Throughout my time in Leeds Conservatoire so far, I feel I have significantly developed many skills in multiple areas of my training. In this portfolio I aim to highlight how my training has deepened my knowledge in dance, acting and singing, making me a more well rounded, versatile performer. Collaborating with fellow students and working closely with industry professionals has strengthened my ability to pick up choreography and focus my attention on the development of my voice in order to create a healthy, sustained sound. At the beginning of my training in September, dance was an area I struggled in the most, and therefore throughout the year I have focused on expanding my movement vocabulary in order to improve my ability to become a more dynamic and complete performer. Alongside this, I have also engaged in learning may new techniques surrounding my voice; how to improve on my belt and how my voice works in different ways regarding the categories in my repertoire.
Ballet-
As part of my musical theatre training, studying Ballet has been both a challenging and rewarding experience, as before I had accepted my place at Leeds, the idea of Ballet training had always been quite daunting. This practice is something that has “significantly influenced the choreography of musical theatre with many renowned choreographers such as Jerome Robbins and Bob Fosse have incorporated ballet techniques into their work. Ballets structured movements and emphasis on form provide a foundation for creating intricate and visually stunning dance sequences” (BallerinaGallery, 2025). As someone who had never trained in Ballet before, knowing it was a big part of my training made me weary, particularly due to my hip dysplasia, an injury I have had since I was young. This injury meant I wouldn’t be as flexible as my classmates, however with help from my teachers, I have been able to adapt this style of dance to suit my abilities, while still pushing myself to strengthen the movement in my hip. Ballet is a practice that helps develop a stronger foundation in alignment, posture and technique and since starting my training, I feel that these are definitely things I have improved on. The repetitive nature of ballet is something that has worked in my favour during my classes with Christina, helping with my muscle memory and coordination. Ballet requires attention to detail, and so as we repeat exercises, the movements become second nature, meaning I can focus on my technique rather than the steps. In preparation for exams we have been learning a ballet sequence, adding on a little more each week. After seeing the steps we had worked on be put into a routine, it made me curios as to how much Ballet has influenced musical theatre. During my research, I found that Jerome Robbins was a choreographer that moved seamlessly between musical theatre and classical ballet, particularly in his broadway hit ‘West Side Story.’ (1957) “Jerome Robbins entered the scene with ‘On The Town’ (1994), which actually began its life as a ballet called ‘Fancy Free’ (1944)” (Christopher Caggiano, 2019) While reading this article I began to understand the importance of Ballets influence in the storytelling of a performance, as through West Side story (1957), “the movement vocabulary of the two different gangs establishes the central conflict of the show, portraying the slumped over posture and rigid pack mentality they both cling to.” (Dramatics, 2019). Reading into this helped me understand that Ballet is not only about strength and alignment, but also performance, and this is something I aim to continue to improve as I move through the year. At the end of this academic year, my goal is to become comfortable in moves such as ‘pliés’, ‘tendus’ and ‘ pirouettes,’ as I know that clean consistent basics are the foundation of becoming a stronger mover.
