’m so grateful for that.

Worst bit: When you have to say goodbye to a show that you really enjoyed and made so many great memories whilst doing it!

Advice: My advice is to really love it! That sounds obvious, but it isn’t an easy job and just like any it has its challenges, but it really is the excitement and that feeling you get when you are performing that makes it all worth it! It sounds cliché but it’s true! Be willing to work hard and always know you are amazing.

If you would like to feature in My Career in our Women on Wednesday please email mary.corcoran@theecho.ie