Sylvia Young Article - Daily Mail - Archive

This article is well worth a read, the essay at the end is really poignant:

As Amy Winehouse goes into meltdown, her former teacher makes a moving plea
By SYLVIA YOUNG - More by this author Â»

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.

Few of them were as obviously gifted as Amy Winehouse, though, or seemingly as troubled.

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.

At the Sylvia Young theatre school, when Amy wasn't singing, she was getting into trouble

She must feel terribly alone, but â€“ and this is my purpose in writing â€“ 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.

She was, as I have said, wonderfully clever â€“ 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 â€“ 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 MINUTES

Applicants 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.

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Sylvia Young Article - Daily Mail

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