Tap-
At the beginning of the year, tap was a way of moving that I was looking forward to engaging in, knowing that I wanted to improve on my rhythm, musicality and timing. This was another art form that I had never participated in learning before I started out my training, and therefore knew that focus in lesson and outside of University practice was necessary toward my improvement. Tap is a skill that is very important for the profession as it focuses heavily on coordination and performance, while being a huge part of American history, tracing its roots from diverse cultural influences in the early 19th century. Starting the year, we began by working on the foundations of tap dance, for example ‘pickups,’ ‘shuffles,’ ‘flaps’ and other simple moves that would help create the basic movement dialogue of a routine. As we developed these, we played with the idea of the steps being ‘swung’ as apposed to ‘straight,’ meaning we had to really listen to the music and have an awareness of the difference in rhythmic feel. This is something I feel I have improved on greatly during my time on the course so far, particularly in my lessons with Jess as we play with different combinations to various percussive rhythms. My main improvement in Tap is ‘Time Steps.’ This move “first appeared back in the late 19th century mostly as an intro too improvisations. They became a way to let the orchestra know the tempo from the tap dancers. It soon became a way to show off an individual’s style during tap dance.” (Lorraine Ansell, 2020). Because of its various uses, the step is an important part of our knowledge, so taking away videos and using them outside of class to help my progression has definitely been my most rewarding mode of practice. I was curious to see if I could recognise any time steps in musical theatre numbers, and an example I did find was from 42nd Street that I have referenced in a clip below. I also had fun taking a look into how the step is broken down, and found an online video by Emily Jeanne Phillips that she created 2021 that I have also referenced below. I found it very interesting to see the steps that we had learnt be integrated into a routine, similarly with our assessment piece the ‘shim sham,’ as we recently added a time step toward the end of the phrase. As I continue to develop my tap, something I know I must work on is my ‘bounce.’ This ties into musicality and timing, making my sound more consistent and dynamic with the up and down motion ad the more I ‘don’t lose my bounce’ the more I’m encouraged to stay loose and rhythmic. At the start of the year I appeared rigid in my movements, not allowing myself to feel the music, and this was reflected in my feedback from assessments. Because of this, I have made sure to film myself putting different steps into a routine to music, making sure that I am bending my knees where necessary, and this is something I will continue to do through my time at Leeds.
Jazz-
Jazz is often pinned as the core style of dance in most musical theatre choreography, emphasising rhythmic awareness, storytelling and pickup skills. The style is not only my favourite, but I feel it allows me to express myself through performance and character meaning I can let myself go in a fun and creative way. As I started the year, although I felt that jazz was my strongest medium of dance, something I struggled to keep up with was picking up choreography, and more specifically, the intricate details. This style is often related to audition readiness and so I wanted to make sure that I put a lot of attention into developing my skills by practicing outside of class in order to keep up with my peers. In a contextual studies class we had with Harriet toward the break for easter, we watched a documentary called ‘Uprooted-the journey of jazz dance.’ (2020). The documentary shed light on the history of jazz dance, and its importance in the musical theatre world; “Jazz in movement and music can be beautiful, puzzling, avant garde, authentic and theatrical. It is forever evolving.” (Uprooted, 2020). The creative team of the film derive from a dance and musical theatre background, collectively having extensive West End and International Theatre credits, meaning that they have intimate knowledge of the dance community and a great passion toward the subject matter. This film gave me a different kind of appreciation toward the history of Jazz, offering an observational and experimental look into the industry that I strive to be a part of. Learning about the social and political influences from renowned figures such as ‘Chita Rivera,’ ‘Mandy Moore,’ ‘Debbie Allen’ and ‘Jason Samuels Smith,’ was extremely inspiring and beneficial toward my passion for the arts. Through Damiens Jazz classes, we focus on picking up audition material, making sure we are clean and focused on detail. This class has been both rewarding and challenging, starting the year with more simple routines such as, ‘Welcome to Duloc,’ (Shreck the Musical, 2008) and ‘Nicest kids in town,’ (Hairspray, 2002) and then moving toward tackling more difficult routines including ‘Dead Ringer for Love’ (Bat Out of Hell the Musical, 2017) and ‘The more we dance.’ (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels the Musical, 2005) I feel that my progression can be seen through my performance and musicality, and as I pick up routines quicker, I can focus more on my technique and the detail in the work rather than knowing the routine. I will continue to improve on this by continuously practicing the choreography outside of lessons, as for me, repetition is the best way to remember routines. In Lorries Jazz technique classes, we focus more on strength, control and precision; executing turns, jumps, kicks and leaps with safety and attention to detail. Something I’ve enjoyed working on is my flexibility, and how to dance safely with my hip injury, as because of this, I must take extra precautions in order to maintain a safe and healthy way of dancing while developing my skills. Focusing my attention on warming up and cooling down after each class has been extremely beneficial, and doing some research on why these things are important has made me more motivated to do so. Studies show that “warming up correctly can help to prevent an injury or pulling a muscle. Obviously in dance if your muscles aren’t warm there’s a very high chance you could strain or pull something. For the sake of a quick warm up before you dance, it’s not worth risking an injury and having to take some time out to recover. Warming up before you dance also improves your performance. It helps to decrease any tension in your muscles and body by mobilising your joints which will help you to work on your flexibility. Completing a thorough warm up before you dance can also prepare you mentally for dancing. If you get yourself into a routine of completing certain warm ups before you begin dancing, not only will your body be ready to dance, but your mind will too. You follow dance routines, so following a warm up routine as well will be easy!” (Move Dance, 2025). In both Damien and Lauries’ classes we have set warm ups that we begin the lesson with each week, and this has proven helpful not only for pick up skills, but also being able to take the warmup away and use it outside of class, altering any moves that I currently struggle to perform safely with my injury. ‘The importance of a Good Warm-Up: Are you warm enough to start dancing?’ (IADMS, 2017) has also been a helpful research point in my aim to become a healthy and safe performer. Upon reading this, I have taken away tips on how to warm up effectively rather than passively and in order to maintain a healthy level of fitness, I aim to keep up with exercising even outside of class; both cardio for stamina and stretching to prevent injury.
