28 March 2019
A group of Sixth Form students have successfully ‘fought’ their way to being awarded certificates from The British Academy of Dramatic Combat, following an eleven week course. They demonstrated the skills they have learned at a performance on Wednesday evening, and were extremely convincing! Despite the apparent blows, stabbings and strangulation, they were all unscathed as they took their well-deserved final bows.
Lower Sixth Former, Amina, tells us more:
The stage combat course was a very eye-opening experience. It offered me a chance to get active on stage, which was extremely helpful, because my physicality on stage has always been my weakness. The teacher, who was so professional and experienced, taught us how to manifest our emotions through our bodies. This is crucial in conveying the character when acting because, even if you are feeling a lot of emotion, if you don’t show it visibly and audibly, the audience won’t be able to respond to you. This is quite common for non-professional actors, as our minds and bodies are often disconnected.
The course was great fun and we learnt many exciting moves, both armed and unarmed. In both cases, I learnt that communication and trust between the actors on stage are key to making a fight scene work. However, the most rewarding and enjoyable part for me was when, finally, we put our moves together with our scene. That was when I truly recognised that stage combat really is a part of acting, and I experienced its power on stage. I started from zero and, after only a term, stage combat has become a skill that I own; the sense of achievement is immense.
