2007 Awardee: Jamie Keen
I am so excited about the future because I believe in myself and believe that I can make it. Without the Dewar Award, I would not be who or where I am today. Words cannot express the gratitude that I have … because you have helped me in reaching the beginning of my career.
Biography
A former pupil of the Dance School of Scotland in Knightswood, Irvine’s Jamie Keen has his eyes firmly set on London’s West End theatres. Jamie is now studying Dance and Theatre Performance at Kent’s Bird College. His dance tutor considers Jamie to have the potential to become a dancer in either a classical/contemporary dance company or to enter into musical theatre. He is equally talented as a singer.
Jamie is described as a talented, dedicated and special performer with a rare energy and passion in his performance. He is a performer with ‘star quality’.
At the age of 12, Jamie danced the part of Young Romeo in the Scottish Ballet’s 2000 tour of ‘Romeo and Juliet’. While he was at Knightswood’s Dance School he performed in front of Princess Anne and more recently he was involved in the premier showing of the new advanced two modern theatre dance syllabus for the Imperial Society for Teachers of Dance.
How the Award Helped
The Dewar Arts Award will help support Jamie through his studies in Dance and Theatre Performance at the Bird College.
Since the Award
In 2009, Jamie graduated from Bird College with a first class degree. He writes, “I have learned that living as an artist is never going to be easy. Times will be tough, for example when there are very little performing jobs around meaning income is never secure. However, living as an artist is also extremely rewarding. ..Entertaining people takes them to a place where they can forget all about their own personal troubles and make them smile. That to me is the best feeling in the world, when you can see that you are making other people happy.”
I am so excited about the future because I believe in myself and believe that I can make it. Without the Dewar Award, I would not be who or where I am today. Words cannot express the gratitude that I have … because you have helped me in reaching the beginning of my career.