Voice-
When coming to University, one thing I definitely wanted to develop was my voice, in particular the different ways my voice can be used when singing different styles of song. At the start of the year, we were introduced to the list of repertoire categories we would be using as a guide throughout the academic year, beginning with ‘Golden Age’ and ‘Jazz Age.’ Before studying at Leeds, I had never really considered the vocal qualities required when singing a ‘Legit’ style musical theatre song, often choosing songs from new musical theatre that I enjoyed to sing. Because I had never delved into the world of legit singing prior to my studies, I made sure to research why this style is important for my training, and how I can become comfortable with making sounds I had not yet discovered in my voice. “The primary defining feature of legit musical theatre singing is that it’s a more classical sound (distinguishing it from a belt or any other sound that doesn’t verge on classical). Musical theatre developed in part from the operatic tradition (and in part from “lower” art forms, like Vaudeville), and from this tradition, came the idea of “legit” singing versus everything else.” (The Inside Voice, 2025). In a Vocal Technique class held by Scott Harrison, we had an open discussion on the question; “What is Legit?” This class was eye opening for me as I considered the many layers of the question, and how there isn’t really one solid answer, helping me to become more open minded toward the history behind a ‘Legit’ sound. The song I began with was ‘If I Loved You’ (Carousel, 1945) from the musical Carousel, a song that I had previously known before training but had never considered the detail of how to sing and perform it healthily. During my first 1-1 singing lesson with Craig, we worked on various exercises to develop a strong head and mixed register, testing how my voice worked with different vowel sounds. Something I had never tried before was singing each line of the song on a vowel that made the placement sound healthy and bright, often using the word ‘meow’ or ‘cuckoo’ in my warm ups, and this is an exercise that I will continue to use not only throughout my training, but also as I continue on into the professional industry. After working on the song with Craig, I took it to my Acting Through Song class with Aaron and Jacob. For me, I feel this class is the most important for my training, making songs emotionally truthful, deepening character depth, enhancing my phrasing and interpretation amongst many other important skills needed for a stand out audition. As this was the first song I had taken to ATS, I took away a lot of information, making sure each reworked version of the song was filmed by my buddy Izzy in order to reflect on my performance. One exercise Aaron and I worked on was placing my tongue between my top and bottom teeth to create a ‘TH’ sound whilst vocalising the tune of the song. This exercise was extremely helpful for creating a steady breath flow without forcing the sound, with the ‘TH’ sound keeping the tongue natural and relaxed— minimising throat tension and promoting forward resonance. I will continue to maintain this vocal practice when doing my at home vocal warm ups, alongside using the ‘Straw method’; placing a straw between my lips and gently humming or singing scales and occasionally doing into a cup of water for extra resistance and feedback. I have referenced below a video of why the straw method is helpful for vocal warmups. This method is a brilliant way of improving my breath support and airflow, allowing me to warm my voice up gently as I use my breath efficiently to create a controlled sound.
