CV Personal Statement

I am by nature inquisitive and I am continually intrigued how dance can be used as a tool to develop confidence, communication skills, posture and fitness. This fascination has manifested itself from an early age, when I first tied my ballet shoes and my love of dance began to flourish.
I developed my skills year by year by attending a local dance school where I took numerous RAD and IDTA examinations in a range of disciplines such as Ballet, Tap, Modern and Freestyle. I enjoyed the relaxed moves of Modern, the speed of Tap and the performance required for Freestyle along with understanding of the technical needs for Ballet. I became very passionate about dance and developed skills that equipped me to become a good all round dancer.

To progress further I auditioned at the Urdang Academy in Covent Gardento become a junior associate. Gaining a place allowed me to benefit from the professional teaching in a professional environment and it gave me an insight of what it would be like to be in a full time dance school. I had to take care of myself, manage a timetable, find my way around and make new friends. I extended my range of dance skills, learning new genres such as Comtempary and Hip Hop.

A further progression was to become involved in musicals where I particularly enjoyed singing and acting. This then steered me towards the decision to take GCSE Drama and Music. On gaining ten GCSE’s I had no hesitation in selecting Dance as my route of progressing my education and I successfully auditioned for the Northern ballet school.

I entered the school at the age of sixteen; I had to be independent, taking responsibility for myself, living in student accommodation and being accountable for my own finances.
I had a mature approach to my work. Choreography was a substantial part of the training where I particularly excelled with my ideas and my ability to visualise the final outcome. My performance skills in drama and singing improved and I took part in many shows where all my knowledge and experience came to fusion.

Since I graduated from Northern Ballet School I attended Preston College of Further Education obtaining a range of Imperial Society of Teachers of Dance qualifications in Ballet, Tap and Modern and an A level in Physical Education.
The Foundation in Dance Instruction required me to observe other teachers and write about their teaching methods which have influenced my own teaching. For my Certificate in Dance Education I had to prepare lessons plans and my teaching was observed. I was complemented on the varied teaching styles and techniques that I incorporated into my lessons.

Whilst I have been studying, I have been employed teaching Ballet, Tap, Modern and Jazz dance to a wide age range of pupils in both state and private dance schools. Teaching requires a lot of patience and dedication, but I love to see talent flourish. I take pleasure from observing hard work pay off when a student completes an exam/exercise to the best of their ability. I enjoy teaching all ages, from capturing the imagination and enthusiasm of nursery children, to the development of advanced skills in older pupils who attend private lessons.

I have also been involved in delivering “A” level dance in the capacity of an instructor developing chorography skills, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I find facilitating the pupils, to develop their choreography skills very rewarding. I relate extremely well to the pupils and have an understanding of what they want to achieve and what is involved based on my own personal experience.

In order to develop my career opportunities I would like the opportunity to complete the BAPP degree course which will then allow me to undertake a PGCE by doing the Graduate Teachers Programme. .
I am a confident and assertive person and my enthusiastic and committed approach to studying and work will equip me well to take on the challenge of the BAPP and reach my goals.
I feel that not only will the this work based qualification facilitate me to develop further while continuing my professional duties but I feel that everything that I’ve worked hard for will be complete when I’ve done it and I’ll be as qualified as I can be for those who wish to share my passion.