Which bbodance school did you attend? Who was your teacher?
I attended Kathleen Atherton’s Academy of Dance in Leigh until I was about 11 years old. I had two main teachers who introduced me to the bbodance Syllabus, Kathleen Atherton and Clarissa Howarth.
Did you study the bbodance Syllabus? If so, which genres?
I studied the bbodance Classical Ballet, Tap and Modern Syllabi for 9 years. I think I reached about Grade 5 for all genres before moving to full time vocational training at The Hammond School, Chester, and then furthering my training at English National Ballet School in London when I was 15 years old.
Did you take Examinations? If so, please can you tell us about your exam experience?
I took examinations in all three genres every year. I always loved my examination experience; I enjoyed having Wendy Wilkinson as my examiner. Each year when it came to my exam it was nice seeing a familiar face and showing off all I had learned that year.
Do you think the bbodance Syllabus helped you progress in your dance journey?
The bbodance syllabus helped me massively! Some roles I have been cast in my career I don’t think I could have done if I wasn’t introduced to so many dance genres at a young age. My teacher, Kathleen, really developed my passion and used the bbodance syllabus to guide my learning. For example, I have recently just left The Australian Ballet where I danced for eight years. My goodbye performance was as The Mad Hatter in Christopher Wheeldon’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, a role that is purely tap dancing. The musicality in that role is key and I remember Kathleen at a young age drilling me on the tap rhythms and how to sound every beat properly so when it came to taking on this iconic role it felt very natural. I will always remember my tap classes with Kathleen.
Do you have any advice for dance students?
My advice for students is to study everything! All forms of dance! It has been key in my career and has made me a really versatile dancer. I have taken classes in so many styles; ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop, Spanish, character, Irish, singing, acting. Do it all!
What’s coming up next for you?
So far in my 10 year career I have been a company dancer with English National Ballet, The National Ballet of Romania, The Royal Ballet of Flanders and The Australian Ballet where I recently said my farewell. I will be joining Matthew Bourne’s company New Adventures in September 2024, making my debut with the company in the 30th anniversary UK tour of his iconic Swan Lake. This will be my return to the UK after being overseas for 9 years and finally I will have family and friends in the audience. I am very excited to be joining the company and working with Matthew on this legacy ballet and hopefully will have Kathleen in the audience to watch my return to UK performance.
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