I was a shy child. We lived in flats where childhood noise was not liked and my mother says that she deliberately repressed both my sister and I. We were so good and so well behaved that teachers used to comment on it. There was something unsettling about having such good, well-behaved children.
Shyness followed me into my early twenties until I got to the point where I knew I had to do something about it. Through a series of coincidences I became involved in drama at university where I discovered that theatre was naturally therapeutic. Every role enabled me to explore and develop new aspects of myself and gradually I began to emerge from my shell (See the free mini e-book “Shyness, the Way Out”).
I found my way into the theatre and became exposed to the improvisation techniques of Keith Johnstone and Viola Spolin. Suddenly my creativity was released, along with social anxieties, and my whole life, confidence in myself and what I could achieve began to open up.
I realise in retrospect that one of the reasons I was drawn to it was that I had a lot of healing to do. Drama enabled to explore those traumatised parts of myself. But I discovered too that theatre is not always safe. One of the productions I was involved in took me right to my edge, just as opportunities were beginning to come my way. However I was in no place to meet them and instead I needed to truly start delving into myself and face some of my own monsters.
Out of this, I started writing my first play. Suddenly I could write with ease, even though for years I had been blocked. I got up early every morning and wrote for a couple of hours. I didn't know what the play was about but I knew somehow I was accessing my unconscious. The play was
writing itself. I realised that all the improvisation work, had freed me from the self imposed restrictions of a lifetime and I could finally let my ideas flow.
Much later when I trained to become a dramatherapist, all these experiences began to make sense and I was able to bring them all under one roof. My love of theatre had set me free to express myself in the world, and the personal development work had brought me insight and understanding. I started up Making Moves because I wanted to take what I had discovered to people who like me were seeking to free themselves. The improvisation work underpins my approach, the belief that we are all innately creative. I seek to create a safe place in which people can rediscover these natural skills.
I became fascinated with myth and archetype and discovered how healing these ancient tales could be as I watched people release long buried emotions and traumas as well as expressing their joy and passion. The myth was doing the work and bringing with it the energies of the collective unconsciousness (this is a Jungian term meaning the energy that underpins everything and links us with everyone and all civilisations). It is hard to describe but the feeling is of something larger than ourselves being expressed.
One of my clients described the work I was doing with her as soul retrieval, which lead me to explore shamanism. I worked with Malidoma Some and became fascinated by the Dagara tribe of Burkina Faso's approach to ritual (see the article “The Power of Personal Ritual”). I later went on to train as a shamanic practitioner with Eagles Wing, which also influences the way I work.
Performance has always been important to me but now I see it as a means of bringing about profound shifts in people and enabling them to shed their masks and allow themselves to be seen in their true magnificence. Over the years I have created many transformational theatre projects which have produced amazing results for those who have participated.
My style is open and encouraging, allowing each individual to flower at their own pace and in their own way. Laughter and humour is an important part of the process. I share openly about my own life and experiences: as one who has been through dark places and come out the other side stronger and with renewed zest for life. I continue to pursue my own growth bringing back what I have learnt to the groups and individuals I work with. I work intuitively, sensing the energies that are present, feeding back that awareness so that negativity can be shifted and transformed. I see the “shadow” not as a thing to fear but an energy to be engaged with as a source of lost power. I have discovered more and more that the way to the light is through the darkness.
These are some of the things people have said about the way I work, which I have been previously too embarrassed to put on my web site!
“She is very intuitive and sensitive to the needs and dynamics of the work. And fun to work with. Open-minded, great inner strength, expertise and professionalism. She creates a very deep space for a wide range of emotions to be re-experienced and expressed in a safe way, allowing people the time and space to do that.” Miria, Reviews Editor
“You are a marvellously ego-less workshop leader. You empowered a bunch of potential stars to twinkle and shine. I ended up feeling like a 1000 watt light bulb!” Scilla Ellsworthy, Director of the Oxford Research Group
“A wonderful transparency. No apparent difficult in being with whatever was happening. Deep understanding of everyone's process and full acknowledgment of where they were.” Julia, Communications Coach
Biographical Details
• BA Hon. in English Literature (Sheffield University) MA in Drama (Leeds University) Trained at the Actors Institute in Viola Spolin methods (Andy Harmon) Keith Johnstone Improv (John Muirhead)
• Worked in theatre, alternative cabaret, theatre-in-education, small scale touring and experimental theatre. Companies include Thorndike Theatre, Geminii Productions, Newcastle Theatre Workshop.
• Created and performed solo cabaret act “La Dame de Flamme – the fire-eating ballerina” at numerous venues and events including Oxford balls, Royal fundraising event attended by H.M. Queen Elizabeth. Featured in press, women's magazines (She, Woman's World and Women's Realm) and Radio 4 “Woman's Hour”. (1983-1987)
• Awarded Royalty Supplement Grant by Arts Council for first play Corryvreckan , produced at the Old Red Lion Theatre. Short listed for Best Play, nominated for Best Director and Best Sound Design, won Best Actress Award (Julia Tarnoky) at the 1991 Charrington Fringe Theatre Awards.
• Commissioned work One Two Three The Firebird (Single Step Theatre Co 1993.) Midnight Madness at the Rhumba Bar (Odyssey Opera Productions 1994).
• Guest writer at RADA.(June 1995) Trainer of acting students at London Academy of the Performing Arts. (Autumn Term 1994-2001) and at Guildford School of Acting. (Autumn - Summer Term 1994/5). Director of two devised projects with postgraduate and second year students. Visiting Lecturer at the Royal College of Music (Opera Dept), and the City Literary Institute, London.
• Graduate Diploma in Dramatherapy - Distinction (Roehampton Institute 1995)
• Studio Upstairs - Diorama Arts (August 1996 to May 2002) Co-ordinator of the performance programme for members of the Studio Upstairs, an art and drama studio with a therapeutic concern. Facilitated numerous devised performances in Diorama Theatre – around themes from King Lear, Alice in Wonderland, Pantomime Fairy Stories, Poetry, Nativity myth.
• Founded Making Moves in 1996. A group was filmed for Live TV's "Mind and Body". Articles for numerous magazines in health and holistic field. Workshops and courses also in Crete, France, San Francisco and Santa Cruz, USA and for Alternatives at St James.
• Life Story (September 1997-98). Created and ran innovative therapeutic theatre project funded by Arts for Everyone Lottery Scheme working with disadvantaged young people. Based at Hammersmith Unemployed Workers Centre.
• Taught at Regents College Schools of Psychotherapy and Counselling on short course from 1999 and contributed to Freddie Strasser's book Emotions: Experiences in Existential Psychotherapy and Life
• Play A Gathering of Birds produced at Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2000 (Wise Part Productions). |
