From education to employment

Lydia heads to the Dance World Cup

Lydia Razzell grew up in in Braintree where she dreamed of performing on stage. As a member of the Pixie Lott Performing Arts Academy, she had always known that she would pursue a career in Musical Theatre or Performing Arts. Lydia completed her GCSEs at Helena Romanes School and set about exploring dance schools as an option for her further education studies. The requirement to live away from home while studying wasn’t something she felt ready for, so she was thrilled when a careers event at school presented an opportunity to study for a Performing Arts Diploma at Cambridge Regional College.  

Lydia attended an open day event at the college and knew that this was where she wanted to study. Lydia said, “I found the environment and tutors, Beth and Cath, to be very engaging and welcoming. Everyone was friendly and in spite of the distance from home, the course was something that I really wanted to do, so I enrolled on the Level 3 Performing Arts course in 2020. I am really enjoying the course. I like that we cover all aspects of production giving me an insight into the technical sound and lighting and backstage elements of a performance. I also enjoy the vocational practice sessions as it means I can focus on my love of musical theatre.” 

In her career as a performer with the Pixie Lott Performing Arts Academy, Lydia is often made aware of competitive opportunities, and this has recently led to a series of successes for in two vocal competitions, Stars UK where she secured 1st place Silver and the Platinum Dance Festival, a competition between regional dance schools, where she secured Gold.

In addition, late 2021, Lydia auditioned in the Dance World Cup, an all-genre dance competition for children and young adults around the world. The competition sees over 120,000 competitors from 62 countries competing in the country qualifiers, after which four finalists from each country progress to the World Finals. Lydia has recently received the exciting news that she has qualified for the finals in June 2022, which will take place in Spain. 

Lydia added, “I am excited, this is the biggest competition I have been involved in, and it could be a game changer. At the competitions, I will represent Team GB. It’s quite cool.” 

In addition to her competition success, Lydia has spent the early part of 2022 applying to universities and has secured an unconditional offer to study Musical Theatre at London Media Academy (LMA), situated in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. 

Lydia concluded, “I applied for several different universities and when I was offered an unconditional place at LMA, the day after my audition, I accepted immediately. I knew I wanted to be in London as my ultimate dream is to perform on stage around the world. 

If I could choose one show to star in, it would be Phantom of the Opera. I am obsessed with Andrew Lloyd Webber. He has just released his latest stage show, Cinderella, and I’d be to secure a part in that too. 

If you are passionate about something, pursue your dream. There is no certainty in this industry, so if you really want to do it, you have to just go for it.”

Find out more about studying Performing Arts with Cambridge Regional College. Find out more about the Dance World Cup.


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