Being a professional dancer was always my dream….. and my dream came true!! But it wasn’t without lots of hard work, dedication and large amount of sore muscles along the way!!
Let’s start from the beginning… I started dancing at the age of 3 where I began ballet lessons at a local school, I loved everything about dancing but gymnastics was also a huge love of mine too, so I did both for many years. When I decided to quit gymnastics around the age of 10, I decided I wanted to take dancing more seriously and moved dance schools. This is where things really started to change for me. It was like a whole new world, so professional, everyone worked so hard and the expectation of behaviour, appearance and attendance was very high- but I absolutely loved it and began to thrive!!! I was unfortunately very behind for my age in terms of skills and the syllabus my school taught. My teacher said that even though she saw a lot of potential in me I still needed to train in the basics before I moved up in the levels. So I began from the beginning with a class much younger than me. I sometimes felt so silly and wished I was able to join the girls my age but now I thank my teacher everyday for making me learn my craft properly. I started to speed through my grades and I also started to compete in dance competitions, where I began to win medals and trophies. We couldn’t believe how much I had improved. I was absolutely obsessed with dancing and practiced every chance I could and I always came into class knowing what I was doing. It soon became very clear that this was what I wanted to try and do for a career and I started to audition for full time performing arts colleges. This was so scary!!! I wasn’t much of a singer so started to have singing lessons as for the audition we had to do a jazz audition, ballet audition and then perform a song and an acting monologue. I ended up being offered a place at 4 full time dance colleges. AMAZING! I was offered a part scholarship for one school so ended up moving across the country at 18 to begin my new life and studies…..
This was the hardest 3 years of my life!! Blood, sweat and tears, literally! We trained from 8.30am to sometimes 9pm in the evenings. I would have to go down the stairs on my bottom some mornings as I was so sore! I was put in the top sets for dance but the bottom sets for acting and singing which was expected as I had never studied these before. In my first year assessments I got top marks for my whole year for ballet and I was up there for jazz too, it was all going so well until … BOOM.. I got sick with glandular fever. I ended up being bed bound for 3 months and missed my 1st year showcase. I was absolutely heartbroken. I continued to suffer with the illness for the next 2 YEARS! I kept on trying to go back to college and every time I did I ended up in hospital again, it was really taxing mentally and physically. I still believe that if I did not have so much love and dedication for dance I would have quit as my body was giving me every sign possible to stop. Luckily I didn’t and I made It through to my 3rd year. During my time at college I got some amazing opportunities to work with incredible choreographers and even dance in professional shows and on TV shows like Britains Got Talent and The One Show (a prime time TV show in England). I loved every minute and it was a little taster into what life could be like after college. Sometimes when things are really hard a little inspiration and a reminder of why you are putting yourself through all the pain is the little bit of magic to get you motivated again. After 3 hard long years (but the very best years of my life) I made it to my graduation showcase in London where I ended up gaining an agent!! At the showcase they had our biographies and headshots in the foyer and all of Londons biggest agents were invited to come and watch and then could take our information if they were interested in us. I bet you’re wondering what an agent is or what they do? They are able to get you a place in an audition or a casting for a show ect. Some auditions will be closed so you can not actually attend them without an agent. So I was super happy!
From here my auditioning life began….
