Eish! London 9 April

Thursday, 9 April

My first agency email came from Jonn today, it seemed so formal. Interestingly, no other agency asked me for a personal statement. This was the email:

From: Jonn
Subject: Personal statement for your CV
Date: Thursday, 9 April, 2009, 6:19 PM

Dear Shannan

Can you possibly put together a brief personal statement for your CV? Generally it’s used to support your application for jobs and highlight your successes and strategies as a teacher.

Give me a shout if you have any questions, and as for length of the statement, a paragraph is usually the norm.

Regards

Jonn

I replied to his email with difficulty. How do you sell yourself honestly and not boastfully? How do you make yourself look good without looking vain and self-absorbed? I decided to stick to the facts; hopefully that is the right way about it…:

From: Shannan
Sent: 09 April 2009 16:59
Subject: Re: Personal statement for your CV

Dear Jonn

My Statement:

I began earning an income for myself from the age of 14, as a waitress in a tea-garden. I started setting goals and achieving them at that age too. I was a school prefect in Grade 12 and received both the best actress and best on stage performance awards in the same year (1997), as well as Honours for Drama. I then went on to complete my undergraduate degree in 3 years. I travelled overseas, returned and continued to work in numerous industries where I interacted with clients, bosses, colleagues and suppliers daily. I have learnt about respect, dedication and hard work. I have learnt that how I work with people, and the impression I inevitably leave behind, is far more important than achieving any monetary goal or climbing a hierarchy. I have learnt that no matter what job I am doing, or who I am working with/for, the only way I will be satisfied is if I give the task the very best I am capable of. I believe in being committed, passionate, objective and honest, because these are the qualities that I believe will reap invaluable rewards and these are the factors that I use as to judge whether or not I have done a job to the very best of my ability. The last set of goals I achieved were 1) Obtaining my post grad whilst teaching 5 grades and controlling 2 of them, 2) Writing 3 successfully performed South African plays, 3) Obtaining 3 dancing certificates, 4) Having my last Grade 12 class of 30% – 80% individually averaged learners obtain an 82% class average for their government set Grade 12 examinations (practical and theory combined). I am proud of what I have achieved and of who I am; but then you don’t have to believe what I am saying about myself, instead you can call any of the people I have worked with and see what they have to say.

Hope that helps.

Kind Regards

Shannan

That evening Jane treated me to a Welcome-To-London Show. We took the tubes to the Peacock Theatre in Portugal Street, Zone 1 to watch Tango Fire. Unfortunately, instead of booking cheaply online, because we had trouble with the internet connection, we ended up having to pay double at the door. I almost choked at the 35 Pounds per ticket! (Later in the year I became immune to the crazy ticket prices, 35 Pounds is fairly average for the West End and surrounds, though you can get great last minute deals online). I think the show was an offspring of The London Flamenco Festival 2009 (14 – 29 March) and this group had stayed on a little longer. (They were on tour from Argentina). The Financial Times and The Daily Telegraph apparently gave the group 4 stars for Tango Fire; and the advertising in the brochure said:

“The show takes you on an irresistible journey through the history of this most seductive of dance forms…”

The Evening Standard said:

“A sizzling sensual taste of the real thing. Sexual electricity crackling at the arch of an eyebrow, exploding at the twist of a hip.”

Sadler Wells Spring/Summer Brochure 2009

Well, after watching the show I’d say that the journalist wasn’t a very experienced theatre or dance critic. Yes, there were a couple of brilliant moments during the second half; but I didn’t see the journey, I didn’t enjoy the lighting and I think that the group had probably been on tour too long. Of course the dancers were professional, with excellent discipline and exact movements, but the heat, passion and desire intrinsic to the tango comes from the soul and an internal energy that is difficult to act and it certainly cannot be learnt by copying. I was really grateful to Jane for taking me and I’m glad I got to see something on stage that I’m passionate about; but it is a pity that as a Performing Arts teacher with experience in marking, critiquing and assessing, any show I go to I always have far too critical an eye. At least I can now tick off my list: Watch Argentine Tango on stage – tick √. {I know a couple from my Latin dance class back home who are going to be incredibly jealous right now }