TO KEEP IT REAL - THIS CONFIDENCE DIDN’T COME OVER NIGHT. I NEEDED TO BUILD A CLOSE & SOLID CONNECTION WITH MYSELF SO THAT I COULD UNDERSTAND, ACCEPT AND SUPPORT MYSELF, MY WAYS OF BEING AND HOW I WANT TO SHOW UP IN THE WORLD.
AND TO BE HONEST IT’S ONLY REALLY BEEN IN THE LAST FEW YEARS THAT I EXPERIENCE A FELT SENSE OF HARMONY AND ALIGNMENT. WITH THAT BEEING SAID, THE JOURNEY NEVER REALLY ENDS DOES IT? OR HAS IT EVEN BEGUN YET? ALL I KNOW IS THAT TRUSTING THE UNKOWN, FEELING & HONOURING THE UNSEEN AND INVESTING IN MY POTENTIAL HAS COME A LONG WAY FOR ME.
MY BACKGROUND
MOVEMENT HAS ALWAYS BEEN MY 1ST LANGUAGE.
FROM BRINGING MY GHETTO-BLASTER TO KINDERGARTEN, PLAYING MY FAVOURITE MICHAEL JACKSON TRACKS - JUST MOVING FREELY TO THE MUSIC I ENJOY MOST - TO HOLDING IT DOWN ON MY OWN IN FRONT OF 17000 PEOPLE TO MUSIC I HAD NEVER HEARD BEFORE.
FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE UNFAMILIAR WITH WHAT THAT MEANS , IT’S WHAT FREESTYLE IN DANCE IS BASED ON - IMPROVISING ; ALLOWING YOUR BODY TO MOVE FREELY AND INTERPRET THE MUSIC YOU MIGHT OR MIGHT NOT HAVE HEARD BEFORE.
THOSE EARLY MOMENTS OF INTUITIVELY FOLLOWING WHAT I ENJOY DOING MOST, HAS LED ME TO STUDY | PRACTICE | EXPERIENCE AND PURSUE MY CREATIVE EXPRESSION THROUGH MOVEMENT IN INCREDIBLE PROFOUND AND METAMORPHIC WAYS.
‘‘I’LL FORVER BE GRATEFUL TO MY TEACHERS, MY GUIDES (SEEN & UNSEEN), THE CULTURES & SCENES I HAVE BEEN & CONTINUE TO BE, FORTUNATE TO EXPERIENCE AND LEARN FROM’’
MOVEMENT HAS ALWAYS BEEN MY 1ST LANGUAGE.
AT AGE 15 I WAS DIAGNOSED WITH A HIP LUXATION AND AN ENLARGED CYST IN MY RIGHT HIP WHICH CAUSED, AT TIMES, ALMOST UNBEARABLE PAIN & COMPRESSION. HAVING CONSULTED WITH A SURGEON, IT SEEMED CLEAR I NEEDED SURGERY TO REMOVE THE CYST AND RELOCATE MY HIP JOINT INTO CORRECT POSITION. THE SURGEON ALSO CONFIRMED THAT I WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO CONTINUE TO PURSUE MY PROFESSIONAL CAREER IN MOVEMENT & DANCE IF I WANTED TO BE PAIN FREE.
AS YOU CAN IMAGINE, I WAS HEARTBROKEN. HOWEVER, AFTER A FEW DAYS I MADE PEACE WITH THE FACT THAT - THAT WAS WHAT WAS NEEDED. BUT IN MY THOUGHTS IT WAS ALWAYS VERY CLEAR - I WOULD HAVE THIS SURGERY AND COME BACK EVEN STRONGER & BETTER. I MADE A PROMISE TO MYSELF TO CONTINUE FOLLOWING MY CALLING TO DANCE & PERFORM AROUND THE WORLD AND MOVE WITH JOY & EASE AGAIN.
I’VE ALWAYS BEEN INTERESTED IN THE SUBLTE NUANCES, THE FELT SENSE, THE UNSEEN, THE UNKOWN AND THE PURE POTENTIALITY - IN MYSELF, IN OTHERS AND MY IMMEDIATE AND REMOTE ENVIRONMENT.
MY EXPERIENCE BEING BORN AND RAISED IN SWITZERLAND, WAS THAT MY ENVIRONMENT WASN’T ALWAYS SUPPORTIVE OF MY CURIOUS NATURE. I OFTEN FELT OUT OF PLACE, ALMOST LIKE ‘A SPECIAL CASE’ THAT NEEDED SPECIAL TREATMENT - WHEN ALL I REALLY WANTED WAS TO JUST HAVE THE SPACE TO BE MYSELF AND NOT CONSTANTLY BE JUDGED OR GIVEN FEEDBACK ON, WELL BEING ME.
HENCE WHY MY LATE TEENAGE YEARS UNTIL MY MID TWENTIES I, LIKE MOST UF US, WENT THROUGH A LOT OF INNER CONFLICT, CONFUSION, AND CONFRONTATION WITH LIMITING BELIEFS, BEHAVIOURS AND THOUGHT PATTERNS.
GROWING UP I’VE NEVER BEEN VERY GOOD AT SHARING MY FEELINGS AND EMOTIONS THROUGH VERBAL COMMUNICATION WHICH IS WHY I SAY - MOVEMENT HAS ALWAYS BEEN MY 1ST LANGUAGE.
I have participated in Freestyle Battles since 2010. It has taken some time to arrive in that space due to the nature of my movement language not being classifiable as most of the time necessary (especially back then) to actually enter and participate. It was in 2013 when I first won the Swiss qualifiers in the Experimental Category of the world renowned ‘Juste Debout’. In 2014 I won the UK qualifiers in the same category and got another shot in the Finals in Paris, Bercy.