...Flux Dance Theatre

Good evening world!

I wanted to take some time to introduce you to

Flux Dance Theatre

Those of you who follow me on Twitter will have noticed me retweeting a number of tweets written by Flux but you still may not know a lot about who FLUX is and what amazing things they are up to! 

If you've been a good little blog reader and already clicked the link above to visit their website, then you'll see that FLUX is made up of many different components and that it's not very surprising to see that they have SO many exciting things happening right now. 

I was given the wonderful opportunity to join FLUX last week to help create a new piece of work. It was such an interesting project to be involved in because it inspired & motivated me physically & mentally. The company of dancers that came together for this project were a combination of professional & youth dancers. That in itself is super exciting! As a group, we had a total of four days to generate movement material and create a brand spanking new piece. As you may imagine, everyone worked their socks off and the piece was finished with some extra time for a small informal sharing on the Friday afternoon. 

I don't really want to spend a lot of time telling you what the work is based on as I'd love for each and every one of you to go and check it out on Saturday 12th September at the British Science Fringe Festival, Bradford (For more info click HERE). 

But I will tell you this...

I have discovered that I am incredibly interested in

EPIGENETICS

Here's a little video to give you an idea about what an earth I'm waffling on about! 

I'm going to leave it there for this little post but if you don't want to know more about FLUX then check out their website http://www.fluxdancetheatre.com

OR

Follow FLUX on Twitter @FluxDance 

Until next time,

Big loves x

...WHYdance?

As some of you may or may not know, I'm currently involved in a very exciting project called

WHYdance?

What is WHYdance? & why is it so exciting? - I hear you ask.  

Here's everything you need to know =] 

WHAT is it? 

WHYdance? is a BRAND NEW blog created by a collective of TEN young writers. The blog itself is written for anyone and everyone to read but has a specific focus on encouraging young people to get involved, participate and (maybe one day) decide to take up Dance as a possible career. 

Te blog itself will contain blog posts, conversations between collective members, dance professionals, undergraduates, graduates etc... & features written by artists, companies and/or organisations. 

WHY is it exciting?

It's exciting because it's a unique project that I'm rather passionate about. I've always focused on sharing information and creating new opportunities for young people. WHYdance? is another platform for me to share what I know and shed some light upon my experience of working & training within the dance sector. 

HOW can I get involved? 

1. Check out the blog ----> HERE!
2. Find us on Facebook
3. Follow us on Twitter 
4. Follow us on Instagram at @whydancee
5. Email us at whydancee@gmail.com

It would be lovely to hear from you if you'd like to get involved. Whether it's something you're interested in reading, something you'd like to write a feature for or simply to recommend artists, companies & organisations you'd like to see features from. 

LET US KNOW!!

Big loves xxx

...dance, life & the future

WOAH....

It's been ages since I last posted (sorry!) but life seems to have upgraded itself to the fast lane over the past month or so. I've been involved in some great projects, faced a few of my fears and made some important decisions.

I'm guessing that you would like the (no so) juicy details of what I'm rambling on about?

So as most you know, I am a freelance dance artist who is currently based in Newbury, Berkshire. Those of you who are also dance teachers will know all too well that the Summer term is SHOW TERM for each and every dance school/class under the sun. 

So far, I have been involved in FOUR shows this year: FAME with Park House School, Groovy Greeks with Newbury Stagecoach and the annual Dance In The Park & ACE Dance Company shows. As always it is an absolute joy to work with young performers and watch them progress throughout the years. 

As I previously mentioned in my ...Life As A Freelance Dance Artist blog post, I don't JUST teach these wonderful performers. Over the past few weeks I have been...

1. Making props
2. Hand painting costumes (33 t-shirts in fact....front & back)
3. Creating running orders
4. Designing programmes
5. Designing adverts & e-Flyers
6. Answering enquiries about DVD order forms
7. Arranging Thank You Presents for teachers
8. Editing music 
9. Being a social media whizz kid  

So there is another little insight into some of the many jobs us freelance dance people do.

I have also started working for another amazing company named Flux Dance Theatre that was founded by my good friend Charlotte Hale. This company has many strings to its bow but predominantly focuses on the theme of Moving Science. I'm not going to go into all of the different aspects of Flux's work but if you're interested then click the link above. 

In addition to this I have been choreographing two new dance pieces for Mixed Motion. I have made two pieces for the Senior dancers before but I also have the pleasure of working with the Juniors this year too! I love creating new pieces alongside young performers as it is such a valuable experience for them all. 

In my opinion, the more people you get to work with, the better! (for them and for me)

I always try to challenge the dancers that I'm working with as I believe that it's the one of the best ways to grow as an individual. I've seen so many young dancers doing the same routines day in and day out and don't get me wrong, those routines/moves are looking fierce....but I think that versatility never hurt anyone (I think it's very beneficial actually). I'm going to stop ranting about that now as I could go on for days!!

