By Ella Mcgran

I was first introduced to Tangled Feet whilst in my second year of study for my undergrad in Theatre and Social Change at Rose Bruford College. My producing module for that year required me to do two short-term work placements that my tutor helped find for me. I was able to give her some ideas as to what areas I was interested in and, at the time, I already knew that I enjoyed working with young people, and I thought I wanted to be a theatre director. Therefore, I was placed with two fabulous companies, Tangled Feet being one of them!

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On this placement I entered rehearsals for the first tour of ‘Belongings’, shadowing Nathan and getting to know the rest of the team throughout the process. This was my first time in a professional rehearsal environment outside of drama school, so I was very excited but also super nervous. I remember my first day was at Jackson’s Lane, which is such a lovely venue. Everybody was so welcoming, including me in check-ins, games, warm-ups, debriefs etc… I really felt appreciated in the space, even if my role was very small. Working only 1 day a week on placement I always left feeling excited for the following week. One of my highlights was getting to watch a full performance of the show and witness the amazing responses from the children in the audience. It really made me realise that Theatre for Young Audiences is incredibly valuable and something that I really wanted to delve further into. Whilst on this placement, I also had the privilege of participating in one session of the Mindfulness Project in a local primary school with Emily and Rachel. Having worked with children before, I absolutely loved it and was keen to learn more about the project. When my placement came to an end, I stayed in contact with Nathan and Emily, and thank goodness I did!!!

Fast forward to my third and final year at Rose Bruford, I was required to do a longer-term placement that aligned with my interests for my final producing assessment. This time around, we had to find the placement ourselves and, keen to go somewhere new and expand my experience working with different people, I found a placement with a wonderful theatre company in London. Unfortunately, due to uncontrollable circumstances my placement there was no longer meeting the requirements for my degree, so I was left with little time to find somewhere else to fulfil the module requirements. As a very stressed young student, I reached back out to Tangled Feet and explained my situation. Emily was incredibly helpful and immediately looked at the ways in which Tangled Feet could support me. She welcomed me back onto the Mindfulness project, working with herself and Rachel, as well as providing 1:1 support on my assessment. I continued working with the amazing theatre company in London as well, and I communicated between both companies to produce a project pitch for an intergenerational creative residency centred around joy, and collective healing. Emily set up 1:1 meetings for me with different members of the Tangled Feet team so that I could get the most support in my project as possible, as well as a further understanding of the roles within the company.  At the end of my placement, Emily attended my final showcase at Tramshed in Woolwich, where I presented my project pitch to an audience of industry professionals and received live feedback from Chris Sonnex, Artistic Director, and joint CEO of Cardboard Citizens. I was over the moon to receive a high first for my work on the module. Without the support and guidance of Tangled Feet, that may not have been possible!!

When I graduated from Rose Bruford earlier this year, I had one final mentoring session with Nathan to talk through what might be the next steps for me as a freelance creative. This was invaluable to me as I’ve found the transition from full-time education into freelance work really tricky and sometimes very lonely. However, I was really fortunate to have been offered some work with TangledFeet over the summer at Desi Fest and the Energise Camps in Luton which was my first time leading the mindfulness sessions with the wonderful Rachel, Sam, and Emily. I had the most amazing time and felt really supported by the rest of the team as I was, and still am, familiarising myself with the material and continuing to learn as I go. Since then, I have joined the team as a Mindfulness Teacher on the project for this school term. I am super grateful to be working alongside Sam at a local primary school leading sessions every week for students in Year1 and 2. Without the generosity of Emily, Nathan, and everyone at Tangled Feet, I would not have had the same level of confidence in myself and my abilities that I do now. To have the opportunity to work in something that I love straight after graduation has been such an important stepping stone for me in my career. I continue to learn and grow every week and continue to have check-ins with Emily throughout the process and have had support from other members of the team in various areas unrelated to my work at Tangled Feet such as how to manage my tax as a freelance artist, and how to get started with producing my own show! I cannot stress enough the value of my experiences at Tangled Feet and the continuous mentoring and support throughout all areas of my artistic journey. I am so excited for the rest of this term and all the learning and progress that’s to come!