It is some time now since Director's College, and the majority of us attendees probably have already forgotten quite a bit about the weekend - which is why it is good that Chris Davidson has sent an email reminding, me at least, of some of the leadership skills and processes that we need to possess and hone and I am sorry to say that a lot of what was in that email was forgotten by me and not carried out. Realising that a lot had been forgotten, I decided to have a good rummage through the notes made that week.

Looking through them, I am amazed at the sheer amount of work that has been done in that one weekend. Originally, I recall I was looking forward to a weekend spent on actually doing practical work, learning 'moves' as it were and I was disappointed that only a portion of time was spent on actual practical work; but looking back I can see how the other aspects of the weekend spent on leadership and management really helps. As I come from a classical music background where most of the work that was required was just convey the musical message and the stand up in front of the group bit, the ideas of leadership and management are really new to me and really helped in leading the Anvil chorus in my post as director, even though what I have done was just a fraction of the complete picture.

Of course, I believe the most beneficial part of the weekend is actually having so many peers to discuss ideas and share; as indeed, my strongest memory was when Grand Central sang in the cafeteria. As well as being moved to tears with their rendition of 'You'll Never Walk Alone' I had a chance to see some of the ideas of what was taught about hand gestures, eye contact, and using the mouth only to reinforce vowels being used in practice.

As to the practical sessions, I was at a disadvantage as I had not received the music beforehand, and although I managed after a little while, it demonstrated what happens when one tries to 'wing it' and was not pretty to watch on the video. This brings me to another point: videos! What a marvellous invention! When I sent in my original video to be assessed by Rhiannon, I had already seen some of my bad habits in them and have worked to try and break some of them; but to have someone commenting as video is shot brings another dimension to the picture and I feel this is the most helpful tool I have brought back from the weekend.

There isn't much to criticise about the weekend besides there were times when things could perhaps be done more efficiently as there were times when we were just waiting for the next thing to happen; however, all in all a great weekend. Roll on DCVI !

Victor Wong

Director Anvil Chorus