Hello. My name is Anna Williams and I am writing to you from my house in Meldreth in Cambridgeshire England. My daughter is downstairs making cakes and my partner is watching the Tour de France as all his work has been cancelled due to Covid. I am a performer, choreographer, mentor and rehearsal director. I make interactive family dance shows with my company Anatomical. And I am a part-time lecturer at Northern School of Contemporary Dance. Which seems like a lot. But like many ‘portfolio’ dance artists, I do some of these jobs a lot of the time a lot of these jobs some of the time.

My pathway from studying (at London school of Contemporary Dance) into the professional field was full of bits and pieces. I danced in operas and in small art projects and auditioned and workshopped and worked evenings selling T-shirts in London’s West End. Two years out of college, I got a job with Ricochet Dance Company and stayed for 10 years. We were a collective of dancers who commissioned choreographers to make work on us. We learned to teach, develop our training and navigate our artistic pathway. Through this experience I met artists with whom I continue to have working relationships today.

The bits of my journey that you won’t find in my bio are all the jobs I didn’t get. The auditions where I left disappointed and full of self-doubt. But then all the fulfilling work I ever had was never through an audition. It came slowly but was built through an evolving network of friends, colleagues and artists I admired. Those I did class with, hung out with and went to see shows with and watched on stage. Those I had an artistic connection with and those who valued what I had to contribute. Never be afraid to tell an artist you like their work – we all want to work with people who like what we do!

Congratulations on making it through your training. You are now a member of a fabulous club full of kind, interesting, curious people. People who know how hard you have worked to get to this stage and will forever give you the quiet nod of respect. You have given yourself an amazing gift – this deep knowledge of your body and the essential joy that moving with others can bring. It will carry you through illness and grief, give you great highs and gentle moments - no matter what you do from now on. Well done and welcome!