Introduction to myself

Welcome to my blog!

My name is Nicole Valverde, I am 20 years old, a Gibraltarian and a dancer. I do not normally like to generalise myself into categories, however in the wide scheme of things, these are the categories I would fall into. They are facts. I have recently graduated from a vocational school where I trained primarily in Contemporary, Jazz and Classical Ballet. Whilst in training I realised that a vast majority of people labelled me as a jazz/ commercial dancer, this potentially limiting my oportunities in the other genres of dance. it was only until my third year that I realised this, however I also realised that I was at fault of this, as I was guilty of labelling myself before anyone could make the decision for themselves. Ironically, I am now part of a Contemporary dance company called Chrysalis London. Aside from Chrysalis, I am also working as a freelance dancer in the commercial industry, by going to several auditions and taking open classes in London. By separating both contemporary and commercial dance, rather than training both of them under the same roof, I have noticed my growth as a performer and as a person professionally. Moving to London meant working with people who I had never met, it meant having a fresh start from college, and making a name for myself. This is the reason, that I don't like to categorise myself, as I've realised that in rehearsals with Chrysalis all the cast members expect that I specialise in contemporary and so this has improved on my self-esteem on top of improving my work ethic, as I would want for their expectations to be a reality. This also works on the commercial side, as the people at these auditions and classes would too assume that I specialise in commercial. 

This is what has fascinated me most about the transition from being a student, to being a professional in practise. The ways in which different people's expectations of me have changed the way I work towards my goals as well as my own expectations of myself.

Thank you for reading my first blog!