I graduated from Elmhurst Ballet School disciplined, driven and always willing to improve my skills. The school is known for its association with Birmingham Royal Ballet and for nurturing exceptional dance professionals.
Up until Covid 19, I received training in state-of-the-art facilities. It was during Covid and the move from face-to-face teaching to a learning environment on zoom that I understood the limitations of my hearing. One year on, and I have an enthusiastic attitude toward a career in the Creative Arts Industry. I am a dance instructor for Amplify Talent, teaching Ballet, Cheer, and Acrobatics. I enjoy passing on my knowledge and nurturing the next generation and regularly lead dance classes in Harbourne, Aldridge, Cannock, Birmingham, Liverpool, Cheltenham and Oxford. I also teach a course in Ireland via zoom.
My dance career began with Birmingham Royal Ballet for “The Nutcracker” performance at the Birmingham REP. Another opportunity connected with Elmhurst included participation in an international Ad Campaign titled ‘Surpass Your Potential’ that appeared in Dancing Times Magazine. In August 2021, after a recommendation from Johnny Autin, I was invited by Deaf Explorer to join Billy Read in the studio and make Forbidden Identity. My first performance outdoors was at the Big Feast arts festival in Stoke on Trent. The show is touring in the spring/summer of 2022 to Coventry Mansfield, BIDF, Great Yarmouth, and Castlevale – Birmingham. In September 2021, I joined choreographer Mark Smith and participated as a dancer in the Paralympic Homecoming Ceremony. I have been asked to join Deaf Men Dancing for a performance at Birmingham Weekender and will be a dance captain co-creating with Deaf and Hard of hearing young people from the Black Country.
Deaf young people see me as a role model. Ruth Montgomery, the founder of Audiovisability, a charity that challenges perceptions about Music and deaf people, asked me in September 2021 to deliver dance and creative art workshops to visualise music composition. My confidence as a dancer working in a creative setting is growing. Between September 2021- August 2022- I joined a project exploring the waterways in Coventry, choreographing and devising Dance works. It was an accessible show for disabled children called “Coventry’s Chaotic Canal”, produced by Lucy C Hayward.
In 2022, I am collaborating with Billy Read on his co-creation project, “Cog in the Wheel”, which began with a residency at Level centre, Derbyshire. I have danced at Balsall Heath Farm, Deaf Cultural Centre, Birmingham and was a dance leader at Bristnall Hall Academy in Sandwell. Together we made a performance for parents.
Troi Lee invited Billy Read to be part of his Deaf Rave at BIDF. Billy invited the team of dancers who had been making “Cog in the wheel” to join him