Retraining as a young adult after attempting a career in the performing arts

[Lavve]

DD (year 10) wants to go to a performing arts college for sixth form. She is strong academically and is likely to do well in her GCSEs. If she goes down this path but then at, say, 23 she decides it’s not for her for whatever reason, what are her options for picking up where she left off? Obviously she can’t go back to school and do A levels, but would the same courses at the same universities be available to her with foundation courses/access courses, or A levels at some adult education centre?

I’m aware she’s very unlikely want to do this, but I’m after some reassurance that making this decision at 16 isn’t going to be something she regrets later on. She is currently injured and it’s making me even more nervous about the precariousness of the whole thing.

My Mother was a professional dancer and model when young she also performed as a high wire artist. My great niece is doing quite well on stage having attended The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. It’s a gruelling life. But for my Mother it was the best time of her life and nothing else compared. Among her descendants there have been three of us who did modelling and one who did work as a dancer and now one on stage.

I will warn you that it really can make you feel very self conscious about yourself. Eating orders are rife amount dancers, actors and models certainly affected some in my family.

People can always retrain it’s just a question of attitude, how can they be supported financially and if they have children to consider.

I have had three seperate careers taking professional exams in all of them and managed to get my employers to pay for all of them. But the last time was 15 years ago and I’m unsure how common this is now.

@PurpleThistle7I won’t dissuade her once she’s done her a levels if she wants to pursue it. I think it’s much harder to go back and do your school age exams later on than it is to do adult education as a mature student. She also does a lot of performing with adult societies so realises there is a a great number of amateur opportunities to keep enjoying it without it being a career necessarily.

Performing arts is great for developing self confidence and presence. I know someone who sent her daughter tovthe Brit school. She was a barrister and felt her daughter was too shy and unassuming - it was never about being a performer. It can't harm your daughter tbh.

Op, dd is younger but we have the same concern. She's desperate to go to the Brit School for a levels. I have no concerns about her making an effort to have a career in performing arts. But I would far rather she did a more academic a level program with dance on the side, not least because her gcse targets are all 7s and above. Her high school even offers dance to a level so that could be an option - dance ans 2 more traditional subjects - because I want her to have options. And while retraining or doing a foundation course later is an option, I feel that going too early down the PA route limits those options.

She is likely to get UCAS points from her course at the performing arts college.

If she wishes to train as something else after 19, she will have to pay for college-based courses.

Please don't force her to do A-Levels and a degree first. She may end up resenting you for having wasted years of her life doing something that she didn't want to do in the first place. Also, A-Levels are nowhere near as easy as GCSEs!

Our current deal is that if she gets into the performing arts college (you have to audition) then she can go but if she doesn’t get in then she goes to sixth form college where she can do one a level or BTEC in something performance related, but does more academic a levels alongside that. She may or may not continue with her dance training at the same time, depending on how she manages the work load.

All my ex actor and musician friends and family now teach. Either drama or music in Secondary or private lessons and a few are primary teachers. Dont know any dancers!
A degree came in very handy for all of them long term, so keep all options as open as possible for as long as possible.

Ask her to look at people she admires in her field. I guarantee none of them went to performing arts college.

It's an over-specialisation far too young. I'd be worried she'd be uneducated generally without at least A levels -- yes she'd know a lot about performance but general A Levels teach so much more than the actual subject.

Say she wanted to be an actor, English and History would support that so well alongside a drama A Level. And she'd still be doing drama one third of the time.

@Lavve What sort of performing arts college does she want to go to, and what qualification would they provide?

Unless her ambition is classical ballet, then she does not need to start performing arts training until she's 18. She would be far better off staying at school for A-levels and continue with her current dance school, and then audition for 18+ entry. Most of the top places don't take until they are 18 anyway, so waiting until then would not hinder her career at all.

It is tough out there, and there has to be a Plan B. Having A-levels would help.

I haven’t asked her specifically who she admires, but just googled the lead of a musical she loves, who is on the official soundtrack on Spotify, and she went to an arts high school in America…

What kind of performing arts and what kind of college? To stand any real chance of a performing career in ballet, unless you are absolutely exceptional, you need to be in full time training at one of a few schools by 16 at the latest (and even then the chances are slim). But it is different in other genres. Most courses in thungs like MT, contemporary, more general dance etc will take pupils at 18 or even older and some actively prefer a bit more maturity. So it really isn't "16 or bust" and waiting til 18 has some advantages.
What qualification would she be studying for and how are you planning to fund it? If it's a degree course and she's going to access student finance remember that you may well not be able to get funding for another degree in the future. There are exceptions, particularly for health care related degrees, but it's not guaranteed that she'll get funding for a second bachelor's degree. This can also be an issue if you've done the Level 6 Trinity Diploma. Things may have changed, as it's a long time since my DD was at this stage, but I do know of people who were refused further funding because they'd previously had a DaDA and even people who had self funded, simply because they already had a L6 qualification. I thought that was ridiculous and hopefully it's different now but I would look into it because as well as thinkung about what other study she might want to do and how to get there, you may need to plan fir how you (or she) would pay for it.
There is life after performing arts of course. My DD has taken the well trodden route of teaching and she also has an unrelated "day job" so A levels were handy for that. But she has friends who have done many other things, some work in other aspects of the profession, others not. Several have become physiotherapists and one has gone to medical school. There are lots of transferable skills acquired during pergorming arts training.
Everyone aiming for a performing career needs alternative plans as there are so many reasons why things might not go as hoped. An injury can be career ending even for the most talented so it is always wise to have a plan B, and probably C,D and E as well!

