DIVA: design & define.

AUB Dance’s 2nd year show 2024,

in which i worked as graduate artist & creative/technical assistant.

The word 'diva' holds a myriad of meanings. The origins of the word have changed across time, with the meaning expanding to include a range of trailblazing artists, who have challenged the status quo and pushed the boundaries of their art to unapologetically own their diva crowns. But behind that façade, a different narrative may be present. Isolated and lonely, how can you become fearless and brave?

You exist at the centre of an extraordinary world, but only you can gather the internal strength to step into the spotlight and deliver.

Performed by 2nd year BA (Hons) Dance Students

in December 2024, at Pavilion Dance South West

Artistic Director - Jane White

Graduate Artist - Alexis Henry

Additional choreographers - the dancers, Hannah Malone, & Alexis Henry

Lighting Designer - Sam Barrett

Sound & Projection - Alexis Henry

Technical team - Scott Eveleigh and Shae Carroll

Costume Designer - Megan Shrives

Costume Stylists (Photography) - Lizzie Hodge and Jessye O'Regan

Make up designer - Teresa de Barros Frederico

Video Edited by me.

Projection Work by me.

photography by: Andy Beeson-Brackstone (Redmanhattan Photography)

across ten weeks from october to december ‘24, i worked as creative assistant & graduate artist for AUB DANCE’s production of ‘DIVA; design & define.’ i had such a blast working on this project & feel so grateful for the opportunity to work with such talented people along the way.

i was fully immersed in all aspects of show creation; including choreography, teaching, meetings, rehearsals, behind the scenes work, sound production, projection creation & ultimately tech-ing the show from the tech booth. it was very full on but such a joy, and i found it really fulfilling to slip in and out of different roles whether that be choreographing, creating and teaching my own piece (which you can see and read more about here.), conceptualising different elements of the work, managing photoshoots, creating the soundscape for the production, mapping out the storyline of the show with jane, helping to cue lights & sound or designing & editing the projection - it was such an amazing opportunity to really test all facets of who i am as a dance artist. i love & adore so many genres and aspects of the dance world so working on something so all encompassing like this was so special as i got to dip into so many areas of creating, producing & managing.

as for the show itself, it was really magical to see how everything came to life - whether that be individual dancers’ visions through their directed pieces, jane’s overall vision for the performance that she created & nurtured from scratch based on the V&A exhibition, or my own individual vision for my own segment of choreography in the show & the more technical side of things with projection & sound. i loved getting to creatively advise & help build this work up into its final culmination. one of my favourite moments from the process was when jane & i structured the show together and we were able to pull out different storylines and individual pathways we wanted to shape by carefully threading together the separate pieces that were in the works into one big production.

from working as a dancer in my second year on this unit to now coming back as a graduate artist, it was really transformative to see how the whole process worked from the inside out, whether that be the production meetings or the rigging of the lights, so many moving parts go into making something like this & it was such an honour to be part of it all - an experience i will always treasure. thank you jane for trusting me for this role. 🫶🏻