Another area I wanted to focus my attention at the beginning of the year was gaining a healthy belt and chest sound. I recently read an article from a vocal coach that stated “the first place I look are the mechanics of the singer. What muscles are they using or overusing? And what tensions are causing constrictions, limiting power and control? Are they breathing correctly? Is their diaphragm locked inside their ribcage? Each singer overuses or under-uses certain muscles resulting in a muscular pattern that either helps or hurts their sound and function.” (Carrie Cole, 2023) These are things I have now started to recognise in myself when building to a note at the top of my range as a prominently ‘alto’ singer. With Craig I have worked on making sure I don’t ‘shout’ when hitting a higher note, but rather set myself up safely by supporting with my breath; engaging my diaphragm and core muscles rather than my throat. Through this year I will continue to work on my belt sound by doing targeted exercises as part of my practice such as lip trills, sirens and finding a vowel sound that is comfortable when reaching certain notes— similar to when working on my ‘legit’ sound.
Over the course of this year I feel I have made significant progress in each different aspect of the course. When starting out the year I was faced with various challenges and worries that tested my abilities and pushed me out of my comfort zone, however, through my engagement in lessons, my intake of feedback from my peers and teachers and my continued practice outside of university, I feel that I have been able to gradually overcome the obstacles I faced when beginning my journey. Going forward, I aim to focus on deepening my understanding of music theory and the history behind each subject, as I feel that these things are just as important as the performances themselves. I hope to maintain my current capabilities to the highest standard, while also developing my knowledge of musical theatre, keeping healthy and staying focused.
Videos and Images of my progress-
Screenshot from a clip of my group performing the Jazz technique routine.
screenshot of my singing lesson voice note (could not upload a voice memo)
Bibliography–
The Ballerina Gallery., 2025. The Role of Ballet in Musical Theatre, [Online]. Available from:
https://www.ballerinagallery.com/the-role-of-ballet-in-musical-theatre/
[Accessed 04/2025]
C. Caggiano., 2019. Dramatics. The Robbins Effect, [Online]. Available from:
https://dramatics.org/the-robbins-effect/
[Accessed 04/2025]
L. Ansell., 2020. First Dance Studios. Time to Talk Time Steps, [Online]. Available from:
https://firstdancestudios.co.uk/time-to-talk-time-steps/
[Accessed 04/2025]
E. Phillips., 2021. [@emilyjeannephillips]. 42nd Street Time Step!, [Video]. TikTok. Available from:
https://www.tiktok.com/@emilyjeannephillips/video/7034160181684473134
[Accessed 04/2025]
A Working Catalogue., 2016. 42nd Street Opening Number- University of Michigan- Student Cabaret., [Video]. Youtube. Available from:
[Accessed 04/2025]
Uprooted: The Journey of Jazz Dance, 2020. Film. Directed by Khadifa Wong. Uprooted (About). Apple TV. Available from:
https://uprootedfilm.com/thefilm/
[Accessed 04/2025]
Move Dance., 2025. The Importance of Warming Up and Cooling Down in Dance, [Online]. Available from:
https://www.movedancewear.com/blog/the_importance_of_warming_up_and_cooling_down_in_dance/500/
[Accessed 04/2025]
B. Surgenor and A. Kozai., 2017. The Importance of a Good Warm-Up: Are you warm enough to start dancing?, IADMS., [Online]. Available from:
https://iadms.org/media/3598/iadms-resource-paper-the-importance-of-a-good-warm-up.pdf
[Accessed 04/2025]
The Inside Voice., 2025. What is Legit Musical Theatre?, [Online]. Available from:
https://www.ensembleschools.com/the-inside-voice/what-is-legit-musical-theatre/
[Accessed 04/2025]
Workshop Vocalist., 2024. The Amazing Benefits of Straw Singing | Straw Phonation 101, [Video]. Youtube. Available from:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBiQGa7vsws
[Accessed 04/2025]
C. Cole., 2023. How to Belt Without Destroying your Vocal Chords (Top 5 Techniques), [Online] Available from:
https://caricole.com/belt-without-destroying-vocal-cords-top-5-techniques/
[Accessed 04/2025]
