By Ross Barnett
Ten De Montfort University students will complete their placement at the The Curve on Saturday with the staging of Polaris as part of #DMUpride and LGBT History Month.
The Arts and Festival Management students started their placement in October, meeting on Fridays from 2pm-6pm to curate the production of three performances; Gypsy Queen, At a Stretch and Polaris.
One of the students, Alannah Christianson, said: “Working in a proper industry setting has helped us as we now know what to expect in the future and has improved skills such as negotiating with the artists and dealing with finances.”
At a Stretch, which tells the story of two women who fall in love, will be performed today (Monday February 19), Gypsy Queen will be tomorrow (Tuesday) and the performance of Polaris will conclude the event on Saturday, February 24.
“The first step was finding shows for the programme which I think we enjoyed the most,” said Kayleigh Carlton, “it involved a lot of research and knowing what to do.
“We had to make a lot of group decisions and debate to see which performance would celebrate #DMUpride.”
Their success was not without a few setbacks. Hannah Tully said: “When contacting all of the artists there were a few occasions where they didn’t reply to our emails which dented our confidence.
“We made good use of the contact network provided by The Curve to eventually secure the performance of Gypsy Queen.”
The students have learnt from the placement, according to Ritu Varier, who added: “There is a difference between learning finances in lectures then real life. A lot of the placement has had a hands on approach which has helped us going forward.”
Other events that have been co-ordinated by the group include a boxing workshop inspired by Gypsy Queen, ‘Speed Friending’ in association with Polaris and various seminars and after show discussions.
Tickets for all of the events are available from http://www.curveonline.co.uk/get-involved/dmupride/
