student spotlight

Student Spotlight: Dolly Williams

March 5, 2014 by 4dancers

Dolly Williams, 27, currently works as Communications officer: PR and digital media at Northern Ballet. She is a former dancer and LIPA graduate. Dolly is also a dance writer and manages the ballet blog www.bulletinpointe.co.uk

1. Can you tell readers how you became involved with dance?

I started ballet classes when I three but not because I wanted to be a ballerina but because my brother got to go to karate club and I wanted a club of my own, it was that simple. My mum was always amazingly supportive of my interests and I got professional training until I was eighteen and then went abroad to work as a dancer for a few years. Due to injuries and some family illness I came back to the UK and I decided that I wanted to go into dance management. I knew I wanted a degree but there are no specific dance management degrees, so I went to Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts in the UK and studied Music, Theatre and Entertainment Management. This was an amazing course and the perfect choice, it gave me a wide variety of experiences and through that I got an internship in the communications team at Northern Ballet. After graduation, I was invited back to Northern Ballet to work as maternity cover for a year.

2. What do you find you like best about dance class?

When I am in class I completely zone out from everything else that is on my mind. I work full time and study in the evenings, so when I take class it is a little bit of me time to unwind.

3. What is the hardest part about dance for you?

I absolutely love working in the business side of dance now but I still find it strange and hard that I don’t perform anymore. I trained and performed for so long it just feels natural, but having been injured, I am restricted to what I can now do, I definitely miss it. When I watch dance, I end up twitching and looking like a crazy lady! I think it is that old saying: once a dancer, always a dancer.

4. What advice would you give to other dancers?

Dance for yourself and don’t give up. I had several people throughout my training tell me that I would never make it but they were wrong and I have some amazing memories and friends from dancing. No matter if you end working as a dancer or just doing it as a hobby, if you want to dance you should, dance is universal and for everybody.

5. How has dance changed your life?

I definitely think it has made me a more disciplined person. Having such a strict dance schedule as a child kept me focused and as I did dance training at least four to six nights a week, I didn’t have time to get in trouble. I am always very grateful for that.

Interview courtesy of Jessica Wilson

Student Spotlight: Sophie Holt

November 7, 2013 by 4dancers

Our latest “Student Spotlight” features Sophie Holt…

1. Can you tell readers how you became involved with dance?

I first became involved with dance when I was 8 years old and went to a friend’s house for dinner! She had a ballet class that night and I went with her. After that I started classes, dancing maybe once or twice a week until I was roughly 13. I auditioned for Hampshire Youth Dance Company (in the UK) because it seemed like a good opportunity to try something new, and I had never really auditioned for anything before. I got into the company, where I found my love for contemporary dance and choreography.

2. What do you find you like best about dance class?

I really enjoy learning new phrases and exploring new ways of moving. I find it is helpful to apply what I learn in technical exercises to a phrase of movement. I think this also shows you what you really need to work at, it challenges you as a dancer to think about several things at once, and introduces more performance to the movement.

3. What is the hardest part about dance for you?

I find lots of things hard about dance, but enjoy the challenge. I am continually working on improving my core strength to improve my control of movement. With me, I seem to be in control in technical exercises, but begin to lose it when I do choreography. I am currently trying to find the right balance, which is taking me some time, but with studying dance full time at Chichester University, I am able to keep focus.

What I found particularly hard in previous years has been the auditioning process. I really enjoy the actual audition, I like the competitiveness and the structure, however, receiving rejections is something that I had to get used to. I have now built up a tougher skin and know that I am in the best place for me, but when applying for vocational schools, there were definitely some hard times!

4. What advice would you give to other dancers?

To always receive feedback with a positive attitude! If someone is telling you something constructive really listen and take it in because it means they see something in what you are doing.

5. How has dance changed your life?

Dance has introduced me to plenty of new people and opened my eyes to new ways of thinking. I think studying dance at university really makes you look at things in new ways and appreciate what it is that you are seeing. I honestly don’t know what I would be doing if I wasn’t dancing!

BIO: Sophie Holt is a second year dance student at Chichester University. She began dancing aged eight and went on to perform with Hampshire Youth Dance Company in the UK after discovering her love for contemporary dance.

