Pour les anglophones acharnés :As Amy Winehouse goes into meltdown, her former teacher makes a moving pleaBy SYLVIA YOUNG
Last updated at 00:45 18 novembre 2007
It is rare for me to speak in
public about any of my pupils. Most of them can do without my
words, after all.
It is a quarter of a
century since I founded the Sylvia
Young Theatre School in London,
and in that time I have worked
with hundreds of talented children,
many of whom have gone
on to become big names.
Read more...Few of them were as obviously
gifted as Amy Winehouse, though, or
seemingly as troubled.
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Amy Winehouse, circled, as a 13-year-old pupil at the Sylvia Young Theatre school
It is hard to
overstate just how much she struck
me as unique, both as a composer
and performer, from the moment
she first came through the doors at
the age of 13, sporting the same distinctive
hairstyle that she has now.
Her abilities could put her in the same
league as Judy Garland or Ella Fitzgerald.
She could be one of the greats.
But the emphasis is on that word
'could'. Sadly, there is a danger that
Amy will be better known for her
personal life than for her God-given
musical gifts.
I cannot imagine what she is going
through. When I hear about the problems,
that her husband Blake Fielder-
Civil has been arrested, or that she has
been booed by her own fans on stage in
Birmingham, I feel personally upset.
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At the Sylvia Young theatre school, when Amy wasn't singing, she was getting into trouble
She must feel terribly alone, but – and
this is my purpose in writing – I want
her to know that she is not, and that she
is more than capable of bouncing back.
I remember the first day I met her,
one of a crowd of enthusiastic new
pupils milling around the old-fashioned
corridors of our school in North London.
I auditioned her myself. She did some
acting, and showed great potential.
She danced for us and proved she
was a good mover.
When she sang,
however, we were blown away.
It was not quite such a deep
voice as she has now, of course. But
her delivery of On The Sunny Side
Of The Street was rich and
wonderful all the same.
We were so impressed
that we offered
her a scholarship and,
once she
started, we
quickly realised
that we
had a real character
on our hands
as well as a huge
talent.
Sylvia Young says of her former pupil Amy Winehouse: 'I want her to be a legend in her lifetime not after'
The thing about Amy
is that she is hugely intelligent
and self-aware. When she wrote a brief essay explaining why
she wanted to come to the school, reproduced
opposite, she said:
"My school life
and school reports are filled with 'could
do betters' and 'does not work to her
full potential' ... I want to go somewhere
where I'm stretched to my limits
. . . I want people to hear my voice and
just forget their troubles."
This is a reminder, too, that there is a
hugely loving and optimistic side to
Amy. It is a travesty that she should
ever be associated with a world of chaos
and depression.
Her first term was in the spring of
1997. For the first half of the week, now
as then, pupils attend normal academic
lessons and for the second they have
dance, drama and singing lessons.
Amy's contemporaries included Dr Who
star Billie Piper, Matt Willis, who was in
the boy band Busted, and Jamie Luke,
who went on to star in Hollyoaks.
Amy settled in reasonably well, but
she was always in her own world and
wanted to do things her way.
She was
completely focused on her music, showing
dedication and high standards. But
nothing else interested her and when
she wasn't singing, she was naughty.
The misdemeanours were never serious,
but they were persistent.
She wouldn't wear the school uniform
correctly. She chewed gum in lessons.
She wore a silver nose-ring and, when I
asked her to take it out, she apologised,
removed it, and replaced it an hour
later.
I could not ignore it but
I understood and we found
a way of coexisting. She
would break the rules;
I would tell her off;
and she would
acknowledge it.
She could be
disruptive in class,
too, but this was
largely because
she didn't concentrate.
he was, as
I have said, wonderfully
clever –
so much so that
we decided to
move her one
year ahead of
her age group
in the hope she
would feel more
challenged.
Despite this,
she was often
bored out of her
mind, although
not in English
lessons, which
she loved.
In class she would write
extraordinary notes to her friends.
These were not mere jottings. Amy
was prolific. Every millimetre of the
page was crammed with her writing,
which seemed to flow off the paper
with her energy.
They were full of
thought. We confiscated several of
them as they contained strong language.
There was even the odd lyric
on one or two.
Amy has been quoted as saying she
had a mild form of manic depression.
She may be right. It is possible her
combination of high spirits and occasional
down times point that way.
But
there was no sign of anything being
wrong when she was with us, and certainly
no signs of drink or drugs use.
