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Website: www.fallingcat.co.uk will be up and running in the near future What motivates and inspires you?
Am I happy, is my son happy, is my mortgage paid? My inspiration comes from the weather, the landscape and music.
How did you get where you are now?
I shunned dancing until my late teens when I saw Paul Liburd, now with Scottish Ballet, in the Eurovision dancer of the year contest. His amazing contemporary solo, choreographed by Namron, a stalwart in the British contemporary dance scene, stood out among the bad ballet solos. He didn’t win but I was hooked and my mum took me to an English Dance Theatre youth group where I got the right mix of contemporary and ballet, and advice on where to go next. I trained at Laban Centre, London and Northern School of Contemporary Dance, Leeds, where I was taught by Namron. 
What are you working on?
Closer! a sensory movement installation for children under eight, initially developed as a classroom resource for children with Autistic Spectrum Disorders, and now on tour. The installation leads you on a journey through space and a series of environments that take you closer and closer to earth, using software that allows interactive control over digital media, with special emphasis on the real-time manipulation of digital video and sound.
Look out in autumn 2006 for Strung, a duet in which the dancers create their own score.
Where has your work been showcased?
Closer! has been installed permanently in The Cleveland Assessment Unit, James Cook University Hospital and Columbia Grange Special School, Washington, Tyne and Wear. Touring venues in 2006 include: 28th March, Creative Enquiries Conference, Sunderland. 29th May – 2nd June, International Dance Festival, Dance City. 29th June, Sightlines Initiative, venue tbc. 
Which organisations have been helpful to you?
Dance City, Arts Council North East, Project North East, and Creative Partnerships Durham Sunderland – like-minded people where the research was as important as the product.
What advice would you give to women starting out?
Make work that you are interested in and that excites you – it will excite others too. Technology is just a means to the end - what do you want to say and how can it help you to say that?
How do you see the future of the digital media industry?
The inherent factors in dance are movement in time and space, and I am interested in digital media that can alter or play with any of those factors, in real time or virtually. Digital media is infiltrating other industries and making an impact on the way people make dance so maybe it is becoming more diluted and the edges a little less defined.
What barriers have you come up against in your work?
Venues, promoters and producers speak ‘arts-speak’ and to hit the right buttons with them you need to learn the language. They don’t understand what you are trying to do because it’s not the norm so the classic statement is “This is really fun, this is much better than I thought it was going to be.”
Best piece of work-related advice you’ve been given?
Everything takes longer than you think.
Whose work do you admire?
Martha Graham – her focus on her work was second to none, she created a new dance language and was the queen of collaboration working with Isamu Noguchi, Aaron Copeland, Merce Cunningham et al. And she liked a drink or two.
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