I'm actually going to skip the comment about facing my fears as I've decided just now that I am going to write a entirely separate post about that. What a treat for you guys, eh?!

Onto the big decision that I made....

I have been doing a lot of thinking recently about my career. I moved back to Newbury, just over a year ago, after living in London for over a year. I have always viewed this as a stepping stone to the next place and I am nearly ready to up my roots and move forward. 

Whilst thinking about this, I contemplated getting a 'normal' job for the sake of a regular and stable wage but the thought of sitting in an office from 9-5 each day makes me want to cry (I seriously look up to each and every person that does that). I scouted around for some potential part-time/freelance administration jobs but found nothing that would also allow me to teach/perform/choreograph. After a long while I decided that...

FREELANCING IS THE BEST OPTION FOR ME    =]

Now, I'm not saying that this is 100% the only thing that I am going to do for the rest of my life but it IS the only thing that is currently allowing me to do all of the things that I enjoy and love. 

So I have taken the plunge and enrolled myself onto a 'Start Your Own Business Course' which has 30 modules to help you get everything in order to set up your own business. EXCITING STUFF! 

I am not planning to set up the business until Summer 2016 as I think it would be wise to take my time with getting everything in order. I haven't done much yet but I have decided on a name but you'll have to wait to find out about that one =P 

I guess that's it for now! I just wanted to give you all a 'little insight into' my life at the moment. 

I'd love to hear about what you've been up to, so leave me a comment down below!

Big loves, 

Steph xxx

...Life as a Freelance Dance Artist

I absolutely LOVE being a freelancer but that doesn't mean that it's always easy. In fact, most of the time it isn't.

Earlier on today, I was thinking about why I enjoy pursuing a career where I am constantly looking for the next job, never really knowing how much I am going to earn each month and why I'm always facing statements like 'you could really do with some more work' and questions such as 'when are you going to get a real job?'

Even though being a freelance dance artist is tough, I could never see myself being anything else. For all of those people who wonder why us freelance dancers love doing what we do, here is a little list of why it is 100% AWESOME! 

• We earn money doing what we love. Life is too short to be stuck in a career that you hate
• We get to work with incredible people of all ages
• Our place of work changes quite frequently, meaning we get to go on mini adventures on a regular basis
• We have the excitement of not knowing where we will be and/or what we will be doing this time next year
• We have control over what jobs we are involved in, allowing us to select roles that inspire us and help us develop & grow 
• We have a great sense of community with all of our fellow freelancers
• We get to be creative and have fun on a daily basis
• We inspire younger generations to express themselves and think creatively 
• There is always something new & exciting to learn
• We hold more skills then people may think, which are transferable to a variety of other job roles
• Most of us do everything. Our accounts, taxes, administration, project management, funding applications, curating/programming, invoicing... (the list goes on & on & on)
• Our careers can take us down so many different paths, in numerous fields of work
• We are really in touch with our bodies and tend to look after them better than the average person. (some may disagree with this point)

There are SO many other points that I could add to this list but this post would become more of an essay if I were to carry on! 

What do you other freelancers think? 

Leave a comment and let me know. 

Big Loves, 

Steph 

Spring Equinox 2015

I apologise for the delay in posting this, I have stupidly been delaying my first blog post because I'm an idiot who seems to be going through some form of QUARTER LIFE CRISIS!

Anyway, that's a whole other blog post in itself, right?

On Tuesday 24th March, I had the wonderful opportunity to help out at the annual Spring Equinox show at the Corn Exchange in Newbury, Berkshire. This wonderful platform for young local dancers has been running for quite a few years now and was created by my wonderful friend, Laura Kelleher-Byrne (she is an absolute dance wizard, i'll have you know!)

This year there were gorgeous performances by ACE Dance Company, Junior & Senior West Berkshire Youth Dance Company's, NCYDC, D@anga and EEDC.

 The reason why I wanted to blog about this event is because it gave me an opportunity to reflect on my journey as a dancer and also realise how much I've grown as an individual. I had the joys of being an audience member throughout all of the dress rehearsals and the pleasure of helping backstage during the performance itself. During both of these roles, it made me realise how lucky the young dancers (both past and present) of Newbury are. Considering that Newbury is a pretty small town, there are endless opportunities for young individuals to express themselves through this art form. Sometimes the dance world can get incredibly competitive and nasty but luckily for me, Newbury's dance scene is wonderful.

I can't quite remember the year but I also performed at this event and it was so exciting. To think that I performed here with ACE Dance Company, then went on to complete my degree at Coventry University, moved to London and then moved back to Newbury feels somewhat cyclical.

That's something to think about eh?

 Each and every child, parent & dance teacher that was involved with Spring Equinox left feeling positive, inspired and a general overall sense of achievement. In particular, I was overwhelmed with pride for how brilliant everything and everyone was and I CANNOT wait until all of the summer dance shows to get here!

What inspires you to follow your passions? 

Steph x

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