2D

What in your daily practice gets you really enthusiastic to find out more about? Who do you admire who also works with what makes you enthusiastic?
Music is a huge passion of mine, and it is definitely something that makes me enthusiastic. Everyday I have to listen to my iPod, and if I loose my headphones and have to travel it’s a nightmare. I have quite an active imagination, and when I am listening to my music, I always have a routine or something staged for that song! What really inspires me at the moment is the soundtrack to ‘Ghost’. I think the music is beautiful and I’m worried when I go to see it it’s going to be completely different to how I imagine it to be!
Someone who inspires me musically is Adele. Not only does her music inspire me, but she writes so much of it, you can really tell she means every word. I am quite a graceful dancer, so her music really suits my style of choreography.

What gets you angry or makes you sad? Who do you admire who shares your feelings or as found away to work around the sadness or anger?
Being a recent graduate and having a lot of opportunities whilst being at college, as teachers and students know your strengths to cast you for your ‘perfect’ roles it’s hard to come out into the real world and be turned down for auditions when you know you could play that role. It’s a mixture of anger, sadness and disappointment as it is easy to get frustrated with yourself. You have to be prepared for criticism and feedback, but when you receive none, and you just get a ‘no’ you have to take the responsibility to reflect for yourself, which is why I have loved journal writing. It is something that will become easier with time, when you learn more about yourself as a performer too.
I really admire Nick (who is also on the BAPP course!) and his perspective on auditions and how to not feel as angry with himself if you don’t get a recall etc. He doesn’t dwell on the audition, and learns from each experience by analysing the other performers in the audition, seeing how they dance and picking up hints to use for himself at the next audition he goes to. This helps keep a positive attitude when you get rejected!

What do you love about what you do? Who do you admire who also seems to love this or is an example of what you love?
From reading (and listening!) to my journals, I think it became clear that I love teaching and passing on advice.
The most recent project at the Garrick, was a difficult number, as not only did we have professional dancers but performers who had a basic level of dance training. Doing Fosse choreography is so intricate so having the patience to teach all the details was a challenge but the overall result just makes everything so worthwhile! The adrenaline of making, not only the audience but the performers, happy with ‘All That Jazz’ just makes me smile!
I admire an old dance teacher of mine called Carl Parris who helped with the recent Garrick project. He clearly has the same passion as me and has been teaching for years. He has experience in the West End and I aspire to be like him. He always has time for everyone and will give specific feedback to each person which means you can work on something for the next class or rehearsal. His energy is always so upbeat and its infectious, there’s a lot to learn from him!!

What do you feel you don’t understand? Who do you admire who does seem to understand it or who has found a way of making not understanding it interesting or beautiful, or has asked the same questions as you?
I don’t know if I do understand this or not, but I am not sure why I love dancing or why I chose to do it as a profession! Obviously it is something I cannot control and nothing beats the feeling I get when I perform and thats the reason why, but sometimes I feel crazy for going into such a competitive and insecure career! Contracts are so short, and the pay can not be lets say the best, but yet, it is such a competitive industry and it’s all for the love and passion of our profession.
This question is often raised when talking to out of work performers, and every time the same answer prevails; you can’t help what you love doing! So I accept just being crazy and just loving what I do!