I’m writing this in the middle of my summer break with only a few weeks before I return to London to begin rehearsals with NYDC.

The last two weeks of term were spent in ‘project weeks’. For this fortnight it had been organised that we were able to select a choreographer/workshop for the morning and afternoon for the two weeks.

During my first week, I chose to work with Pippa Duke, who was teaching NDT repertoire and Lindsay Butcher who was running an aerial workshop. The weeks posed a few challenges, mainly because of the 32 degree heat that we experienced (not nice in unconditioned studios), nevertheless, we survived and I didn’t regret my choices.
Working with Pippa was a unique opportunity, because, although we’ve had her for a few classes before, there was only around seven of us in the class. This made for an intense experience which called for a different approach to class, it made me more aware of a need to pace myself and also more aware of when I needed to increase/decrease the expectations I had of myself. The material we learnt was particularly ballet-orientated, something that doesn’t feel natural to me, and thus, it was probably one of the most challenging things I’ve ever faced in terms of picking up material, however, I persevered and found help in my small group around me, by watching them and finding that by not being afraid to ask for help, the whole process was a lot less stressful.
The afternoon brought a completely polar experience to the mornings. We had aerial with Lindsay which incorporated movement we were familiar with, with being suspended in a harness at varying levels. Another reason for the contrast was how comfortable I felt in this movement. There was several moments when I was brought back to very similar feelings of adrenaline rush that I felt in gymnastics. We worked with both bungee and fixed ropes which changed our centre of gravity and gave a whole new aspect to incorporate into the movement. The afternoons were more informal, with Lindsay giving tips and techniques in the basics and then allowing us to play. I found, and also observed in others that we would get on a roll of movement, were one appeared to flow into another, then the unfamiliar weight distribution would throw us and we had to resume and find a start place. This made setting movement difficult and also when we incorporated a partner, something that I was aware and cautious of. As well as the bungee and fixed rope, we used a counter balance, I massively enjoyed reacting to a partners change in weight and managed to get some massive flight in this, which was brilliant!

After a trip to Sweden, I returned to London to undertake an internship at Dance UK. Because if the early stage of my training, I opted for a general internship which would allow me experience the breadth of the organisations work. Alongside doing administration jobs, I was given tasks including researching potential funders and maintaining media communications. These specific tasks were things I took a great deal from, but I found it was observing how the organisation worked as a whole that I took more from. Before visiting Dance UK, I had little idea about the structure and was amazed how small the cohort was considering the scale of their work. It was amazing to be surrounded by people who were genuinely passionate and committed to making the work of Dance UK if the highest standard. I did think I’m not sure if I’ll ever be able to spend five days of the week at a mainly office job, however being around people who are so engaged and prepared to fight for the arts was hugely refreshing.

As I am home and giving my brain a break from the crazy fast life of London, I await a residency with the National Youth Dance Company which begins in a couple of weeks time. It culminates on the 4th September in a celebration of three years of the company. Alongside revisiting The Rashomon Effect which is the piece directed by Akram Khan that I’m part of, NYDC are hosting some kind of choreography project alongside which I’m yet to know the full details about. We have been asked to select a piece of music to bring with us, something I spent a significant proportion of my day doing yesterday. I’ve now settled with something I’m very excited about and is conjuring images up already.

Bit of a whirlwind tour of the last month or so, but I shall aim to update before the start of the term in September.

Happy reading
Hannah x