Tuesday, September 29, 2009

My CV

My name is Natasha Massie and I am 20 years old. I graduated from Elmhurst School for Dance in Association with Birmingham Royal Ballet in July 2009 with a National Diploma in Professional Dance. I spent four years training there, before which I was at The Arts Educational School, Tring Park where I trained for five years between 2000 and 2005.

At Elmhurst I was lucky enough to be trained by world renowned dancers such as Desmond Kelly, Irek Mukhamedov, Patrick Hinson, Samira Saidi, Gloria Grigolato and Theory Mountain.

Although my primary focus has been Classical Ballet I have branched out into a variety of different styles including Jazz, Tap, Character, Contempory and Flamenco, achieving high standards in all. I also have a passion for singing which I have pursued to a professional level obtaining my Grade 8 Classical Singing with the Royal Academy of Music and becoming an Associate with the London College of Music.

I was encouraged to do dance exams as well and have subsequently become an Associate with the Royal Academy of Dance as well as taking my ISTD Advanced 1 in both modern and tap.

One of my first West End performances was at the London Coliseum with Irek Mukhamedov in 'Irek Mukhamedov and Friends'. Since then I have been fortunate enough to perform extensively.

The highlight of which was dancing on the 2008 Autumn Mid-scale tour with the Birmingham Royal Ballet, dancing at The Birmingham Hippodrome, Wales Millenium Centre, Edinburgh Festival Theatre and Sadler's Wells as one of the wives in Fokine's 'The Firebird'.

I was also involved with the annual Summer productions at Elmhurst, the most recent being Kennith MacMillan's Elite Syncopations in which I danced the Golden Hours pas de deux, as well as Micheal Ho's Conspirito and the role of Graziella in West Side Story. I have also danced in Birmingham Symphony Hall in Patrick Hinson's 'Midsummer Nights Dream'.

I have decided to extend my qualification to a BA(Hons) as this will enable me to undertake the MSc in Dance Science, as dance rehabilitation has always been an area I wish to pursue. As a person I am hard working and dedicated with a desire to achieve the best that I can. I am also a friendly and outgoing person and I feel that these attributes will enable me to succeed in the highly competitive dance world.

I have had a fantastic experience within the profession so far and can't wait to see what the future has in store for me!