This is my first blog post and as I sit here poised to introduce myself to you all I realise that this may actually be the first time I have been required to sit and reflect on myself since I was working as a dancer and needed to update my CV and promotional material. There has usually always been a clear objective in anything I have written for many years (feedback, delivery notes, a production or event etc) and there has been very little requirement for me to discuss myself or my work in anything more than basic level, so this is new territory for me.

Currently I am the Artistic Director of Ballet Theatre UK and Head of Training at our feeder school, The School of Ballet Theatre UK.

Becoming Director was not a job that I applied for but more of a position I evolved into having founded the company myself over ten years ago. The company came into existence as a platform to provide classical graduates and young professionals with another option for employment in the UK and it was my ambition to help enrich the culture of British independent dance companies. I had been inspired after spending much of my dancing career working in the US where classical ‘workshop’ companies and projects are much more prominent, San Francisco’s Lines Ballet, featured in Adesola blog post today, Ballet Met in Ohio and also Ballet Memphis are wonderful example of this.

Ballet Theatre UK started on a very small scale and brought together only a handful of artistes to collaborate on a small gala season of repertoire and new works. Over the past decade it has grown and now employs over 18 company dancers on annual contracts and a supportive team of ballet staff, stage technicians, Physio’s, wardrobe staff and administrators to help the company present over 150 performances a year.

Nearly all the work we present is my own choreography, I like to think the style is predominantly classical with a contemporary edge that helps 2-hour ballet performances become a little more palatable for our regional audiences. We are just about to finish our winter production of ‘Beauty and the Beast’ next weekend after 58 performances and today is also the first day of rehearsals for a new production of Swan Lake that will open its tour in March.

(if anyone would like to find out more about the company and its repertoire, please visit BalletTheatreUK.com)

With the company evolving into something more stable and long term I began to realise a greater need to invest in the development and training of young dancers, developing a feeder school would be vital if we hope to build a lasting identity as a British tour ballet company.

In September 2014 we opened the doors of our full-time vocational training programme, we now have 36 students enrolled on the BA (hons) Ballet Performance programme. That same year we also moved from rented studios in London to our own building in Hinckley, Leicestershire and now benefit from three large studios, wardrobe department and offices within the building. Moving to Hinckley has allow me to provide the dancers with a much more detailed and lengthy rehearsal/creative process as I am no longer limited by budgets or availability of studio space. Personally, I have found that the move out of London this has afforded me a greater focus on the quality and authenticity of my choreographic work.

I also have a second role within the organisation and as Head of the training programme my role has evolved greatly, from delivering much of the practical trainings in the early years to now overseeing a faculty of nine lectures, the admissions office and administration team whist maintaining our university and academic partnerships.

I find this role comes with a great deal of rewards and satisfactions as I see our students graduate into our own company and other companies around the world.

As the course has evolved, I feel my teaching style and approach has altered drastically and I look forward to investigating this further as I submerge myself in the first module.

Recently two of the students in our final year have been offered employment contracts with a ballet company in Connecticut, US and this has led me to repeatedly question if the students are progressing due to the commitment of the faculty and our united approach or are the faculty members becoming more empowered due to the commitment and focus of the students? Inspiration and motivation seem to be blossoming from both sides of the equation this semester.

If anyone is interested in leaning more about the school, I will add a link below, otherwise I am very excited to begin this journey and am looking forward to getting to know you all (and myself) in a lot more detail.

(BTUKschool.com)