Inspirations

After attempting to get on with my essay recently I've felt myself putting my time an energy into that instead of blogging. To give myself a little break from writing I decided to look at the breakdown for the Diagram where I found one of the points we should include is influences on our practice. Personally I have many people who have influenced my training one way or another. Without these influences my practice would be very different or probably non existent today. I also felt it would be quite a cathartic experience to write a bit about my Mum as she was the biggest influence on my practice. 

My Mum trained at the same dance school and college that I did before starting her professional career. She then moved to Brazil for two years to teach dance which inspired me greatly to travel. Through movement she was able to communicate with her pupils which I find phenomenal and links greatly to the use of multiple intelligences. She then taught at the Hammond (where both she and I trained) for 30 years. As dance was her life it therefore became a huge part of mine and sparked my interest. Although as a strong willed child I never liked her guidance and corrections, I grew to realise how fortunate I was to have her help and support all the way through my practice. Her early encouragement was vital and her support meant a lot to me throughout my career on cruise ships. Sadly my mum passed in August but I promised her I'd keep up with my practice and I hope that in a sense her practice will continue through me and my practice.

My teachers throughout my training were very inspirational and I feel incredibly lucky to have been taught by them. One of my main dance teachers had a successful background from being on television, being a solo artist in a largely recognised ballet company and working with some of the most highly recognised individuals in the musical theatre world. Dance practitioners Luigi and Balanchine influenced him greatly and therefore our classes were heavily based on both of their techniques. My technique improved greatly during my professional training because of this and proved that what may be considered old training methods are still valid. I also had a teacher who trained with Darcey Bussell so through the power of professional networks we were lucky enough to be taught by her for some workshops. I was able to have more workshops/tutorials through professional networks too which have all inspired me greatly. 

A large part of my practice is choreography. I adore choreography and many teachers and famous choreographers have influenced and inspired my choreography. The works of Ryan Heffington, Christopher Wheeldon and Travis Wall have inspired me greatly and influenced a deeper exploration of my own choreography. 

I find it interesting how much of an impact those who inspire us have on out lives and that we might even be inspiring others unintentionally. I believe my practice would be very different without those who've inspired me and the wealth of knowledge I've gained through these individuals has had a large impact on my life as a whole.