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I got asked today what my biggest issue with dance education was. It’s for a documentary - it’s going to be a good one. (I can’t quite remember my exact words, I know they were very succinct and profound - but I had my 6 month old with me who’s trying to stand, the room was 100degrees and I have the memory of fish at the moment, even with my Lions mane) But what I do remember is… My first answer was ego. The best teachers are not those who make themselves the centre of atten

If you’re in the UK - it’s nearly summer break - and pretty much everyone is running towards it. Many studios have shows in the summer term, some people have dance exams, July also signifies when the ‘finals’ of at least three huge dance competitions are happening. For me personally June and July slow right down because other than the college shows, it’s not prime workshop time nor is there any new comps or shows for the dance schools I work for - and I’m actually glad for i

I had a student who’s mum proudly said - ‘Sweets are banned in our family’ That student sometimes came to my class with a blue tongue because her friend has shared her sweets in the break between classes. I swear I saw her one time give her dinner money to her friend to buy her some from the shop too. (Grandma also buys her sweets, she just puts them on her account instead) And the toughest part for the student. One time she had such bad tummy ache from the sweets that she ha

‘Hands up who has ever been sold something that sounded amazing and then when it actually got to it, was nothing like it said it was going to be?’ - that’s what I asked my Training Program cohort this morning, a bunch of teenage dancers from all across the UK. Unsprisingly they all came up with something. A couple that stood out were; A European city break that had been romatised on social media. GCSE dance, with the promise of trips that never materialised. There were a coup

In the last 4 years, how I look after myself has really changed. Maybe it was turning 30, having kids, heading into an algorithm wormhole of clean eating on my socials, being married to mr ‘I take 75 supplements a day and enjoy Hyrox’ - who knows. Don’t get me wrong, I eat pizza, I drink wine (not often in all honesty, more of a Amaretto sour woman), happily will nosh a bag of Percy pigs - but I’ve been asked on a few podcasts now what I do to to keep healthy and I thought I’

If you grew up in the 90’s and did dance classes (in the UK that is) there’s probably a photo of you in a stirrup catsuit with waist belt in a dubious jazz 4th or possibly in a character skirt holding a cushion… Dance exams were one of the highlights of the dancing school calendar, and whilst there’s 100 different things these days that young dancers can do, exams are still a big thing for many schools and absolutely still hold purpose. My mum is an ISTD examiner, and whilst

There’s this post floating about this week… ‘Molly Mae’s baby announcement has been shared 259k times, if she’s in your shared posts and your bestie who’s running a small business isn’t - is she really your bestie’ And I feel this. I was actually talking to one of my dance teacher clients about this today (did you know I do Dance teacher and studio consultancy?) I was saying visibility doesn’t always show up in interaction. And example I shared was, yesterdays article of min

I don’t go one day without someone moaning about Dance World Cup, it’s like some weird flex that dancers, dance studio owners and dance parents have. It’s like if they don’t moan about the thing they do every year they’re not properly in the dance world. It’s like people that moan ASDA is busy on Saturday, there’s no parking at Wembley when an FA cup match is on, or that’s there’s too much sand on the beach when they go to Greece. This article isn’t specially about DWC, or

I was searching through 10,000 photos of a dance competition to find my student. And I thought… In an album of 30 jazz solos with 29 in fringing be the one in trousers. In an audition of 200 female jazz dancers with 199 with a centre part slick back, be the one with her hair down. In a town full of dance studios using Canva templates to promote their classes be the one that hires a graphic designer. "The world accommodates you for fitting in, but only rewards you for standin

Okay so I don’t usually moan about Mondays. I’m all about time being social construct and days like Monday actually being a marketing ploy for more expensive weekends and automatically making us feel blue. But today is a bit of a ‘eurgh Monday’. I worked all weekend but that’s cool, I like my job. Around that there were other things I had to fit in and I felt like this weekend was an absolute jigsaw of realistically keeping other people happy (yes I know I can hear you shakin