Amy warmed to some teachers
more than others, and responded
best to those who stretched her.
She may have been naughty, but
there is one persistent myth I would
like to tackle. I want to make it
absolutely clear that she was not
expelled from the school.
Unfortunately,
behind my back, the academic
head at the time rang Amy's mother
and told her she would fail her
GCSEs if she remained at the school
because she was too easily distracted.
I knew that wasn't the case. Amy
was so bright she didn't even need to
study for those exams. But as a
result of the conversation Amy's
mother decided to send her elsewhere.
I was very unhappy to discover
this, and the teacher who made
the call left us shortly afterwards.
I told Amy's mother that she wasn't
the type of child who naturally
enjoys a school environment but that
she would be happier with us and the
vocational side of her studies than
in an all-girl academic school.
I
became more convinced I was right
when I later read her saying she
cried 'every night' after she left.
I didn't want to break my ties with
her and kept in touch, perhaps to her
surprise given our disagreements
over the rules.
When she reached 16,
I arranged for her to audition for the
National Youth Jazz Orchestra. She
was later spotted performing with
the orchestra by colleagues of pop
manager Simon Fuller, the man who
was behind the Spice Girls' success.
Is it inevitable that someone as
gifted and as highly strung should
behave strangely badly? I don't
believe so. But perhaps it is not
wholly surprising, particularly now
when there are so many more temptations
than in the past, and when
success is ever harder to come by.
I have followed Amy's career
closely from the time she left the
school and continue to do so. I am
delighted that she has become a
singing sensation and, even at such a
tender age, has achieved so much.
I
love her 2003 debut album, Frank,
made when she was just 20, and her
debut single, Stronger Than Me, won
an Ivor Novello award for songwriting.
Equally I enjoyed her Back
To Black album, released in 2006.
At first I was sanguine about her
erratic behaviour. I thought she was
just a wild child enjoying life to the
full, I had no idea it would escalate so
much.
It appears that Amy wants to
be free to do whatever she chooses.
I have only ever felt as concerned
about one other ex-pupil, Danniella
Westbrook, at the height of her
troubles.
She starred in EastEnders
but became a cocaine addict with
terrible results. Yet she has fought
her way to a complete recovery and
I am truly proud of her. She is the
most courageous girl I know.
I am hoping that Amy's superintelligence
will give her the confidence
to draw back, too. It is her
choice which path to follow but I
want her to choose the right one and
move on soon. I want her to become a
legend – but in her lifetime, not after.
If I met her today I would give her
a big hug and say: "My dear Amy, you
were never expelled. Instead you
were admired and loved, as you are
today. Please try to harness these
feelings to help you get back on track.
"I know how hard you can be on
yourself. I also remember that you
don't like being told what to do. But
think back to the time when you
wrote that what you really care
about is people hearing your voice.
"All of us who care about you want
you to fulfil your unique destiny."
THE GIRL OF 13 WHO DREAMED OF MAKING PEOPLE FORGET THEIR PROBLEMS FOR 5 MINUTESApplicants to the Sylvia Young
Theatre School are asked to write
a short essay about themselves
and their ambitions.
This is what
Amy Winehouse, then a precocious
13-year-old, had to say:All my life I have been loud, to the
point of being told to shut up. The
only reason I have had to be this
loud is because you have to scream
to be heard in my family.
My
family? Yes, you read it right. My
Mum's side is perfectly fine, my
Dad's family are the singing,
dancing, all-nutty musical
extravaganza.
I've been told I was gifted
with a lovely voice and I guess
my Dad's to blame for that.
Although unlike my Dad, and his
background and ancestors, I want
to do something with the talents
I've been 'blessed' with.
My Dad is content to sing loudly
in his office and sell windows. My
mother, however, is a chemist. She
is quiet, reserved.
I would say that my school life
and school reports are filled with
'could do betters' and 'does not
work to her full potential'.
I want to go somewhere where I
am stretched right to my limits
and perhaps even beyond.
To
sing in lessons without being told
to shut up (provided they are
singing lessons).
But mostly I have this dream
to be very famous. To work on
stage. It's a lifelong ambition.
I
want people to hear my voice and
just . . . forget their troubles for
five minutes.
I want to be remembered for
being an actress, a singer, for
sellout concerts and sellout West
End and Broadway shows.
For
being just . . . me.
source : dailymail
Mar 20 Nov - 0:42
on essaiera de trouver le temps pour traduire bien comme il faut ou trouver une trad.
