DancE

I have been dancing for 17 years. 

I have to go
I have the urge
I need to
Escape
Explode
DANCE!!!!

I would not be who I am today if my wonderful grandma had not taken me to my first ballet class back in september 1994. Yep you got it. I do ballet, tap, modern, contemporary, street, jazz and I also did ballroom and latin for a few years. The thing about ballet is it's not a thing you can do casually and become good at just like that. It is the foundations of your life. Everything comes from that. You have to know if that is the direction you want to go in because once you start your obsession stays with you for life. It is a part of your breath. So where did it all begin?

I will tell you.

My beautiful grandma Audrey took me to my first class in september 1994. The school is Dorothy Stevens School of Dance. Dorothy Stevens has been and still is an inspiration. She made me work so hard you wouldn't believe. I would go every day doing all kinds of dance but ballet is the foundation that has made me the person I am today. She was like our Grandmother. So many of her students have gone into the world of dance at some of the best companies known. I remember when she would smack the back of your point shoe with her shoe heel to make you break them in. Or if you weren't stretching your legs properly she would get the feather duster out. Sometimes it was canes or other times it would be her pushing you down into splits. 

I miss her. Haha. I don't miss the pain I miss her passion for others to become amazing dancers.

My sister is Still dancing there. She is called Lily, 12 years old. She becomes a teen February 23rd. Slightly nerve racking for everyone. If I say so myself she is going to be twice worse than me. Smily face. But she is still a beautiful young girl who i hope is going to do the things she loves and be happy with who she is. I do push her to do better but it is only because I care about her future so much. 

Anyway. 

You could call me the rebel of dance. I wasn't your typical dancer. I had short hair, piercings, played rugby and football and would usually turn up to ballet covered in mood from the hour before. Miss stevens would always tell me off for not being girly enough but it made me work harder to prove I was good enough and didn't have to be a full on girl. I danced almost every day apart from 1 or 2 now and again and I did at least 2 to 3 hours a day. 

You might be thinking I am strong as hell. Your right. I am. But I was never flexible, well I was up until I was about 10 then it just buggered off somewhere which was ever so annoying. 

I have to say I am a jumper. She always made me do solos for the allegro as the french call it and in ballet terms. 

Because I danced so much it took me away from my friends a bit. I was never interested in going out and getting drunk, to this day I do not drink. It bores me. Lets just say I am not your typical 19 year old.  But because I didn't go out I progressed my passion with outstanding teachers.

I have had the most beautiful teachers I could have ever had. Miss dorothy stevens, Joe (who sadly passed away), Miss Burguss, Catherine Pearman, Josephine Cavopol,Vicky Hynes and Peter Coenen . Miss stevens was never stupid at picking who would teach at her school. She had high standards and good on her. As one student said

The things she said to me back then still inspire me today. What a woman! Often terrifying but (mostly) always right!

I now know this is who I am and that I cannot escape dancing. Frankly I never want to escape this passion. It is the Most amazing way to express emotion, to take movement to the next level. When I hear music that makes me well up with intense emotions I just know I have to dance. I also had Catherine Pearman, Miss Burguss and Josephine Cavopol teach me ballet. They were my extra classes that I would do as well as all my other classes. I think I actually danced more than I slept. Josephine was outstanding. She was sort of my idol for dance. She was cool as hell too. Tattoos on her arms, short hair but fierce. She would always say to me 'if your not flexbile no worries because all the other girls will be jealous of your strength'. And it was true. I could hold my leg in the air longest, jump the highest, I had more stamina. She told me she was never flexible and it made me feel better. I hated it when she would always make me stand at the front or do solos but she did it to make me a more confident dancer. That was the difference between her and Miss stevens. Miss stevens wanted strength and flexibility which I would still try and do but in the real world as much as I try it will never happen. I want to make Miss stevens proud, my grandma and myself.  

Today Miss Stevens is still growing strong and teaching young boys and girls her knowledge of being an amazing dancer. At the age of 4 I began Tap and modern with a teacher called Joe. I quickly learnt that Tap was amazing. By the time I got to 16 I was in Advance 2. Lets just say I was a quick learner. I could always improvise so easy with tap but modern = NO. I was always excited to get to class after school. Even if I didn't have to be there for an hour I would still go and practice in the small studio. I am a perfectionist. Everything has to be perfect. Obviously. Not just with dance but in every aspect of my life. If it doesn't go right I will do it again. So when I would be in class and I couldn't do it I would probably be in a foul mood for the rest of the day. I know that isn't so good but I couldn't help it. I am one of those people who has to be good at something straight away. It is sort of a good thing to be like in dancing because you put so much more effort in and you will end up wearing yourself out mentally and physically. You know something I would rather be like that than someone who tries a few times then gives up. It isn't in my nature to do that. AT ALL. I grew up with Hannah Brear, Emily Atkinson and Grace Cooper in all ballet, tap and modern. It was really cool to be able to grow up as people, dancers and friends. We helped each other to move up together. We wouldn't let one fall behind. I will always remember them. Contemporary. Well a teacher called Peter Coenen came back to teach after traveling the world with some of the best dance companies known. He studied at Miss Dorothy Stevens school of Dance. Every Monday for 2 hours we would do body polishing and he would make us do some hard core stuff. I loved it. haha. He pushed us more and more every week. I think eventually we ended up doing like 400 sit ups in one, plank for a stupid long time, press ups which without me being big headed did the most. Ok so maybe that was slightly big headed of me. It sounds pretty sad but we did a plie exercise to this song and I can't remember the name but it used to make me so emotional, it sort of captivated me as though I was no longer in the studio but in a blank space where I danced for infinity. When the music stopped my fantasy became reality again. He would choreograph the most striking pieces. Peter always inspired me with his imagination. Until his classes stopped. He ended up opening his own school close by which was brilliant for him but not so good for the rest of us. I continued doing contemporary at my college and at home keeping up with the body polishing. 

VIDEO TO COME.

And then I found street. It was a whole new world I was yet to discover. It took me a while to get used to it but once I got down into my steps and borrowed some swagga from the man dem. haha. Had to say it sorry about that. You couldn't stop me. I was afraid of trying tricks and lifts, anything you could give me I would attempt and sometimes accomplish or fail miserably and hurt myself. I cannot remember the last time I didn't have permanent bruises on my feet. I quite like that though. It shows my passion and journey with dancing. I am not a person to judge without trying first. So You can see why I am covered in bruises. Smily face. Amongst all this dancing I actually did a couple of years of ballroom and latin. (I think my grandma was trying to turn me into one of those plastic girls) = didn't happen. I did enjoy it though. I went to Blackpool, Scarborough and Bridlington for competitions and won quite a lot. But I knew it was time to leave when I was growing apart with ballet. July 2010 I moved to London. I was working on a film when the main actor offered me a job of personal assistant and as you do you jump for joy and say YES YES YES. So I moved to London to work for Toby Kebbell. This made me think of good opportunities I would be getting for dancing and acting. I though to myself where is the best place to go and dance in London. Well? Where do you think? Pineapple. So the place to be and where I am dancing now is at Pineapple dance studios. So there you have it. smily face. I will never stop loving dance, I can't. My veins are dancing without my dancing, without my veins I am nothing. 

I have to go

I have the urge

I need to

Escape

Explode

DANCE!!!!

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