Class of 2020
Year 12 students Charlie Dakin, Prudence Dallen and Adam Watt describe what they enjoy about attending the Australian Performing Arts Grammar School in Sydney.
Charlie: I love the networking—having industry professionals come in and learning from their experience helps us figure out what should be the next step for us going forward and the best way to tackle a performing arts career.
Prudie: I found - talking to people from other schools—people didn’t take subjects like Drama seriously. I wanted to be surrounded by other students who really wanted to learn and shared my passion for the subject.
Adam: I enjoy being around like-minded people who have similar aspirations and being able to collaborate with people who have different ideas; being at a performing arts high school I have the opportunity to do that all the time.
What are the advantages of studying at a performing arts school for your final years of high school?
Charlie: There is definitely an advantage for creative subjects and that has been a big help for developing my Drama major work. The art course here is also really intensive. I’ve had the opportunity to do film making as a PA elective and I’m now making a film for my Visual Arts major work.
Prudie: APGS brings in professionals to run the performing arts classes and our academic teachers are passionate about the arts and they know how to help you achieve the marks you want in the HSC.
Adam: Our teachers for our arts based academic courses have experience in the industry—it helps us to understand how all the things we are learning about will be put in to practice. For example, we have a self-devised choreography PA class - we learn the choreographic process and come up with movement banks that are useful for choreographing our dance major works.
What area of the arts are you most passionate about?
Charlie: Acting has always been my passion in life. Recently, upon meeting people here who are talented musicians, I’ve dabbled in that and tried my hand at a few other things.
Prudie: When I first came to APGS Drama was the only performing arts subject that I did but I have been really enjoying Visual Arts lately. I just picked it up because I needed another subject but then I ended up finding it really fun.
Adam: I do a bit of everything: Dance, Drama, Music and I am passionate about all of them in different ways. For example, for Drama I’m passionate about directing, in Dance, choreography, and in Music I love bringing people together and working with an ensemble.
What are your plans for next year and for the future?
Charlie: I want to spend a year working and building up some money and be ready for uni when I do go. So next year I’ll do some auditioning and working, and I’ll apply to various universities for admission in 2022. I’m keen on doing a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting, possibly at QUT.
Prudie: I’m looking at uni’s like WAAPA (Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts) and also looking at scholarships in America to study Drama over there.
Adam: I definitely want to continue performing. I think I’d love to start putting together my own thing, a dance or drama performance. I’ve already made some great connections at APGS. Our performing arts tutors are all active in the industry, so they have really helped nurture the idea of breaking out on my own and creating my own thing.
Photographer: Stephen Weir