I became interested in movement out of necessity as a result of physical problems that I had with myself ever since I was born. I have been working consciously with movement now for nearly 30 years and these days most people don’t see that I had such problems before.
My journey back towards recovery began when I was 24 and suffering from terrible back pain. At the time I was working as a journalist in London (1989). I turned to osteopaths for help who encouraged me to swim. This was contrary to medical advice I had received when I was 14 which was: “to lead a sedentary life: not move to much, avoid lifting things and never lift anything heavy.”
Swimming not only made me feel better but rekindled a childhood passion for movement and sport which had always been thwarted by frequent injuries. After a year, I was advised to take up a sport again. Wanting to avoid the competitiveness I’d experienced in my youth, I started going to acrobatics, trapeze and trampolining classes at Circus Space in London (1990). It was like a big children’s playground for adults and I couldn’t get enough of it all.
Performing arts
My first degree was in Fine Art Photography and Film. It was an interesting time as while I was being taught darkroom techniques by UK’s top landscape photographers we were studying postmodern theories and discussing the role of images in society. The politics of representation. So my shift into the performing arts was informed by what I’d learned and experienced in the visual arts.
I studied mime and physical theatre, then went on to study circus arts and physical theatre at what is now Circomedia (1991). By the time I arrived there, I had begun to get interested in improvisation as a performance mode. There I quickly discovered the Feldenkrais Method, followed by contact improvisation, and finally contemporary dance through a workshop with Mary Fulkerson. The areas that I continue to work with.
Moving to Learn
Because I started out moving so badly I have actually learned quite a lot until now. And having consciously had to learn it I am quite good at explaining how I did it. I also have a lot of compassion and patience for those that struggle with the material I present and I can honestly tell them that if I can do what I do, then anybody can.
What I’m really interested in is how we learn by moving. By this I mean not only how we learn to move, but how through movement we learn about ourselves and our environment, and how that in turn shapes everything we do.
During the many years I have spent learning to move, I realised that I was actually moving to learn.