Because Everyone Is Creative

Everyone is born creative, and though we may not always find the time to nurture it with all of life's commitments and our busy schedules, at City Academy we believe that creativity waits, remaining within, ready to fulfil all its potential.

After all, as adults, we sometimes wander and explore the world around us; we occasionally have a poetic turn of phrase, we put pen to paper and make shapes from our mind, we learn something new every so often, and absolutely all of us are experts - at least - in the subject of our own lives.

Those are the elements we believe it takes to be creative, and if we can hone in on how we want to express that creativity, we’ll find we are one big creative society. In that spirit, here we offer you inspiration and insights from a cross-section of our own community of artistic students, tutors and HQ staff, in their own words:

Jane Bruton:

HIV nurse and member of the Collective Choir

Jane with the Collective Choir (front, with red necklace)

Singing is an amazing physical and emotional experience, whether it's in the shower in the morning or at a choir rehearsal in the evening. It makes me feel joyous. There is nothing quite like having a spontaneous singsong with my friends around the piano or sticking on my favourite album to sing at the top of my voice. Singing, for me, is life enhancing.

I was encouraged by a fantastic music teacher at school to perform and be creative, but my life moved on and there wasn't room for singing in a choir. I am an HIV nurse and am currently doing a research study at Imperial College on the HIV patient journey.

Working in HIV since the beginning of the epidemic, singing has been a constant in celebrating the lives of so many who passed. And I have nursed some of the most talented musical theatre people in the UK, and they were an inspiration to me getting back into singing with a choir.

I am not so pressured now as I was when I was working clinically, so I have become part of the Collective at City Academy. It is an extraordinary experience and helps clear my mind of work. No matter how tired I am, it always restores my energy levels.

You come together with complete strangers and within an hour you have all become one in creating this amazing four or six part harmony. Sometimes I like to be a few minutes late for rehearsals so I can hear these wonderful sounds we make as I walk up the stairs. It is that ability to understand each other and create the light and shade of a beautiful piece of music that is spine tingling.

I do get nervous before a concert but that bit of adrenaline helps me to give it my best. I love that thrill of performing, and I especially like my husband to be in the audience - he is our biggest fan because as a musician he appreciates our ability to engage with the content of the music. All my friends also thoroughly enjoyed our last concert and are looking forward to the next one. I hope our performances encourage people in the audience to come and join us.

David Bird:

Venture capital accountant and Bollywood Dance Company member

Let me start with a confession; my wife originally found this course and dancing would probably not have been the first thing to cross my mind if I’d been asked ‘What would I like to try next?’

I’m involved in historical re-enactment, a running club and I’m learning Japanese in the evenings, but being creative to me is a challenge. Looking back over my life, since I left school, creativity isn’t something that flows naturally from me, although I enjoy other people’s. I prefer tradition, continuity, perfection.

Movements, memory, timing - these are my challenges. My worst moments come with the slightest hint of freeform! I just freeze up. Why do I do it then? Dancing to me is about enjoying the music, the physical exercise and building confidence while learning techniques - I like trying to keep up with my colleagues and instructor.

We came into Bollywood Dance because of our fascination with India. The history, the culture, the people, the music. In London our interest was satisfied by eating in the restaurants of Southall and Wembley, and watching Bollywood and Tamil films. No traditional Indian film is complete without the lead stars bursting into song and dance. So it is the actor Shah Rukh Khan who made the decision for me in the film ‘Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi’, and it was this song - ‘Dance Pe Chance’ - that convinced me to have ago. Yes, that's 30 million views.

For the first time last year, albeit in India, I held my own on a dance floor. I feel I’ve achieved something that most of my colleagues won’t or couldn’t do. I still get jeers at work because of the perception of dance here. Strangely, it seems to me in India men dance because it's seen as macho!

I’ve watched my wife diligently practising at home and desperately tried to copy her into the early hours while not waking the neighbours; I’ve achieved seven consecutive barrel rolls in a row without dizzily tumbling off the stage; I lost 1.4 kg in the three days running up to the winter showcase (though the festive period has restored that imbalance now); and this autumn I took part in a Bollywood flash mob at the Excel centre which was great fun. And I now have ambitions to try my hand with some Indian drums, which I would never have considered two years ago. But the ultimate objective, would be to get a small part in a Bollywood film!

Jesús Ortiz:

Dance instructor and member of the Musical Theatre Company

Megan Bruce:

Teaching assistant at the Royal Ballet School and aspiring actor from City Academy’s Tuesday Company

Creativity is seeing something simple or seemingly dull and having the eye to make it interesting, transforming it into something that others may not have thought of before. It means being confident enough to take risks with whatever you do, and not holding back even if other people don't agree. You can be creative with anything - even with washing up if you try enough! It's about thinking of something completely bizarre and ‘out there’, challenging preconceived ideas and throwing them out the window in favour of the less mundane.

My first memory of acting really is a classic - it was a school production. I was a main role and remember wearing a long white cloak in the performance. I was so proud of my (probably awful) performance, and so I went up the stage stairs to give my flamboyant bow. I lifted my cloak to the audience and accidentally stepped on it, tripping and smacking my head on the stage floor. I got back up again, red-faced, but pretending absolutely nothing had happened! Not possible - it’s on a DVD that the whole year was given.

Even though something had gone terribly wrong, I still wanted to do it again and again, as I loved the feeling of being on stage. Shortly after that I joined a theatre school and everything evolved from there.

Having finished my A-levels last year, now I am taking a gap year to get more independence and life experience before joining drama school - City Academy’s Actors Company has been extremely helpful as I am currently auditioning to get in, and I want to be an actor in the future. I get to hone my skill and keep my love for it at a high, and also meet a whole range of different, lovely people that I probably would have never met had I not done this course.

I really like being able to communicate a story to an audience and to create entertainment for someone else, even for a short while. Acting helps me understand human psychology and become more aware of other people’s emotions. I’m known to be a bit of a worrier and a perfectionist, so I love being able to immerse myself in a different personality and not be me - acting is a way to disconnect from real life and its stresses, and instead focus on the life of another for a while.

Ross Gamble:

Senior producer at City Academy and Photography tutor