SLOCOACH Arts Coaching Platform Set Up by Broadway and West End Icons
In a bid to help save the UK's theatres from permanent closure, Broadway and West End legends such as Rosalie Craig, Rob McClure, Hadley Fraser and Savion Glover are turning their talents to coaching.
Broadway and West End icons join new coaching platform to save the arts industry
In response to the current state of the arts industry which is struggling under the pandemic restrictions, and to help save UK’s theatres from permanent closure, Broadway and West End legends Rosalie Craig, Rob McClure, Hadley Fraser and Savion Glover are turning their talents to coaching by joining SLOCOACH Arts. This brand-new digital coaching platform allows anyone to learn from some of the world’s finest artists by taking one-to-one masterclasses online. SLOCOACH Arts will be donating all its profits to Acting for Others, a non-profit organisation headed by Dame Judi Dench CH DBE.
Whilst indoors shows with social distancing have been allowed from 1 August, theatres can’t fill their capacities and generate profit – even the biggest players like London Palladium, Southbank Centre and National Theatre are struggling to stay afloat. The legendary The Phantom of the Opera is closed after 34 years and Qdos, the UK’s biggest pantomime producer, has started cancelling its 2020 shows. As stages can’t fully operate, the number of job losses have jumped to 5,000 and the industry fears that the government’s £1.57bn support package won’t be enough to save the theatres.
Supporting theatre workers across the country
Until the end of 2020, the entire profit from SLOCOACH Arts will be donated to Acting for Others – a non-profit organisation which provides financial and emotional support to all theatre workers in need through 14 member charities.
Sir Stephen Waley-Cohen, Co-Chairman at Acting for Others, comments: “We are very grateful to SLOCOACH Arts and their brilliant mentors for supporting Acting for Others. It is increasingly important that we keep our creativity alive. This is a wonderful initiative which enables performers to keep honing their craft with an array of industry talent, online. From beneficial programmes like these we are able to continue supporting our industry through the crisis.”
The idea for SLOCOACH Arts came from technology veterans passionate about the arts industry: “I’ve been in the tech industry for almost 30 years and what always fascinates me is the combination of technology and creativity. We’ve come up with the idea of SLOCOACH Arts to help people be their best and support the important – and currently struggling – arts industry. We are proud to have been joined by some of the most shining West End stars and we admire the work Acting for Others does – it’s a pleasure to be able to support them and help theatre workers in need,’ says Derek Hardy, co-founder at SLOCOACH Arts.
Private masterclasses with Broadway and West End icons
Academic students, early professionals and avid amateurs who would traditionally attend physical classes to prepare for exams, auditions and just to improve their skills, have been left with few opportunities to learn. SLOCOACH Arts fills the gap and removes physical barriers like distance and time restrictions – even pre-pandemic many couldn’t access a wide range of professional training of the Broadway and West End calibre – and provides personal one-to-one masterclasses online.
Students choose their coaches, submit video footage of their performance and receive a feedback session from their idols. Coaches analyse performances in real time and provide tools and ideas to help their recruits develop.
The main platform feature is Recording Studio where coaches watch students’ videos and record feedback filmed by their webcam. They can highlight parts of the video content and use drawing tools to show posture or alignments issues and even put the video to slow motion. Coaches can also add other media to the lesson for better demonstration.
The list of SLOCOACH Arts coaches continues to grow – from world-class vocal coaches and leading dancers from International Dance Companies to experts in disciplines like Fosse, Accent and Improvisation. These include:
- Rosalie Craig – actress dubbed by The Times as “The new Queen of the West End”
- Rob McClure – Broadway actor, multiple award winner and Tony Award nominee
- Hadley Fraser – alumni of nearly every high profile musical in the West End
- Shelby Williams – world-class ballet and contemporary dancer, known as Biscuit Ballerina
- Cassidy Janson – musical actress, Olivier and Classical Brit Award nominee
- Savion Glover – one of the greatest living Tap Dancers in the world, Tony Award Winner.
“I’m thrilled to be part of SLOCOACH Arts. This new and innovative way to coach appealed to me immediately. The video feedback technology means there are no time or geographical limits – anyone around the world has legends in their field at their fingertips. The technology allows us as coaches the chance to respond in the kind of detail that up until now has only been available to sports teams and coaches. Everything from technical specifics to artistic intangibles can be scrutinised and addressed. I can only imagine the giant leaps performers and artists might take with this at their disposal,” says Rosalie Craig.
“As well as creating a new channel for performers to pass on their world-class skills, we aim to raise as much money as possible to support people in one of the country’s biggest industries that has been particularly hard hit by COVID-19.” adds Derek Hardy.
To find out more about SLOCOACH Arts visit www.slocoach.co.uk/arts
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