Tag: RAD Q&A

Congratulations on becoming the RAD’s new Chief Executive!

Thank you – I’m still pinching myself!

Why did the role of CEO appeal to you?

First of all is my love of dance. I have a bit of heritage here – a relative, Mary Honer, was a leading dancer with the Vic-Wells Ballet in the 1930s before going into musical theatre. I used to pore over pictures of her. I then did ballet and my RAD exams as a child, and have continued to dance throughout my life. I was never going to be a professional dancer or teacher, but it’s been very important to me. Now I take classes at the RAD: adult ballet and Silver Swans. And I’m an RAD member!

Because of that love of dance, I did a cold pitch to the RAD, asking: can I be of use? For the last year, I’ve been on the Finance and Risk Committee. When, to everyone’s surprise, Tim Arthur [the previous CEO] left, I thought: Now is my time.

And how does your work background fit the RAD?

I started my career in the arts – at Sadler’s Wells, the Academy of St Martin in the Fields and an artists’ agency. I then trained as a teacher, but although I enjoyed it, it wasn’t quite my thing. Then I went into the civil service: most recently, I was chief executive of an agency of the Treasury and then a non-executive director of a professional membership body. So the RAD role is an amazing blend of everything I’ve done.

It is a very varied career – is there a connecting thread through it?

I’m not someone who had a life plan. I have always loved the arts, and have learned that it’s important that one’s personal values and the values of your work are very aligned. For me, public service spoke to my personal values. The RAD is also about what is good for individuals and society. So I can see that thread running through my career. In the end, it’s about taking opportunities when they come your way. 

Many of your leadership roles have involved ensuring value for money and achieving financial targets. Are you comfortable with those fierce conversations?

Yes, I’ve had quite a few difficult conversations. I ran an efficiency programme at the House of Commons, and in my most recent role reviewed how effective government organisations were. But my belief is that everybody, in the end, is trying to do a good job. I find people fascinating, so it’s about trying to understand their perspective, so that you can have a meeting of minds. For the RAD, I feel that if we do right by our members and do right artistically, then the money will follow.

Are you still enjoying dance classes?

I have just loved my three classes a week, and hope I can continue them. I had a double hip replacement three years ago, and dance has been an amazing part of my rehabilitation. I’ve also made a wonderful social network through it. It’s fabulous. 

Is it important to you that you’re the first female Chief Executive of the RAD?

Some people have commented that it’s great to have a female CEO. I’m really glad that that is important to members, but I want to be a good CEO first and foremost. I’m very happy to talk to members about my experiences. It’s not always been plain sailing, so I’m always keen if there’s anything I can do to support other women. If it inspires other people, that’s great, but it’s not what I’m going to be leading on. 

The RAD has been through several years of change – is there more to come?

We have only just got an exciting new strategy, but there are still priorities to be decided within that. I want to take time to engage with the directors, the board and our members, so that we get those priorities right. Come back to me in a year’s time, and we can have another conversation!

The RAD is such a varied organisation – where do you begin?

The RAD is a whole multitude of things – a lot of people only see a segment of it. I’m interested in understanding how we can do well by our members, and create a sense of community. The challenge for any organisation with a history as long as ours is: how do you esteem the history and traditions, while also changing for the future? We have our exams, which always need to keep refreshed. We educate teachers – what does that look like for the future? And I’m also interested in the Benesh Institute, and the application of modern technologies to choreography and notation. There’s so much to explore – I’ll be like a child in a sweet shop!

What are you most looking forward to about the role? 

I’m really looking forward to getting out and listening. That is my job in the first few months. Listen, listen, listen. The RAD is a global organisation with a global membership – I want to understand all the different perspectives. So I’ll be listening hard.

What first drew you to Rambert Grades?
I wanted a contemporary syllabus that would support my students as I believed it should. The syllabi that were out there were very rigid and stuck in time. I was concerned that they weren’t very reflective of contemporary, which is this evolving, breathing, changing thing. I tried to create something holistic myself, that would advance kids technically, but also allow the creative exploration that I felt was so important. It went well but it was just me. As soon as I heard whispers about Rambert Grades, I absolutely knew that was what I needed and jumped on board. It is everything I hoped for. The syllabus is reflective and encapsulates all of the history but it’s evolving, just like contemporary dance.

How have your students taken to Rambert Grades?
The structure makes sense to them. My students primarily come from a ballet background and are familiar with the process of exams. They look forward to exams, because they like that structure and the reward at the end. The second thing is the ownership they have over the material. Because the music isn’t set, we work collaboratively to find a playlist that they love, and, they get to choose the exercises and film their exam. They have a voice.

For ballet dancers, contemporary dance can develop the creative choices that they make. Then, when they come into their ballet class, they’re already thinking very openly and broadly. It also helps on a technical level, and emotionally being able to connect with the joy of movement. I find that the two work hand in hand together.

Is Rambert Grades building a community of teachers?
There’s so much support for the teachers, and they carry you along each step of the way. 

