Australia's Got Talent

Old mates Tony Williams and Dennis Clare are due to appear on Australia's Got Talent in the next few weeks. Dennis studied mime in France with Marcel Marceau and Tony has been performing his music hre for the last 30 years in various forms, most recently in the Barbeque Kings, his latest comedy trio. He is on the cusp of greater recognition with a new TV series based on his quiet comedy and set in the Sydney suburbs so AGT could be a useful stepping stone for him.

I have recently been reminded of Dan Coyle's book The Talent Code which I read last year and have since passed onto several benefactors. Coyle believes there's a mechanism through which you can actually grow skill, talent, and, at the top end, genius. It's a physical, neurochemical mechanism that we're all born with. If you do certain things, if you follow certain methods, if you do essentially what certain talent hotbeds around the world are already doing, it's possible to grow skills, fluency, speed, power, all the qualities that add up to what we know as talent.... particularly of interest to me as an art teacher dealing with students on a day to day basis. Hard to track down, but a provocative and controversial read, Coyle's book could be one to challenge your current thinking - especially if you're and educator (or parent).


Burn brightly, Pete