As a young boy, I was part of Kids 4 Kids: a charity based disco dance troupe in Morley ( South Leeds) established to give less fortunate kids opportunities to develop their dancing skills as well as raising money for other children charities, this is where my dance journey began and I’m proud to say that to this day I still offer children opportunities the chance to engage in the arts and dance through the committed work I do with balletLORENT.
I have also acted as a workshop leader, dance captain, facilitator and performer in large scale outdoor community participatory events such as Games Time with DEDA for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, The Great North Run and The Great North Star for The Great Exhibition of the North. Love Struck for balletLORENT and Stockton International Riverside Festival where I performed alongside adults and children from surrounding communities. I take extreme pride in all the work I do with the community and the projects I’ve been involved in and ran over my professional career, it’s a big part of who I am.
MENTOR// ARTISTIC ADVISOR
I have always been passionate and interested in sharing my knowledge and progressing dance forward. I have acted as an Artistic Mentor and Artistic Advisor for young dancers, emerging dance makers and established choreographers. For balletLORENT I have acted as a Mentor for Northern School of Contemporary Dance and The Place Postgraduate Diploma Programmes. Other Projects I have worked on as Dramaturg support and Mentor include Adam Russell’s ‘Fairground Reminiscence’ (gallery exhibition work) Alicia Meehan’s ‘ When Saturn Returns’ Gary Clarkes ‘Ravenous’ for Dance Limerick and Hit The Ground Running Dance Theatre ‘Macho and Macho Digital.
Gavin says
“It is exciting to be a part of someones initial conversation and reason to make work and hear and witness the ‘seed’ and grass roots of that idea come to life. I try to constantly offer questions and have a curiosity about what is emerging. I try to encourage artists to ‘keep pushing’ the creative investigations by welcoming the joys of risk taking and experimentation. I encourage space for ‘failure’ and the benefits of the trail and error process. This is done through open conversations, structured play, questions, outcomes, possibilities and ways to move forward. This process goes hand in hand with offering detailed guidance and approaches to performance and delivery.”