What does she want to actually do as a career - perform in musicals in the West End? Because if so, she won't stand an earthly unless she goes to somewhere like Laine's or Mountview. The 16+ option would be Tring Park School, where she could do A-levels alongside vocational training.

What are her strengths, and what level is she currently training at (grade etc) in the various dance discplines? Does she currently have singing lessons?

She is at a contemporary dance centre for advanced training and does additional ballet classes. She has singing lessons.

She wants to go to CAPA college in Wakefield to do the Musical Theatre pathway which is an extended BTEC I think.

Sorry, extended diploma

Personally I would never encourage my kids to do musical theatre as a career, it's maybe the most competitive performance art and the vast majority who study it will never book a job. It's totally brutal.

My mother made me wait until 18 and im glad I did. I got to my mid/late 20s and had just "had enough", of being on tour/not being able to see boyfriend much who worked long hours weekday/not being able to make plans as things always changed/working in the evening (obvs 🤣). Also because I had a DADA i couldn't get student finance (I did this weird degree where I only did a bit of it and my national diploma counted towards most of it). Having a degree in anything was very useful when I wanted to retire into a "normal" job. Im a SAHM now

At 16 I wouldn't specialise unless it's one of the big colleges (most in London area).

I loved my career but I really hope my kids want to be engineers and lawyers as their passion 🙏🙏🙏

Oh god I have no idea how to navigate all of this. It’s just not my world at all.

Dnephew had a moderately successful career in the performing arts including west end productions. But he got older during COVID and the roles dried up. He is now a choreographer and loves it. Even if they have success, they all have to move on in the end. They are very unlikely to perform forever. And that's fine. Others of his group are teachers, make up artists, fitness instructors now.

With a few exceptions the government loan system only funds one undergraduate degree but as long as the performing arts is not funded then she could go to university later

I would caution that I know three young people who studied performing arts, one is now a hairdresser, one waits tables at pizza express “whilst seeking roles” now for 5 years and one is working as a carer whilst “getting relevant experience and working on her cv” for 2 years. It’s a tough business made harder if you don’t live in London nor have wealthy parents who can support you whilst you audition. I know one lad who studied performing arts and he did 3 years on cruise ships but now worlds for carnival cruise line in admin

I used to work with someone who studied dance to degree level, realised they didn't want to pursue it, and went into something else and worked their way up to management.

Far more common is the talented performer who stops when they realise they have to choose between what they love to do and being able to pay rent or earn enough to theoretically have children. Some find something else they're good at, others get stuck in something steady, but unfulfilling, only just being able to afford the rent whilst seeing less talented people with parents that have blue names on Wikipedia succeed. Being in the latter group is soul-destroying.

I should point out that one of the people I knew who did give up for the promise of stability doesn't regret it, though they do miss performing - and that was someone who could have exploited family connections to an extent. They wanted a career, and once they realised musical theatre wasn't a viable one for them, worked on moving into another so that they could eventually buy a home of their own and have DC.

Their sibling stayed in the industry and has only managed that due to an inheritance that covered the cost of them owning a flat outright.

I didn’t do arts etc but I did retrain in my mid to late 20’s. I did an access course and then nurses training. I know quite a few folks that left school with the basics and went back to college when older.

We now work into our 70’s….well lots will be…and live until our 80’s/90’s so retraining in 20-30’s is no issue at all.

She should go for it. Life is too short not to try stuff.

What do her teachers advise @Lavve ? Hash she sought guidance fromnthe CAT staff?
I had never heard of CAPA but have just had a look at their website. I've not studied it in detail but basically it looks to be a 6th form equivalent and the courses offered are Level 3, so at the same point as A levels on the national qualifications spine. It's highly unlikely that she will get work in the industry from that, it's a precursor to goung on to somewhere else to do a Level 6 course, either a degree diploma, like doing A levels before going to University.
I think she needs to have a long think about what the value of those 2 years will be to her given that it is perfectly possible to go straight into a Level 6 course from a "normal" 6th form or college. Doing A levels would leave more options open for longer but it's dependent on being able to access quality training elsewhere. I presume she can stay in the CAT til she's 18? It's also quite tough to do A levels and maintain a high standard of performing arts training outside school. How academic is she? But it does have the (in my opinion) major advantage of not putting all your eggs in one basket.
But you need advice from people who know her and can give you a realistic assessment of her potential and advise on what the best pathway might be. I'd ask at the CAT if you haven't done already - they're likely to have up to date opinions about training options too.

If she's on a CAT scheme then she's getting good contemporary training there.

Speak to the tutors maybe, and ask their advice.