SCOPE for the future
SCOPE (Securing Career Opportunities and Professional Employment)
A month ago I was busy updating and submitting my resume. And this is the result: acceptance into the SCOPE program. Cool. Now I can finally get some concrete web development skills instead of fumbling around and pretending to know what I'm doing... hehe...
I had missed all the information seminars and only heard about the program a week before the application was due but, lucky for me, I already had a good idea of what I wanted to do. And all I needed was a program like this to fill in the blanks.
Even now it's amazing to think about what this program is about, it's an extraordinary idea. Having already been implemented for elite athletes for fifteen years, the transition of this program to professional dancers is a neat fit because of the similarities in two different fields. What are you supposed to do after your professional dance career, when you've trained your body so specifically and with so much dedication? This thought has been with me pretty much for my entire dance career because I do have quite strong interest in lots of other things besides dance (and don't get me started about whether or not I'm still committed to my current profession because, with this program, nothing has changed in that respect; this is currently a very sore point with me...) and I don't see why I don't just explore that.
Although I must admit that when I was writing my application, I felt that I didn't really know WHAT this program was about. Sure, there was enough information on the website but I guess I was in disbelief that a program like this actually exists. It promises so much, it couldn't be true. But I took their word and finished the application regardless.
The induction was fun, had to take some time off work to attend and, conveniently enough for me, was at the Bangarra Mezzanine. Strange feeling, though, to be networking and occasionally glancing down at the dancers in a rehearsal that I would normally be present at. The dancers chosen for the program were all so diverse, some with more concrete ideas for what they want out of the program than others, but there was one thing common amongst us all: none of us wanted to leave the dance profession. Indeed I applied so that I could STAY in dance, and that was the same for everyone else. Alot of us also shared my amazement at the existence of this program and, through the induction, we were reassured that, yes, everything is as it seems. (On second thoughts, I was probably the least sure about the program because everyone else seemed to have attended the information seminars...)
So all I have to do is sign the contract and off I go. It's going to be an interesting year!
