Just before spring break, the Ann Lacy School of American Dance and Entertainment produced their annual spring show Move! Dance For the World of Entertainment.
Typically, what people enjoy most about the dance show is the incredible and talented dancers that bring the stage to life with the vision of the choreographers. However, there is much more to the dance show than what is on the stage.
What many people don’t realize is that the dance show does not run without the amazing students working on the production side. In fact, with a little supervision from the wonderful professors, the dance show is completely student run.
For the past three semesters, I have had the privilege of working behind the scenes of the dance school show, specifically on the costumes.
While I do still love any opportunity to get up onstage and dance, I have never been happier than working on costumes for such incredible productions. During our most recent show I had the honor of filling the role of Assistant Costume Designer along with two other students.
This was role was by far my favorite role I have taken on because I had the opportunity not only to work on the costumes every single day, but also work with the Costume Designer throughout the entire design process and learn how the show runs from that point of view.
Not only did I get to work with the costume designer, but I also played a huge role in the building of many costumes. One of my jobs in the dance school is as a Costume Shop Assistant.
In this role, I work year-round in the costume shop completing the basics of running a shop through tasks such as doing costume alterations, building costumes and continually working on the upkeep of the shop.
Being a Costume Shop Assistant is just one of the many opportunities the dance school offers for students to earn real life experience with different jobs they may encounter post-graduation.
Personally, I love working in the costume shop because it provides me with new opportunities to learn each and every day and it gives me another opportunity to work in an area that I love that is outside of dancing, but still well within the entertainment realm.
Having this job sets me up for success and prepares me to pursue multiple jobs in the entertainment field. Learning these skills will help me thrive in many different fields after college and not be limited by my abilities.
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