I come from a family of brilliant, but non-artistic humans. They are now the most supportive bunch, but it wasn’t a childhood of trips to the Ballet at Christmas, or being thrown into every style of dance training from the age of 2. Dance came to me late in life, through GCSE dance in school, after-school groups, DVD’s, Youtube and choreographing to Girls Aloud in the school yard. I remember the first piece of contemporary dance I saw in a theatre. It was a school trip to see Phoenix Dance Theatre at Northern Stage in Newcastle and it’s impact was transformative. Watching the performers carry the journey of each work; it made sense to me in a way that other aspects of my life didn’t. When I moved, I felt this same sense of the world.

So now, as a maker, I want to keep that memory in the forefront of my mind. I was able to access a career in dance because there were teachers and artists presenting those opportunities. Then, I was able to introduce dance to my close ones as an accessible form of entertainment, art and escapism. I was able to share a love I had developed for the medium of movement and help others to access this. I hope to make work in keeping with this cycle, with an aim to reduce the sense of elitism and barriers to enjoying dance.

Returning to my non-artistic family, it is also important to me to keep it real. To be open in my process and not to patronise or diminish the quality of thr work, but to support the audience viewing experience. To remove the fear of the unknown and uphold the belief that regardless of background, postcode, bank balance or location; dance really is for every body.