Spotlight on new Jigsaw students Lashay and Natasha

We put the spotlight on two new Jigsaw students to find out what they enjoy most about their classes and who would play them in a film based on their life!

Spotlight on New Jigsaw Students

“Before attending Jigsaw, my confidence was extremely low. Now it has helped me to gradually overcome my shyness and I feel I can achieve anything that I put my mind to.” 

Lashay lives in Islington, she is 13 years old and has 4 sisters and 5 brothers. She decided to come to Jigsaw to improve her confidence and for her love of singing and acting in particular. These are her favourite subjects at Jigsaw and she is inspired by the likes of singer Ariana Grande and her favourite actors Jessica Alba and Eddie Murphy, whose careers she admires. Lashay tells us that her Jigsaw teachers are lots of fun and very friendly whilst helping her to learn new skills and to apply herself as she considers herself be a hard worker. She also enjoys the aspect of helping others feel more comfortable in class. This is something she feels she can now achieve due to feeling more confident in her own ability.

Lashay hopes to be a singer or an actress one day. When we asked her “If you had a film of your life, who would you choose to play you?” she answered “Beyonce”. Watch this space!

“It was that workshop that changed my life. Only by a bit, but a bit is all that it takes to make your day. I know that Jigsaw can help me to become what I want to be.”

Natasha is 11 years old and is from Muswell Hill. She first became a Jigsaw student by attending one of our Summer Schools. She realised that a lot of the students attended every weekend so she decided to nag her mum to let her join as she had made lots of new friends and had enjoyed her new experience. Natasha said she couldn’t believe it when she was awarded a half scholarship as she didn’t ever think she would be so lucky.

She tells us: “I knew that people believed in my voice and my experience has proven that I can be something and that small things can help you do something huge.” When we interviewed Natasha to find out more about her, she told us that singing is her favourite subject at Jigsaw because it is so much fun and she is now confident enough to sing solo. We wanted to find out what she feels she has gained from being at Jigsaw and she explained that she enjoys being taught something new every week, the people are all lovely and she is able to come to Jigsaw and believe in herself. The highlight of the weekend for Natasha is “playing the Eastenders game” in drama and her favourite actors are Jennifer Lawrence and Theo James.

If someone was to play Natasha in a film of her life, she said it would have to be “someone that can show all of the features that I have”. Quite right!

Jigsaw Performing Arts is dedicated to developing performance skills, promoting self-expression and building confidence. We offer performing arts classes for children aged between 3 – 18. Find your nearest school by entering your postcode into the search on our home page.