On my last week of college I did my first real audition and actually got offered the job! This was a 6 week contract to be a dancer In a pantomime over Christmas. I was so happy! I loved every minute of this job and it was an amazing experience for a first professional paid job, literally I was getting paid to dance everyday, I’d achieved what I had always wanted! After this I went back to auditioning and I would go to any audition I could get my hands on. Whether that be one from my agent or just an open audition where anyone could go. At the same time I had a waitressing job so whenever I was not at auditions I had a form of income. It becomes really challenging as usually you need to be in London in full hair and make up queuing to go into the audition very early and I would finish waitressing at midnight sometimes, the balance was always tricky. My first few auditions didn't go very well, which when I look back now was expected as it was something I had never experienced before. I would go to maybe 3-4 auditions a week after that and when you keep getting rejected it becomes a very hard mental battle. When auditioning there is usually rounds; So you will learn a piece of choreography and perform it straight after in small groups, at the end of performing it the judging panel will either keep you for the next round or cut you and say it is a no for today. It is very brutal and sometimes they will cut you before they have even seen you dance, it could just be simple kicks from the corner. Imagine getting the train into London at 5am in the morning and queuing outside for hours to get into an audition and them cutting you before you have even danced because of the way you look and just because they ‘aren’t what they’re looking for’, it could be so frustrating. Then I started to get through the rounds of a lot of auditions and got to the last groups many times, however I kept being told that my height was the problem, not my dancing. Very frustrating when my height was one thing I just could not change or improve. Also if you get to the last round they will often take all of your information and say that you are being put on the companies ‘books’ and that when a contact becomes available they will contact you. A whole year on and I was STILL going to this many auditions and being rejected or just never hearing anything from the companies that took my details. I had got to the end round of about 20 auditions by this time. I remember calling my dad and saying ‘I just cant do it anymore, I cant take the rejection, I think I need to stop’, but thankfully I have super supportive parents and they kept encouraging me to keep going, I was so close to being offered something!!
Then finally the email I had been waiting for came, I had been offered a contract! It was for a touring company that was going to be based in Tunisia, Africa! I was so excited, relieved and just happy for any offer! I quit my waitressing job and off I flew to Tunisia. My team of dancers that I was with were amazing and made the experience so enjoyable. We started rehearsing and the shows were challenging, the heat was challenging, but I didn't care, I was living the dream. Then, just when I thought everything had finally fallen into place, the company I was working for went bust and couldn’t afford to pay us! I was so devastated!! Another set back, I just couldn’t believe my luck. I flew back to England and about 3 days after arriving back me and my Mum drove to London to go to a private audition for Princess Cruise Lines that my agent had gotten me. I had always wanted to work on cruise ships and had got to the end of so many auditions, my height had just always gone against me. This is where my luck started to change…
I kept getting through the rounds, we did a technical jazz round, a heels round, tap, then we went back to the jazz routine and then there was a group of about 10 of us left (it started at a bout 300). They sat us down and said that we were all being put on their books and being considered for contracts (yay), however there was a brand new show coming to Princess that was being created by Stephen Swartz (known for creating the music for Wicked, Pocahontas, Pippin and many more). They said they needed to film people they were considering for this show to send off the footage to the Directors/ Choreographers of the show in New York! There was only 4 names called out to be filmed, 3 boys and ME! I was the only girl left standing, I was so nervous and had to dance solo for the panel and the camera. I left the audition feeling really good and I thought I must have a good chance of getting any contract with them even if it was not for the new show. The next week or so was a nervous wait and I started to think that I hadn’t done it and I wasn’t going to hear from them. But then my agent called and said that I was being offered a contact for the Emerald Princess which was premiering the brand new show ‘Magic To Do’. Finally!!! I the break I’d always been waiting and working for. A cruise ship AND premiering a new Stephen Swartz show! The ship was going to be travelling around Europe and then crossing to the Caribbean…
I flew to LA for rehearsals and met my cast. We learnt 4 full production shows and then a few other mini shows that were to be performed in different areas around the ship. It was so much information and choreography but I loved every minute. Then we began learning the brand new show with the New York director and Choreographer and It really was a dream come true. We had a make up artist come and teach us how to do our make up as we were magical creatures and we went through the whole creative process of putting up a brand new show. That contract was so special from start to finish. At the end of the contract we had to reapply to get another ship/contact and it is based on footage of the shows onboard and your appraisal from your company manager. I was offered another contract straight away and was so ready to go back as fast as I could. I started to prove myself as a valuable cast member of the company and went on to do 6 contracts with Princess over 5 years and also got promoted to Assistant Company Performance Manager. The last contract I did unfortunately ended because of Covid but I was so lucky to have the amazing career that I did on ships. I visited and performed in 52 countries and performed over 15 different shows. It really was worth every bit of heartbreak and I am so lucky to have had a career that I LOVED. Not many people can say they got paid to do their passion and what they love most in life…
The moral of this story is that dedication, hard work and perseverance will always pay off! Sometimes things don’t go your way but if you love something enough and keep trying you will get there eventually. It doesn’t come without a lot of hard work but wow, its worth it when you get there!!
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