BIO
Variety, they say, is the spice of life and during the course of three decades I have acquired a wealth of experience in many facets of the performing arts as a dancer, producer, director, choreographer, audio-visual presenter, teacher, owner of a dance and drama studio and a theatre company.
I am also active as a blogger, podcaster, author and, in a slightly different field, as a sports massage therapist, although there is a strong link between physical fitness and the performing arts. My creative talents were fired as a child when I began training at my mother's Liverpool-based Premier School of Dance and Drama.
That was where my passion for music, dance and theatre was embedded and, as a teenager, it led me to the local Everyman Youth Theatre and then the Liverpool Playhouse where I had invaluable experience in staged and community performances. I felt privileged to be involved in their productions and I joined their community dance projects with Moe Evans, who has become a lifelong friend.
In 1986 I trained professionally in dance at Merseyside Dance and Drama Centre and graduated with five teaching qualifications in Ballet, Tap, Modern, National and Ballroom and also gained Anatomy and Drama qualifications.
From there, I performed professionally and for 10 years the world was my oyster ......from touring Britain to sailing on the high seas in shows on cruise ships.
During this eventful decade there were periods between working contracts when I devoted my time to study music theory, drums and gained an NVQ4 in Business Management which allowed me to teach as a freelancer at various schools and dance studios including, I'm delighted to say, my mum's !
I set up Arts2u Ltd in the Millennium, a theatre arts organisation for educational institutes, providing specialists and artistes to deliver workshops in north west England, ranging from lighting design to Shakespeare, from Indian Dance to drama, dancing and directing ......the list is huge.
This company provided the creative team to devise, produce and deliver a few in-house productions which I was able to stage at local theatres and on tour, including my first devised one act play Freak of Nature.
I was delighted to be given the opportunity to create a dance-on-film project titled A Generation Of Visions for Liverpool's 2008 Capital of Culture year. This was devised by working with communities across the area to connect generations and put visual movement to their voice. It was screened across the city as part of the celebrations and captured on DVD.
My favourite event, though, was when I choreographed a cultural mix of Indian, Russian, Irish and collaboration of mixed modern styles for 2,000 teenage girls and synchronised them live with an overall cast of 10,000 in World In One City, performed at Liverpool's Echo Arena in 2008. It was streamed internationally to celebrate Girl Guiding UK's centenary year and I loved it ! I felt such an achievement to deliver it with everything going to plan.
A snippet of my life and pathway into dance featured in the 200 Lives Project at Liverpool Museum in 2006 when my old, worn points shoes were exhibited.
I have also acted as an adjudicator at the British Championships, Freestyle Championships and various dance and drama festivals. I also promote and encourage others to achieve their best through Dance Inspire UK: a platform to connect and collaborate to further dance careers.
Another chapter of my career opened in 2007 when, through joint approaches from Everton FC Heritage Society, I first met broadcaster, author and journalist John Keith which began a productive creative collaboration and a great friendship.
Our first co-production was The Dixie Dean Story in 2008, with Steve Hazlehurst in the title role, which has played several venues including London. Our subsequent shows include The Bill Shankly Story, Kendall's Kings and Bob Paisley:Reluctant Genius. Our next production, to mark the 60th anniversary of Shankly's arrival as Liverpool FC manager, is titled Bill and Bob: The Anfield Revolutionaries and will be staged at Southport's Atkinson Theatre on Friday, December 6, 2019 featuring Kop heroes Ian St John, Ian Callaghan, Chris Lawler and Phil Neal live on stage.
In 2017 I was asked to be part of FreeStand Films, a film production company. We are now shooting The Goal King, a revealing documentary about legendary Everton and England centre forward William Ralph "Dixie" Dean. My role in the company is project manager.