Student Spotlight: Lizzie Croucher

September 24, 2013 by 4dancers

1. Can you tell readers how you became involved with dance?

I’ve always been dancing – I began with baby ballet aged two! I suppose the age in which I became serious about dance as a career path would be when I was 16 – I was offered a place on the CAT Scheme at Laban. I had originally auditioned on order from my dance teacher who insisted I give it a go – and now I look back I can’t thank her enough for it! The CAT Scheme inspired me to be more inquisitive in my creativity and gave me the drive to push my technique further and as a result I have recently completed my degree at Laban.

2. What do you find you like best about dance class? [Read more…]

Student Spotlight: Luke Bradshaw

September 16, 2013 by 4dancers

1. Can you tell readers how you became involved with dance?

My involvement in dance began with a trickle and soon became a torrent.

By chance I saw Billy Elliot and it immediately grabbed me. After realising quite how much stretching can hurt and thinking of the associated stigma of being a male dancer, I dismissed the idea, as being “for girls”. However I still harboured a want to know more. I began to ask a few of the girls at school about the basic positions of ballet. They showed me once, twice, three times but before long grew frustrated as I continued to ask questions. The poor girls eventually gave up and with exasperated sighs, told me to come to their class. I do not think they expected me to.

The week after, I did my first plie. I remember it distinctly. Knowing that dance was what I wanted to do with my life, even as I plie’d. After moving through a few dance schools in my quest to learn as much as I could, I eventually auditioned for Laine Theatre Arts and Bird College, two musical theatre institutions. Having always been told, “it’s easy for guys”, I was confident I would get into both. I did not get into either. It was the best thing that ever happened to me. I just wanted it all the more. I did A-level exams and went to a ballet school in the evenings. I then auditioned for and went to London Studio Centre the following year.

2. What do you find you like best about dance class? [Read more…]

Student Spotlight: Florence Foster

August 12, 2013 by 4dancers

Today’s student spotlight features the lovely Florence Foster…

Can you tell readers how you became involved with dance?

I started ballet classes at the age of two like many girls do. I then ventured to street dance, break dance and contemporary at the age of ten and fell in love with it at a tender age. Once I began to train in contemporary at Rambert (Dance Company) my dance life got very busy! My teacher also worked for the English National Ballet and gave me lots of opportunities and great experiences from the start.

What do you find you like best about dance class?

You are able to sculpt the dancing body you want, but you also get to have fun and challenge yourself without the challenges feeling like chores. The goody-goody in me thinks that the more dance I do, the better I’m going to get, so it’s all positive!

What is the hardest part about dance for you?

The injuries are the hardest part, purely because they happen when you overwork and don’t think about your physical health and wellbeing enough: they happen when you push yourself too far, they happen by accident and they are the worst. All injuries are horrible because they mess with you emotionally. You can’t do what you love, and you are vulnerable and dependent on others, such as doctors and physiotherapists, to know their stuff, whilst all the time you are hoping for a fast and pain free recovery.

What advice would you give to other dancers?

If you hope to train at a dance institution as part of the performing arts education system, find the one right for YOUR needs! You are investing lots of time and money in that education, so go to your classes and work your bottom off! Do what is right for you and how ready you feel at the start of your training. I wanted to refine the skills I already had and with further training I hope to learn new things about myself as dancer; do your best, be you, be original and passionate about what you do! To be a dancer you have to be a do-er!!

How has dance changed your life?

Dance has enabled me to think outside and inside the box, and I think on the lines and boundaries of the box too! I am more of a team player now: as the first child I used to think my opinion and ideas were always best and I was a ‘bull in a china shop’ whereas now dance has given me better people skills. I also have discipline and respect for my body, and most of all dance has opened my eyes to a visual way of explaining ideas that I can’t explain in words.

BIO: Flo, aged 18, has just completed her final two years of academic education at the Arts Educational School, London, focusing on the performing arts. She recently auditioned for the Northern School of Contemporary Dance where she was accepted onto the Contemporary Dance degree programme. Flo is excited to begin three years of higher education at Northern, but will be leaving behind Rambert’s youth dance company Quicksilver, which currently complements her dance training.

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