My name is Gerrard Martin. I am a dance artist, by which I mean: a dancer, performer, choreographer, movement director, dance educator and yoga teacher.

I have created a project-based company Gerrard Martin Dance, with a mission to produce works of emotive and socially relevant dance-theatre, to teach and facilitate creativity through dance, movement and yoga; to collaborate and engage with artists across different mediums and to play, explore, create and restore.

I am also the cofounder of Black Artists in Dance (B.A.i.D) an organisation to support black artists within the dance sector achieve sustainability through mentoring, networking and resources.

As well as my other roles I am a cofounder of biggerthanME productions; an independent artist collaboration and a creative consultancy collective. I am also the associate founder of The Healthy Young Dancer’s Project, an organisation with the global aim of supporting young dancers through physical, nutritional, medical and emotional education.

Originally from Northampton, I studied at De Montfort University, Leicester and at the Northern School of Contemporary Dance in Leeds. I then pursued my dance career by moving to London to work at the Royal Opera House (ROH). I am now currently based in South East London.

My pathway from dance training to the professional field of dance is an interesting one.

After finishing my course at the NSCD I stayed in Leeds and worked as a dancer in night clubs. This enabled me to not only to pay my rent but gave me valuable work experience e.g. being time efficient, creating costumes, building resilience, helping me become versatile and adaptable and interacting with an audience.

I then secured my first agent and booked my first professional job as a dancer for a well-known cruise line company. This exciting but challenging project took me abroad, and around the Mediterranean. On the ship I learnt a lot the about the importance of communication, working with conflict and dealing with differing personalities. I also learnt these very important lessons: 1) making the most of where you are irrespective of where you see yourself, 2) it’s alright to change your mind, say no and decide when it’s time to leave and change course 3) a contract doesn’t define you, this too will pass.

When I came back to the UK, I went back to my family home, in Northampton, as I felt that it was going to be more financially stable at home and very easy to travel to London for classes and auditions. During that time, I honed my dance technique, applied for projects and auditions. Having received a callout for a dance role at the ROH, I auditioned, got the job and moved to London, and I have been here surviving, thriving and evolving ever since!

(NB the physical, technical, emotional and spiritual work is not only done when you have a job, but in the work gaps, the failures and when you’re in limbo i.e. ‘the meantime’…remember preparation and a positive mindset is key). 

My dance journey hasn’t been a conventional one. I came from a town that didn’t have much dance provision and I only started dancing at 19 years old. I had a skewed body image and lacked a strong positive sense of self. Through dance training and meeting extraordinary people along my journey I realised that one size doesn’t fit all, and that one can write one’s own story and forge an individual path. If things don’t go to plan, I often asked myself ‘how can you learn from this and adapt to what is, not what should be or could have been?’ This level of self-reflection is not easy but important for personal and artistic growth. For instance, the lack of dance jobs in the UK is apparent, but my strength was, and is, to be extremely versatile and adaptable. I thought my career was going to be as a full-time company dancer, this quickly changed to a mixed portfolio one. (partly due to the volatile nature of arts funding in Britain). I was able to use my creative skills as a superpower; which is why I have been able to diversify and work in many genres of dance/performance and within differing networks.

I strongly believe that my varied career and unconventional start in the business has helped me impact people lives on a visceral and positive level. I am an empathic artist who wishes to connect with others and help them connect to their own artistry and superpower though the medium of dance.

The advice I would you give to my graduating self would be thus: be kinder to myself, to trust and enjoy the process of reaching for new goals, and to appreciate what you have achieved.

The advice I would give to a graduate now is to breathe, follow your passion and allow yourself to adapt, flow and to make mistakes. You must be feeling overwhelmed with the pandemic, the economic and artistic crisis and the stress of finding work and keeping up with your training. I feel that you have to check in with yourself daily to see what your mental state is, and what you need from that day. Also, reach out to dance forums and communities for help and support. Set small and big goals to reach, for your own practice and continued development. Lastly, see how you can adapt to your current situation daily - use your creative skills to be solution based to solve problems.   

One hope for the future of dance that could come out of 2020 would be a greater sense of agency and equity. We all want to be respected, to be heard, to be visible to make a difference and to create art. Can we achieve all this on an equal footing? Members of marginalised communities need support from allies, so we all can have equity going forward. Be kind to yourself and fellow humans!!!