In this edition of student blogs, Year 9 student Alisha Perett discusses her passion for Drama with Yew Chung International School of Beijing’s Performing Arts Programme.

My name is Alisha Grace Perrett. I live here in Beijing but I am from England. I am a year 9 student and am fourteen years old. I was born on April 1st, 2002. My hobbies include dancing, singing, hanging out with friends, and playing sports.

How did you first become interested in Drama?

I have been interested in drama since a very young age. When I was younger I would just act out little role plays with friends and add music and dance to it. I grew up loving to dance and had taken part in plays before, but ever since participating in the most recent musical, ‘Back to the 80’s’ I have really loved acting much more. When I was younger I much preferred the dancing and singing aspects.

What was your first performance?

My fist major acting performance was in Year 7. I was living in England for 6 months, attending a small private school where we performed “Romeo and Juliet” as our school play. I remember being so nervous and my heart beating so fast because even though I was used to dancing performances, this was my first time delivering a long soliloquy to start off a play. I wanted to deliver the lines loudly, clearly, and confidently, and gave it my best shot.

You recently performed in the school musical. How was the experience?

I recently took part in the 2015 Secondary School musical, “Back to the 80’s.” My role was one of the more significant roles. I thought the part was perfect for me when I got it because it involved lots of dancing. We had two rehearsals every week; it was very crazy going back and forth from dancing to acting, dancing to acting every rehearsal. After participating in “Annie,” the previous year’s YCIS Beijing school musical, I think I was much more confident in “Back to the 80’s” as a result. I gained experience and ideas from the year before. What’s more, I did this along with many close friends, which made it a really fun experience. I think we put on a really good performance in the end.

How has YCIS Beijing helped you pursue your passion of drama?

YCIS Beijing has really helped me to pursue my passion for drama. When I got to YCIS Beijing, I was already very interested in drama and desperate to know more and learn. Drama class had a lot of useful theory in it, but the musicals and school productions also gave me a chance to put myself out there and do something different, something really fun. I remember when I was in the “Annie” musical last year, I was practicing my solo singing part with Mr. Pearton. Until joining YCIS Beijing, I had never ever done any singing as a performance, but the part I played in the musical came with a singing part and when I was practicing it I was not confident. I remember Mr. Pearton encouraging me and teaching me how to sing loudly. After that, with more practice, I got it and enjoyed singing a lot more. That also helped with my confidence on stage.

Do you plan to continue your drama studies into adulthood?

I am still unsure about my future. I have a few ideas but I have always wanted to become a teacher, so maybe I could teach drama or direct school musicals. I just know that for sure I am enjoying it so much right now.

What advice do you have for your fellow students who are interested in becoming more involved in drama?

I think if any student is interested in acting or performing they should go for drama, even if they are not that confident being on stage. Drama gives us the opportunity to ‘be’ a totally different person on stage, as well as gives us the chance to entertain people and develop our talent. Performing is really fun and another important aspect is teamwork. A key part of drama is working with other people – that is what makes it so fun!

To read more student blogs written by our YCIS Beijing Secondary Students, please click here. To find out about upcoming YCIS Beijing Events, please follow this link.