<p>Newmtmom, you couldn't have been more right when you said, "In the scheme of things, our children are so fortunate--they have so much opportunity." I don't want to speak in platitudes, but all of us -- parents and kids alike, who have the luxury to explore and aim for and debate all these opportunities -- should count our blessings. I guarantee you: somewhere in the middle of Afghanistan, Ethiopia and every other destitute country you can think of, there's a 17-year-old girl who could dazzle the world with her talent, and no one's ever going to know.</p>
<p>DizzyDani88-</p>
<p>She opted out of the first one due to how the conservatory chose to treat the students. SHe found the second one more nuturing.</p>
<p>SUE</p>
<p>You wrote:
"
So what played the most important factor to her "success"? I would say there are many....including the stars alligning in her favor. You never ever know."</p>
<p>This reminded me of a story. Last year my younger dd was cast as July in a production of "Annie" at a regional theater here in Florida. The little girl cast as Annie was wonderful....huge voice, lots of stage presence, good little actress. I remember my dd saying she was a little shy in meeting this girl at the first meeting because she had recently been on a national tour and had been on Broadway. While my dd had lots of experience, including a lot of AEA dinner theater, she had never met another child who had the credentials of the little actress playing Annie. Both girls became good friends during the run of rehearsals and then the performances, and I got to know her mother quite well.</p>
<p>What I found interesting was her mother's approach to everybody thinking her daughter was so special. While, of course, this woman was amazingly proud of her child, she made it known that in this business there is a tremendous amount of luck involved. Yes, her daughter was enormously talented with a great presence, but so are many, many other children. She was even kind enough to say she was impressed with my dd and said her daughter had mention my dd as a "threat" at the audition. </p>
<p>One of the things that stood out was when she said that "sometimes with casting directors it depends on where the light is shining. If your child is fortunate enough to have the sunlight shining on them that day, they will be noticed". </p>
<p>Rather interesting.......</p>
<p>Hey.....wow, its very interesting to see you all talk about this...
i dont know if i have 'natural talent' but i do know that every day of my life is spent working and training myself to become a musical performer...</p>
<p>(You see,all of my life I have been in love of performing, since the age of four ive been dancing ballet, and since the age of 7/6 jazz...in my heart i just feel like i belong on stage, its the one place where i can be myself and let down all barriers....and show everybody the real, true, me.
The problem is that i live in Barbados (the small but beautiful island)...dont get me wrong, Barbados is not a bad place to live and grow up in, but the problem with Barbados (which is a big problem for me)...is that they dont have much trianing in the arts here atall. The only training ive had is dancing nearly all my life at the 'Louise Dance Academy'..ive received several awards there and got an award for being the best dancer in the whole academy. Ive also performed in competions (NIFCA) for dancing.
The biggest thing they have here, that is the closest thing to theatre productions...are the school pantomines, and ive also been doing them every other year since the age of four and i stopped doing them when i tunred 15.
Barbados does not have any proper trianing when it comes to the arts.....i come online and hear about these girl my age who are performing in concerts and at community theatres...and im like...gosh, i wish i could do that.....i would absolutley love ot have an opportunity like that...but the reality is that i cant...cause barbados just doesnt have enough money to facilitate that.</p>
<p>I have also never received vocal coaching, because my mum is finding it extremly hard to find a vocal coach...she has brought me and singing software that has helped me tremdously, made my tone purer and increased my range to about 4 octaves....but my dream is to be in musical theatre...no matter how much i have to do to get there....so i teach myself,i dont allow myself to do songs that would damage my voice, and the singing software i have helps me alot. I also record my voice everytime i sing, so that i can see if there is a steady improvement......but i also know that what i do may not be enough...)</p>
<p>cause as it has been said...children/teenagers that come form a background that is surrounded by the arts has had much much more training and experience....the fact that i have not had much training atall, does not get me down..i just realise that i have to work and strive much harder...but im my heart i still beieve that i can do it, no matter where i come from....i believe that if i work hard enough i will make it...and i hope that everybody else in my situaiton feels the same :)
bye
*Kays</p>
<p>Kays</p>
<p>Re: your voice training believe it or not there is a woman from "Florida Sings" which I worked with at a program in Florida (Broadway theater project) that will do PHONE SESSIONS, she is an incredible voice teacher. If at all possible maybe you could see/meet with her in person to start off once and go from there on the phone and ideally see her once a month or so in Florida. <a href="mailto:Floridasings@comcast.com">Floridasings@comcast.com</a> is her email and if you use a search engine for "florida sings" I am sure you will find her site.</p>
<p>As others mentioned on the other thread, you should definately do a summer program or two (you can apply for scholarships).</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>I just want to share my thoughts as a teenage wannabe performer.</p>
<p>I went to a public elementary school where there was one girl who had had voice and dance lessons since the age of 8 and had been in all these community theatre productions since she was very young. Her voice was INCREDIBLE. Her voice in 5th grade...was better than some professionals I've heard. Her specialty was opera. Everyone was in awe of her.
I moved to a private middle school where a lot of kids were what many would call "rich." And alot of them want to be on Broadway, and their parents paid for top training for them since they were practically born. ( Imagine being 11 years old and have your classmate tell you that she was Peablossom in A Midsummer Night's Dream with her yacht club when she was 5....yeah.) However, although this girl is good, I won't deny it, she is not the most incredible performer ever. She's considered the "singer" of the school because she has great tone, can belt fairly well, and scoops a lot ( not always the best thing).
Another girl comes from a very musical family, took dancing for 6 years, has been acting since she was very young, has taken voice lessons for about 2 1/2 years...and yet...I know I'm not really in a place to say this...but she's not very good. She has a pretty voice, but that's where it ends. Not a huge range, not a lot of volume, and is just not a good actress. Yet she wants to be on Broadway.
The point is: You may have the "best" training available to you, but that does not mean it is really the best. I constantly get looked down upon because my parents don't drop $2000 on lessons with the Hartt School of Music ( where everyone from my middle school went to if they were musical), but lets me go to a woman who left teaching at the Hartt school and now works out of her house. Coincidentally, this is the same woman who coached the girl I knew in elementary school. She has turned out MANY professional performers. She's cheap. She's an incredible teacher. My range has more than doubled and I've increased in volume and confidence in the almost 2 years I've been with her.
I'm from a very small town- the closest community theatre to me is half an hour away. I've never done a show outside of school, except two medleys with the Hartt School, the second of which was a terrible experience. I will not be doing anything with that school again because it's a very favoritism-oriented school. Because I don't take lessons with them, I'm nobody. And I don't believe that's right.
Money...means nothing when compared to talent.</p>