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Stepping into new territories is always a nerve racking thing to do and having the opportunity to have two mentoring sessions working with Justine Reeve a dance artist who has extensive experience working in educational settings, developing and devising dance resources and curriculums and producing dance works on and for young people has been immensely valuable in helping me to find my path for development and new perspectives. At a time where the jump start created through the support of organisations including South East Dance has developed multiple new experiences for me to digest and consider, the guidance that this support offered has also helped me consolidate progression decisions for my company.

As an artist currently independently choreographing and producing my work, these sessions taught me the value of sharing and discussing, for sitting down with a coffee and making time to connect with others, the importance of slowing down and taking a breath and most importantly planning thoroughly. From discussing working with producers, learning how to say ‘no’, following your heart rather than your head, connecting with educational settings, writing down company values, creating a three year plan, list making, day set ups and treating myself to a new library of books, I now feel that I am able to see the light more brightly at the end of the tunnel and that I know how to plan the steps needed to get me there.

As well as developing new techniques in planning, these sessions have reminded me to allow time for change and flexibility to happen. Although we did discuss the key ideas of my new work and how to work with my target audience, theses mentoring sessions surprised me in their ability to make me look at my whole working process in a new way, enabling me to learn how to walk before I run in order to keep my car on the road and the waters clear. It is all in the planning!

Library:

1.Show Your Work, Austin Kleon,
2.The Creative Habit : Learn It and Use it for Life, Twyla Tharp
3.The 4-Hour Workweek:  Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich, Timothy Feriss 

Katie is Artistic Director of Katie Dale-Everett Dance who make cross-genre choreographic works and community projects http://katiedale-everettdance.co.uk/.