The influences on my practice are not all known on a global scale.
My earliest influence has to be my first dance teacher and principal of the dance school I went to. She had the power to walk into a room and everyone stood up a little bit taller , pointed their toe a little bit stronger and smiled a little bit harder. She commanded respect effortlessly.
She was very strict but got the best results out of us all.
My next influence would be a much younger newly qualified teacher at the same school. She taught all of the styles I really found fun , such as tap and jazz. She had a much more friendly approach and I always remember the rings that she wore on her thumbs. I thought she was very cool!
I definitely feel like I have combined a bit of both of my brilliant teachers into my current practice. I would describe myself as friendly and firm but fair. Looking at that it is a definite mix of both of them! Funny how we subconsciously absorb elements of people that surround us!
Another big influence was my GCSE drama teacher. He was outstanding. So good at what he did. I remember him asking me if I was attending the awards ceremony for school. I wasn’t planning to attend at the time ( purely because my friend wasn’t ?!) and he said that would be a shame as there may be an award for me. I attended and received a special award for performances and hard work in drama. Quite an achievement as I was surrounded by some great talent ( one of which is now a highly successful actress after training at RADA).
I remember him saying that I was the sort of person that would always receive awards and that I should believe in myself more. Those words have stuck with me.
Throughout my performing life I feel I was influenced by many performers that I have worked with. Their grit , drive and determination was admirable. I have been in awe of other performers and really tried to learn from them.
Two widely known influences of mine has been Lady Gaga and Madonna.
I always marvelled at Madonna’s skills to combine singing and dancing. I learned a lot from her whilst putting together a Madonna tribute show. In her heyday she was an absolute athelete. So fit and toned and so talented. Combining singing whilst performing a dance routine with dancers at the same time is difficult. Your breathing totally changes. It’s another type of fitness. She will also be a legend in my eyes
Lady Gaga hit the music scene and grabbed everyone’s attention. Including mine. She was so different to any other artist. Her vocals were incredible and she was a songwriter in her own right. Hugely talented lady who I have seen in concert.
I later decided to start a tribute show to lady Gaga and studied lots of her videos to try and replicate her movements and vocal style.
Each influence has represented a different part of my career and performing life. They were of imperative importance when creating a tribute show which went to he extreme of drawing from an artist and went to the extreme of copying an artists’ movements, voice and physical appearance.
