Eryn Annecy's Report

 

I started my degree in Drama and Theatre at Royal Holloway in September 2013 with the idea that I was going to go in the general direction of theatre production. I had already identified my personal strengths to be organisational and leadership skills, and I have always loved theatre. Whilst studying, I was fortunate enough to be placed in classes facilitated by Melissa Blanco Borelli who opened my eyes to the world of dance theatre and choreography. 

I already loved dance; I had danced since I was 4 years old and in 2009 started my own small dance company in my hometown, the island of Jersey. I performed regularly at small gigs as well as at island and charity events. I loved choreographing, but I would never have dreamt that I would be fortunate enough to end up in that career line. 

During my time at Royal Holloway, the biggest highlight for me was being a part of the dance society and I was lucky enough to become President in my second year. I say lucky, because in all honesty it was that role that inspired me to be where I am now! It was a combination of these things that led me to the decision that I wanted to be a dance teacher, a choreographer and a studio owner.

My greatest ambition was, and is, to simply spend my life sharing my passion with others. I knew I was headed to Bristol upon my graduation as my boyfriend was based there studying Law and I had already fallen in love with the city. The first step in me realising my dream of becoming a well-respected studio owner was to start obtaining my dance teaching qualifications. I found a great college in Bristol but there was just one problem: the fees for the year were over £1,000 and the exams that I would have to take during the year would amount to not much less again!

I’ve always worried about my finances. Students from Jersey receive no student finance from our own government or that of the UK. Therefore, I am so grateful to my parents for supporting with my fees and I am very proud to say that I supported all my own living costs throughout my time at university. It is a great achievement but it was incredibly hard to manage alongside my degree and so many extracurricular activities, which were necessary for me to participate in to start building my professional repertoire and network. 

That’s where the Kathleen Nixon Award came to my rescue! When I applied, I really did not expect to be chosen and I cannot put into words how grateful I was for the help and excited that my entrepreneurial ambitions were being acknowledged. The bursary paid my college fees for the whole year and I am now waiting on the results of my two exams! I have also enrolled again for next year to continue to the next level. This year has been my first year of complete financial independence and not having to worry about those fees, the fees that were vital to the beginning of my career, was a huge relief and I so grateful for how much easier the Kathleen Nixon Award has made the start or my professional and entrepreneurial career.

I am incredibly humbled and excited to share with you that my entrepreneurial dream was accelerated a lot faster than I expected. In February of this year I launched my own dancing school in the city centre of Bristol, in association with Bristol Grammar School – The Eryn Annecy Dance Company. I currently boast 54 students and have 7 more (so far!) enrolled to start in September. My youngest student is just 4 years old and my eldest will be 18 in September, not to mention my four adult classes that are open to all! I currently teach Classical Ballet, Tap, Modern, Contemporary, Commercial and Musical Theatre and I will be going on a course in October to learn the new Acrobatic Arts syllabus which is a huge up-and-coming genre of dance. 

My pride and joy is my elite competition team who are an auditioned group of 11 students. They work extremely hard and in the three competitions we have been to so far they have achieved 1 Overall High Score, 21 First Places, 17 Second Places and 14 Third Places to name a few! I am so excited to see what they go on to achieve in the upcoming term and we are aiming for the 2018 Dance World Cup!

I have plans in the near future for the school to grow larger with more students, more classes and soon I hope to employ other teachers to give my students the best possible dance education. I have had two students already come on work experience placements with me and I am proud to teach in a brand new, state of the art performing arts centre, which opened in August 2016. The EADC is presently looking for a sponsor to enable us to buy some equipment for our studio space and we have our first exam session coming up in March. 

I am incredibly grateful to Royal Holloway for all the experiences and opportunities it gave me that have lead me to this life decision. It feels amazing to be less than a year graduated, in my dream job and running my own successful business! This could not have happened if I hadn’t been springboarded by the Kathleen Nixon Award for my dance teaching qualifications. So, Thank You RHUL! I hope that in the future I too will be able to help and support other young people with their big ambitions and encourage them that anything is possible!

 

Website:www.erynannecy.com 

Facebook: The Eryn Annecy Dance Company

Instagram: Eryn Annecy

Twitter: Eryn Annecy

Business Enquiries to erynannecy@hotmail.com