I started dance at the age of four and even from that early age I knew I wanted to be a dancer, so at the age of fourteen I was lucky enough to be accepted to Tring Park School for the Performing Arts to study dance full time. When I was dancing in Japan we just learned ballet but during my time at Tring I learned a versatile array of dance for example pas de deux, jazz, modern, contemporary etc. This challenging curriculum made me more passionate about dance as I learned more about my body during dance, more about the wide performing industry and also how my passion, Ballet, was dependent on using what I had learned from other genres.
Also during my years at Tring I was lucky enough to take part in National youth ballet; this outstanding youth company taught me some of my most valuable lessons about performing and being a professional. These include working in close quarters with many other people, taking works to multiple venues in preparation for touring, tackling a nightmare for many dancers...acting a character part and general company etiquette; I learned all of this and more in a safe environment where it was ok to make mistakes because there were so many helping hands around. Some names include Frank Freeman who was kind enough to cast me as a soloist in his 'Four Seasons' and Drew Mconie, a former NYB artist himself, was always there for me and others with a kind word and some good advice.
I felt that Tring prepared me in other ways such as allowing me to gain a National Diploma in Professional dance, Major RAD qualifications such as ADV 2 distinction allowing me to learn the Solo Seal, Major Cecchetti exams helping me explore ballet further and opened up competitions and an RAD Elementary qualification in Benesh Notation.
I was lucky enough to work with some very influential people in the industry and great teachers, one that sticks out the most is Robert Cohan. Some of my colleagues and I were selected to work intensively with Mr. Cohan and recreate his landmark work, 'Class' a piece designed around Martha Graham's original Graham technique class. Our work was filmed for documentary purposes and to attempt to keep the pure technique around.
More recently I have been an apprentice with the British touring company Ballet Theatre UK for the last 2 seasons. We have toured 2 productions, Nutcracker and Cinderella, all over the UK and Ireland. For the first time working with a professional Ballet Company it was a great experience and I feel I picked a lot of valuable experience of working and touring. I found it challenging working with some of the other company members because I only knew one other member from college, however everybody was very friendly and easy to get on with so after all time we worked together we built a good rapport. Overall the tour was great success and I had a wonderful time, I hope to be given more opportunities like these in the future.
BAPP is my next challenge, I am looking forward to meeting and talking to new people and hopefully further my learning to help my dance and teaching career.
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