Inside Theatre & Dance

Get into tribal bellydancing

American Tribal Style is a fusion of Middle Eastern, flamenco and Indian stylisations.

Samantha Hasthorpe used to work in construction and had no dance experience. But after seeing Fat Chance Bellydance perform at Majma Dance Festival she knew what she wanted to do.

Getting into acting

TV and theatre actor Geff Francis talks about how acting workshops helped him find success, and what to bear in mind when thinking about going to drama school.

How to start a theatre group

Tai Ling is the acting Artistic Director for the Improsarios, a theatre group who specialise in creating improvised plays. He spoke about starting up a theatrical enterprise.

Running a creative event

Maya Levy is an actor, singer-songwriter and pianist. She is also artistic director of the Open Arts Café evenings, where artists present original work to a supportive audience.

Casting director for theatre

Stuart Burt is associate casting director at The Ambassador Theatre Group, one of the UK’s leading West End theatre producers.

News & views

Tom Morris is the Artistic Director of Bristol Old Vic. He was previously Associate Director of the National Theatre. Photo: Sam Frost

How do you value the Arts?

In the age of austerity, how do we work out the economic benefits of the Arts? Tom Morris demonstrates why it can be hard to measure the value of the Arts.

Vincent Dance Theatre. (Photography: Matthew Simpson)

Dance and motherhood

Charlotte Vincent, Artistic Director of Vincent Dance Theatre, explores the issues facing female dancers who are considering having children.

Career article

There is a huge untapped market for utilising arts venue spaces.

Get income from arts venues

Lucy Povey is an experienced events manager and venue consultant. She works with venues to help them reach their potential by maximising income from the hire of their event spaces.

Most of the successful West End producers started small and have spent their lives deep in theatre.

Anyone can be a producer – all you need is absolute determination to get a show on stage, a source of money to back you, a network of the best possible creative talent, access to a theatre, skills in budgeting and marketing, and the luck of being in the right place with the right show at the right time.