Working in the arts is a career that involves a whole host of skills. Being successful is not just about being a good actor, producer or about just being creative. A whole host of skills are needed and acquired along the way.
When you begin a course in performing arts you will learn things that can help in many areas of life and in many future roles and careers, you may have. Some of the key life skills we will outline here.
Oral Communication skills
Being a great communicator with others is vital to a career in the performing arts. Much of your success as an actor, producer, screenwriter or on set will be based on being able to communicate an idea or ask for something clearly, thoughtfully and directly.
Speaking on stage you gain public speaking skills and need to be able to project your voice. These skills can carry you forward in many ways in life and in dealing with many situations. It’s a key part of what many employers look for both on and off stage.
Creative Problem solving
Identifying and evaluating problems and the best solutions to these is a skillset practised daily by those involved in a production. You need to be able to think on your feet and quickly suggest solutions.
You’ll need to think outside of the box in order to bring a creative vision to life with limited time and resources at your disposal. These skills can help you in many areas of life outside of the stage and screen, where there is life there will be challenges to overcome along the way.
Autonomy and Initiative
This relates to being able to work independently and having the ability to be agile and pick things up quickly along with being able to self manage. In the arts, we are all self-starters!
Leadership skills
The stage and screen give you so many opportunities to lead others. Whether that be leading a set, assisting the director or leading a group of volunteers, designing or directing, you will have tons of examples to draw on to demonstrate your leadership skills after studying and working in the arts.
Collaboration and team-building skills
Having respect for others and the ability to work cooperatively in a team are necessary skills when working in the performing arts. You get to work with a whole range of different people from diverse backgrounds and agendas working towards a common goal. Learning how to foster a positive team spirit through often long days and high pressure can be key. You need to trust and earn the trust and support of others.
Resilience and self-confidence
When working in the arts you need mostly to audition for parts, or to be part of any set. This can involve rejection, failure and sometimes cancellation of projects for no fault of your own. Through this, you can build resilience which is a life skill that can take you further arguably than any other.
The wins become sweeter and you learn to accept disappointment and move on. The ability to bounce back from setbacks can hold you in good stead. A good performance arts school will teach you how to manage this.
Good memory and ability to pick up new things quickly
When you study performing arts you are put in situations often where you need to pick up something new very quickly. That could be a new dance move, a new song, memorising new lines or picking up the technical aspects of production. You will learn to absorb new material quickly and accurately through studying and working in the arts.
Adaptability and Versatility
No day is the same when working in performing arts and at an art school, you will get the opportunity to try new ideas, accept new challenges and adapt to the constant changes around you.
Each role you take can be different. One day you might be playing the main part, the next production you might be more in the background. You need to adapt to the demands and pressure of bringing a production to life.
Respect for process and rules
In production, there is always a director, several usually for their different areas, a creative director, a technical director, a production director and so forth. Being able to respect authority is another skill that an art school teaches you through practice. With any production, you generally need to work within a set of rules and structures. These are in place for safety reasons and for ensuring that production happens on time and to budget. These skills are useful in any career that is undertaken and helpful as you organise life!
So when you are looking to work in a creative environment and thinking about going to an art school, such as APAC’s acting school in Brisbane, or another performing art school in Brisbane, or anywhere else in Australia, know that the skills you learn there will not just be useful for a career in the arts. The skills you learn will help you navigate many areas of life and be helpful to draw on whatever you end up doing in the future.
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