Does anyone else just not bother when trying to explain to normal people what you do in the dance world? Or just deal with ‘oh you do like baby ballet in the community centre’ when trying to explain? I’m not one to blow my own trumpet, if you really want to know about me, you can Google me. My car perhaps suggests my job might be a bit more serious than what I describe it as when I meet new people. I’ve recently gained new friends - because that what comes when you have babie

Today a dance school that I work at danced in the local towns summer fair event. And in true, rubbish, UK weather it was damp, to say the least. Luckily there was a small break in the showers to perform safely but of course the drizzle began as the dancers finished. Bleak. But you know what, the videos and photos captured are brilliant. The kids look so joyous and carefree, and whilst it was less than optimum that’s one thing they’re going to remember. ‘Do you remember the ti

A lot of people have asked me to write about this. I have lots to say but also I find that it's a specialist subject that whilst I have an understanding of I am not an expert, so I was dubious. Some people send me titles to prompt me write to make a point or get some rage out. That's not how I roll. I'm trying to better my writing. Write balanced, not to biased, articles. So, back to the point! (No pun intended) How dangerous are pointe shoes? A little dangerous, but so is do

I just want to thank and be grateful for the fact those tweens and teens in dance classes (and those that dance - or any other hobby for that matter - for what seems like hours and hour after school) don’t spend their whole evenings on their phone. Someone said to me the other day ‘aren’t you so worried about when Zura grows up the state of screen time on kids and how much the teenagers are on their phones’ I appeased them, as I don’t like getting into ‘mum’ politics and pare

Firstly you should all take a look at my first baby - Pirouette Surgery®️ the book is available on my online store, both as a paperback and an ebook. And you can listen to me on audible! My interest for pirouettes began whilst training in America, I couldn’t quite believe the average amount of rotations required in some combinations. A teacher would throw into conversation that there was time for a quadruple turn without the blink of an eye. Back in 2011, in the UK, a double

I arrived in LA, at our Hollywood Grandma's house and her new roommate, Ginger Rogers comeback partner (oh, the stories they both could tell) was fast asleep and hadn't got up yet. It was 4pm, and no, he wasnt jetlagged like me. 'Where's Jim' I say, 'Oh he hasn't got up yet, you see he's nocturnal, hes spent so much of his life in show business his body clock is diffetent to ours'. Thanks to Jodie Salt for this article title nudge! I don't know if theres science behind it, or

I just took a 24 hours away at the spa. It was great and just that simple time of letting my cortisone return to some sort of normal level was very much needed. My stress levels are high because I have a baby and a toddler, and run businesses - but more recently I’m taking every step I can to not get to stressed out about the small things that may usually have knocked me over the edge. (I read the book The Dose Effect and it’s been amazing!) Today is a simple one. Rage bait

You don’t need Laduca’s when you’re 14. That could literally be the start and end of this article but I will elaborate. Please also notice the use of the word ‘need’ - I don’t ‘need’ Chanel Foundation but I like it, so I use it. So if you’ve got the money go ahead. But this is more for the parents I’ve heard taking credit cards out to purely fund a pair of shoes that their twelve year old is going to grow out of. Laduca boots for ‘theatre jazz’ classes are a trend. A £375 tre

I’ve had so many dance parents message me to write an article on this, and it’s a tricky one to fully articulate because there are so many sides to it. A teacher or workshop leader will likely pick people out at the end of class to get video footage to post on their socials to promote themselves, the event or the dancer. On paper that makes total business sense until the water gets murky because the people being filmed are mainly kids so there is some power/ego element to thi

The best industry in the world. The hardest industry in the world. The dance industry is an oxymoron from start to finish, but should you be lucky enough to be part of it, it's likely your never going to have a day in your life the same, you’ll experience the craziest of adventures and be surrounded by some of the most varied and inspiring people in the world. But how do you get to be part of this dream. There’s a few obvious ones; working hard, turning up both in mind and b