Hi folks, my name is Xavier Roxby Singer-Kingsmith and my pronouns are he/him. I’m a transgender neurodiverse creative. I work as a freelance filmmaker in the fields of dance, music and fashion. I currently reside in Brixton, South London with my partner. I would have done a video but there is covid in the house and I don’t look great. Anyway, I began ballet at the age of five and soon quit thereafter as the instructors insisted I wear a pink tutu. Ten years later I watched Wim Wender’s film ‘Pina’ in the cinema, and it excited me more than anything I’d ever learnt at school. I became very obsessed with choreography, choreographers and following Pina Bausch’s work. At that stage I had pretty poor technique but a lot of passion for the subject and a determination to get better. I then went on to study BA Dance and Choreography at Falmouth University. It was a great place to train and harness my creative power. During my time there I also studied dance in other contexts like dance for screen. I loved making and watching dance films: it was really what inspired me to go to University. In my third year I went for a funding opportunity to make a short dance film in partnership with Channel 4 for (Random Acts), supported by South East Dance, Screen South and Fractured Films. I was awarded the commission and went on to create ‘The Kaleidoscope Boy’. It was so fun! I learnt a lot about the process of choreographing for film and producing. I then continued after graduation to make films and apply for short film grants. Last year I landed a commission to write / direct ‘Unapologetic’ for BBC Arts. It’s a short film about exploring different gender identities through costume and dance.  

A bit of my journey that’s not in my bio is that after my degree ended, I sunk into a clinical depression. My mental health was in a bad state and I felt very invisible to many that loved me. I knew that something was wrong, and I hated my body. It took me a long time to want to dance again and to feel creative. After years of hiding and questioning I finally accepted that I was male. Once I came out and started to reach out to local LGBTQIA+ charities in Brighton where I was born, it got a lot better. I found a new trans queer family. I spent a few years working for a charity called Extratime as a carer in Brighton. Extratime provides care and support for children and young people who have special needs and disabilities in West Sussex. I really enjoyed working there. It gave me a purpose. I love to help people and it was useful to focus on other people’s needs and not feel stuck in my head all the time.  

Advice I would give to someone who’s graduating now is to get a job, if you can... Just work anywhere and it doesn’t have to be dance related. Actually, it’s better if you land a totally shit job. I’ve worked many bad jobs. The worse your job is the more you’ll understand what your goals are and who you are.

Save money! Seriously. Then you can survive a surprise crisis like the Covid pandemic. Try to enjoy being young, go out with your friends, party and laugh! There will be ups and downs in your life, and they’ll last longer than a day, week, month or year. My brother said to me a few years ago you can’t feel joy without the sadness. That’s always stuck with me. And also, Bob the Drag Queen’s saying ‘Baby! shit is the best fertilizer because it helps flowers grow!’.

I feel way to on the fringe of the dance world to offer any suitable advice on how the sector should be moving forward post 2020. But I really want to go see some dance right now and I hope that the government relises that the arts bring more than money to the UK. Although we do bring about 10.8 billion a year… just saying.