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How
old are you?
I am 21 years old.
Where are you from and where do you live now?
I was born in Peterborough, moved to Leeds
to study and now I’m living in London.
How and when did
you start dancing?
I started ballet classes when I was two, but
only kept that up until I was about eleven
– I didn’t fancy it once I started
secondary school! I did keep an interest in
it though and often danced with friends after
school and taught myself by watching videos.
I took it up again more seriously when I was
attending the Salvation Army in Bourne. I
went through a bit of a rebellious stage in
my early teens and I remember being a bit
of a handful. The officers there took an interest
in me however, and in an attempt to involve
me a bit more they started a small dance group.
I loved it and a while later I took over leading
the dance group and began dance lessons again.
What was your
dance course and why did you choose to do
dance?
Straight from secondary school I auditioned
for a performing arts college in Melton Mowbray
and I took both and A-Level and a BTEC national
diploma in dance. I learnt so much while I
was there and really discovered my passion
for dance. The teachers there encouraged me
to audition for professional dance schools
and I was accepted after my first audition
to the Northern School of Contemporary Dance
(N.S.C.D) in Leeds.
Dance was never something I thought of being
able to take up seriously – I was always
planning on becoming a nurse! As dance was
something that I enjoyed however, and my auditions
kept being successful I just decided to go
along with the ride!
What do you love
about dancing?
There are quite a few things… I love
the feeling of freedom it gives me when I
move, I love feeling of being out of breath
when I’ve done a hard class, I love
the nervous feeling I get before I go on stage
and the exhilaration when I take my bows afterwards.
I love that dancing is always different and
that I don’t get bored. I love knowing
it’s something I can do relatively well
and I love knowing that it is a special gift
given to me by someone who wants me to use
it.
How does dance
help you to express your faith?
I believe that the freedom I find in dancing
is because God placed that in my heart. I
recognise that God has given me dance to use
for his glory and so being a Christian and
a dancer means that I dance primarily for
that reason. I hope that when I dance I show
the faith I have in the way that I move. I
don’t play an instrument and my singing
isn’t all that up to scratch, but in
the same way musicians use their voices and
instruments to worship God, dance is my worship.
It doesn’t matter if I’m doing
a ballet class at college or dancing in church
– my attitude to how I use dance doesn’t
change.
Who has been an
inspiration to you in your dancing life?
The officers who got me into dance in the
first place are an obvious inspiration to
me – for their support, encouragement
and enthusiasm to get me involved in whatever
they could.
The teachers that taught me the performing
arts college were quite young and funky and
they were great dancers too. I wanted to be
just like them and so they also naturally
inspired me.
One of my most recent and most prominent inspirations
though is one of the contemporary dance teachers
at N.S.C.D. He has invested a lot of his own
time in helping me and as well as being an
AMAZING dancer his attitude to life and enthusiasm
has been a real inspiration.
What were the
highlights and challenges of being at university?
The people I have met have been a definite
highlight – students come to N.S.C.D
from all over the world so I have made friends
with a great variety of people from all walks
of life. Another highlight was being able
to do something I love at such an intense
level – it’s been something I
count as a privilege.
The obvious challenges that have faced me
are those like being away from home for the
first time and trying to figure out how to
handle my money - when it was there - and
how to cope when it wasn’t! A major
challenge for me however was being in an environment
where image and all that goes with it have
been really prominent issues. I’ve had
to battle with some stuff myself as well as
going through it with some close friends and
as a result times have been a little tough.
Being a Christian in such an environment has
also been hard – people pick up on your
struggles and downfalls a lot more because
they expect you to be immune from them. I’ve
discovered though that I am only human and
unlike others at college I have had someone
I can lean on in Jesus.
What will you
be doing now that you have graduated? What
excites you about it?
I auditioned last December for a job with
Springs Dance Company – Europe’s
foremost professional Christian Dance Company.
The audition was successful and I start working
with them in August. I shall be the 5th member
of the company and will be performing and
touring in theatres, schools and churches.
I will also be teaching on the company’s
apprenticeship scheme and running workshops
in schools.
I am SO excited about it for several reasons.
I will get to perform but also have the chance
to help others to learn about dance and performance
too. I am looking forward to being able to
share my faith a lot more through dance and
I’m looking forward to what I’m
going to learn from those around me. I am
confident that this is the journey God wants
me to be on so I’m excited about living
that out.
What are your
hopes for the future?
My hopes for the future are to grow in my
faith more and to be a positive influence
on those around me.
How are you seeking to live out the ALOVE
essentials of worship, discipleship, mission
and social action?
Worship is on-going and so I am consistently
reminding myself that I can worship God in
any situation. I find using dance –
to whatever music – one of the most
powerful ways for me to worship because I
get to literally leap around for God!
I have sought in the past to have someone
specific to disciple me, but being in Leeds
has made the people best to do that were a
long way away. While I do have lots of friends
who support and mentor me all the time I think
it’s important to have one person in
particular and so now I’m down south
permanently I’m hoping it will be a
bit easier to find someone! One thing I’ve
always been bad at is getting into Gods word
– it’s so great when I do, but
a hectic lifestyle sometimes leaves me feeling
like I have no time. The reality is that there
is always time for God and so I intend to
do something serious about that.
Mission is one I’m very excited about.
At college it was known that I was a Christian
and as a result several people asked questions
and a few people even asked for prayer or
if they could come to church. I hope to continue
mission by making non-Christian friends in
a variety of environments where God can use
me to tell people about him. I would also
like to get to know my new community by using
dance as a tool for inviting them into a world
with Jesus in it.
Sutton Salvation Army youth (where I am now
going to church) are fab at making us all
aware of how to carry out social action. The
make poverty history campaign has featured
heavily in the weekly get together known as
DSG WED – Do Something Good Wednesday.
I’m really looking forward to getting
stuck in with it all and learning as much
as possible about how to help people who can’t
speak out for themselves.
For more information
about Gemma’s dance and for booking
details, click
here. |
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