Looking deeper....

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?

The thing that really inspires me and makes me more enthusiastic within my daily practice, is the spirit I see in children when they dance.  I especially find this inspires me with special needs or children or those with disabilities.  When I see a child who is labelled less able, doing dances and moves with those who are not given this label, it really touches me.  It gives me the drive and will power to want to see more of this across the board, and it creates a great passion inside of me to want to do more for these children.  I really admire the lady who runs the dance school I teach for 'Denise Sasse'.  Denise taught me dance from a very young age right up until I went to college and now I teach classes for her.  She has always been a great person to be around, and you can tell she really loves her job and loves making children feel special through performing.  Denise takes in all children to her classes and doesn't treat any child different from another, I really admire the person and teacher she is and hope to grow through watching her and learning from her.

What gets you angry or makes you sad? Who do you admire who shares your feelings or has found away to work around the sadness or anger?

Anger and sadness are not usually things people would associate with such an entertaining profession.  But unfortunately there are plenty of behind the scene activities that really get me down.  The one thing that angers me the most is the amount of unpaid or expenses only jobs for performers.  People take for granted that it is something we love to do and therefore know that we will do it for free.  However, we have to live, we have to eat and pay bills like any other person in this world.  When I left performing arts college, a lot of the jobs i did in the beginning were unpaid.  I did this to get experience and be able to post it on my Cv, to hopefully get a paid job.  But so many performers work for free that it is expected of all of us and it is so hard to find good paid work.  'www.dancecastuk.com', is a website that post jobs for performers and it only posts paid work adverts.  I think this is great and it is a start to making the industry better, and making a stand for us.  It shows respect for us as artists and I am so glad that there is somewhere we can go that doesn't exploit us.



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?

What do I love about what I do??  I love the feeling that boils in my stomach right before I walk onto the stage,  I love that I am able to make people happy through dance and music.  I love that I really enjoy my job, I know so many people that just do their jobs because they have to, to make money and to live.  I hear so many friends complaining about their days.  But to have such a great passion for something, and to be able to make it your career is one of the most rewarding feelings ever.  I get great pleasure in knowing that I have changed a persons day, by helping them gain confidence and self esteem through dance.  I love watching children grow into amazing performers through sharing my passion with them.  As i mentioned earlier, I really love that theatre and performance can be for anyone, I love that I can help children with special needs enjoy dance and find something they love and can be a part of.  I found this news clip about 'relaxed theatre' really inspiring http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-22119823.  I think that we should introduce more of this, as entertainment really is for everyone.

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 think that I fully understand the transition from performer the next thing.  I love performing and I always have done from a young age but I am finding it very hard to make a full time career from just performing.  I love teaching and the passion I have for the children i teach is immense, but I think I have a lot of room to grow and I really want to increase my knowledge at every chance I get.  I found that from reading Kim Walton's blog, I realised that she went through the same tribulations I am experiencing now.  She worked in an office, and tried different careers but always knew that her heart lied with Performing Arts.  Going back to what makes me angry, I actually do wish I could perform for free all day every day and not have to worry about the real world.  If I could do that, I would be happy every day.  But unfortunately money does make the world go round.