How do you use the material by leading choreographers like Hofesh Shechter and Alesandra Seutin who contribute to the syllabus?
There are three strands: Technical, Creative and Performance. Within the Performance strand is a solo that the student performs, a different solo for every grade. They all are so beautiful and link together. At the moment, there are two separate streams – you can choose the Hofesh stream or the Alesandra stream, depending on the dancer and what type of music they enjoy. Both choreographers are so grounded, really connected with musicality and rhythm. 

What was your own dance journey? 
I fell in love with ballet very early on, and progressed through RAD levels here in Perth. I did dabble in a little bit of contemporary, but I was a ballet kid. I ended up the other side of the world at Northern School of Contemporary Dance in Leeds, UK, which was a huge plunge. When I graduated, I realised that my passion was in teaching. I loved contemporary because it’s so inclusive and it can involve so many practices of pedagogy. 

What has Rambert Grades given you as a teacher? 
It’s made me a lot calmer. I feel supported, and it’s made me think differently. One thing I love is how accessible its language is: the terms are very anatomical. If you use that same kind of mindset in ballet, you get different qualities out of the students. It’s allowed me to explore different teaching practices to help the students improve and achieve a broader range of outcomes. 

What would you say to any RAD teachers who are curious about Rambert Grades?
I’d describe the unique opportunities that the syllabus provides in terms of its thinking: its inclusivity and individuality makes both the students and you stronger. The RAD syllabus already asks teachers to be creative and develop their own training exercises. RAD ballet teachers are incredible, and Rambert Grades draws on skills they already have.

Congratulations on the new role! Having spent your career in the gymnastics world, why did you want to move into dance and the RAD?

I was a gymnast at an international level, and was then CEO of Gymnastics New South Wales (NSW) for 19 years. I was very passionate about the sport and its people. But there comes a time where you’re looking for new challenges. I looked at the Royal Academy of Dance – the values it espouses and the vision of the new CEO, Tim Arthur – and thought: this is an organisation going places, and one that I’d like to be a part of.

How did you discover gymnastics?

Our parents first put us in dance class: ballet, jazz and tap. Then my sister got into gymnastics and I thought, wow, I’d love to be able to do that. I lived in a country town where there weren’t many facilities available. So every Friday, from the age of 12, I jumped on the train to the state sports centre at Homebush. It took two and a half hours to get there, but I was really passionate about it. What I loved about gymnastics – and the same applies to dance – is that it’s all about getting the foundations right, because if you have the fundamentals in place, then the harder skills can follow. I’ve already had the privilege of attending a number of RAD awards programmes here, and can see the wonderful progression, which reminds me so much of where I came from. 

How daunting was it to be leading NSW at such a young age?

I was 26, and had graduated in law. The organisation was in a difficult place, possibly heading towards insolvency, with a lot of community distrust. But by the time I left, we had 19 years of consecutive surplus and even after covid, which was a hideous experience for everybody, our member satisfaction rating was at 92%, because members saw that we got behind them. 

How is morale among Australian dance teachers, coming out of the pandemic?

The lockdowns took a massive toll but I’ve been inspired by the stories of the dance schools who fully engaged in online classes and kept their students engaged. The state of Victoria supposedly experienced the longest continual lockdown in the world, but they have now held a couple of awards. Seeing the volunteers who run them connect and rejoice in their love of dance was inspiring. It will take time, but the human spirit is incredibly strong. 

What do members need from their organisation?

If you break it down to its most basic principles, they want customer service. They want communication and relevant products. Each of the regional panels I’ve met spoke incredibly highly of the products, the Faculty of Education programmes and the quality of the examinations.

I’m passionate about making sure that our communication is two-way. Rather than speaking at members, I want to hear and share their stories. The RAD teachers I’ve met are incredibly passionate about what they do. I’d like to work out how we as an organisation can help them to grow and be the best that we can all possibly be.

Dance, like gymnastics, has had to think hard about safeguarding. How was that process in your previous organisation?

In Australian gymnastics, each state is a separate jurisdiction, with a national body where we come together. I used that independence to get child protection and safeguarding on the agenda. As early as 2004, we rolled out an award-winning programme of member protection information officers, training each of our 220 clubs in how to manage child protection. We later underpinned that with a child protection strategy including education programmes which trained up the community to ensure they were empowered both with information and the ability to find further information if they needed it. We were first movers on all of these things, before they were on the agenda at the national level. It was a comprehensive approach, and I’m proud of it. 

How do you take members with you on that safeguarding journey?

It’s about having a conversation with them, so they fully understand why we’re doing this, the benefits to them and to their students and the community more broadly. All schools will see the benefits of ensuring the welfare of students. Ultimately, we are a community, and where schools aren’t doing the right thing, we as an organisation need to provide support and, if necessary, to act. Fundamentally, for me, child protection and safeguarding are non-negotiable, and I’d like to see more regulation in this area, including by the RAD at school level.

I think everybody wants to do the right thing, so I’m optimistic that the dance community here will come along for this journey.