My Life Is Pretty Mint At The Moment

So sorry for being a bit slack on the old posts!!  It's been a few weeks since my last one.  I've been quite busy though really, what with having my 25th birthday, which was awesome by the way!  Then my other halfs birthday too, was all a bit manic.  But all good at the same time.
For my birthday I had a murder mystery evening with my best friends which was so much fun!!  And it went perfectly!!  I was Dr Beau Tox and my friends came as the maid, the captain, the cabaret singer and the chef.... here they are:

We had such a fun night!

Also for my birthday I went shopping and got lots of new clothes which is always fun.  I was in particular looking for some mint coloured garments as I had read in a lot of fashion mags that that was going to be the spring/summer colour for 2012.  I managed to find some really nice mint coloured clothes from Zara, I bought myself a t-shirt and some nice summery trousers too!  I was surprised to find quite a few garments in Zara actually that I really liked, sometimes I can go in that store and not find anything that takes my eye, but this occassion was the opposite.  Here are my mint trousers!!  Love them!

So I've had a really nice April up until now!

My agent has also been in touch which is great!!!...  Last week she had a commercial audition for me, which was really good and something I had never done before so didn't really know what to expect.  I didn't get the job but it was a good experience and nice to try something new.
I had an audition this Tuesday as well for We Will Rock You, the UK Tour!!  Which would be awesome.  I've never actually seen the show but I've heard such good things about it.
So I'm crossing everything and hoping that I can get somewhere with it.  One of the things I really struggle with, when it comes to auditions is a good audition song.  For WWRY I need two rock/pop songs that aren't musical theatre.  I've had a couple of thoughts, but still haven't come to any conclusions as to what would be best to sing.  I'm hoping that I can keep building my song repitoire so that in the future I won't have this problem.

Anyway I shall let you know of my progress!!  Wish me luck!!!.... actually NO!!  Say "Break A Leg" in fact!

My random weekend

What a random weekend I have had!

It started off with Friday, I was up at 5am (Lovely!) and headed straight to Victoria to meet my friend.  I arrived at Victoria train station slightly earlier than she did so I had time to sit and relax for a while.  It was nice actually because I have never really took in Victoria station, I've always just rushed through it all.  It was nice to watch all the different people running around, from smartly dressed business men to florists carrying crates of flowers to their stalls.  It was a beautiful morning and although it was way too early for me, I was happy to be awake and watching the hustle and bustle of London life.
Once my friend arrived we said our hello's and made our way to Trafalgar Square.  We arrived at a lovely hotel there and met up with the organisers.
I was given my costume for the day which was a shirt and waist coat which were actually from the 1930s and used back then as a classical ballet costume, so that straight away made me feel special to be wearing something with quite a lot of history.  To accompany that I had some lovely black ballet tights, which I'm fine with wearing but maybe not so much walking around the streets of London.  After we had got dressed we went out onto the square and prepared to learn the routine and begin filming.  It was a really good day, we had a lot of fun and I met some really nice people.  More contacts are always good!!!
Here are a couple of photos from the day.  The first photo shows how many people turned up to do the flash mob and the next is my friend and I in our classical ballet costumes with our not-so-classical jumpers and shoes.





It was a good day and definitely something different.

On the Saturday, I spent the morning in Ashford cinema dress as John Carter, which includes wearing a loin cloth!!  Tad embarrassing to say the least.

Then afterwards we went to London to the Move It dance exhibition.  Which is always brilliant fun and especially as the school I dance at were performing there so I went along to support.

On Sunday I went back up and spent the day at Move It with an old friend of mine, we had such a good day together and all of the dancers there were brilliant.

Lots of early mornings though so as you can imagine I'm so tired today, looking forward to getting an early night tonight!

There's always a light at the end of the tunnel

So this week started off on a bit of a downer, I had an awesome weekend away with my lovely friends in sunny Manchester.  We had great fun, but then going back to work on Monday was a huge come down, but then that's life eh!
Tuesday came along and I seemed to have this huge amount of negative attitude, I'm never normally like that, I like to look on the bright side of life.  I had a bit of a rubbish day at work which didn't help and then in the evening I had a bit of a rubbish dance class, so that just put me further down.  I was in one of those moods when you question everything you're doing with your life.  There is an audition on Friday of this week for Dirty Dancing and my parents and friends were telling me to go for it but I found myself coming up with loads of excuses as to why I shouldn't go?... I think that was a first.  I knew there wasn't really a reason why I shouldn't go, I had booked the day off of work, so that was fine.  I just really didn't fancy it.  I think because it's an open audition didn't help.  I know that come Friday there will be hundreds of guys queueing up and that they will spend pretty much their whole day there, and I thought, why should I give up my day when I'm probably not going to get the job??.... This was the first time I had felt so negative about going for an audition.... perhaps that annoying b*tch Linda Queen actually did get to me??  Perhaps my confidence had taken a bit of a late knocking?

Wednesday morning came around and I felt slightly better, still not 100% on whether going to the audition was a good idea or not, but as a whole a lot more positive.  I thought to myself that day that, if I was going to do the audition I needed to make my mind up and get my head around it, because if I went to it feeling not quite sure then it would show in my performance and it would be my fault that I didn't get the job, nothing to do with the casting directors.
So I thought, right I'll go for it!!

That was until today!
I received a text from a dancer friend, asking what I was up to tomorrow (Friday - Audition day), so I explained that I was going to go for an audition and she replied saying that if I didn't do the audition, she has a job offer for me!  Sounds interesting.  She went on to say that she is doing a job and they are looking for a male ballet dancer, it's going to be from 8am-4pm and we will be dancing in Trafalgar Square in London!!!  How awesome!  Not only that, it's for the opening of a very popular talent show!!  AND!  It's a flash mob, which I love!!  If any of you are not sure what a flash mob is, it's when you take a very normal location and all of a sudden the people around you (who you thought were normal pedestrians) burst into song and dance, like something out of a Disney film.  Here is a link to one of my favourites!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NB3NPNM4xgo

So I decided to go for it anyway!!  Really excited about it, so I will let you know how it all goes!
Just goes to show that there's always a light at the end of the tunnel, no matter how down you get, you just got to keep on going and something good will come along!

No more lazy mornings!

So it's all back to normal now.  I'm currently sitting back in the laboratory, as if nothing had ever happened.
Even though what happened with the cruise was pretty gutting and embarrassing, I feel like I am finally moving on and putting it all behind me.  Every now and then I bump into the odd person who says
"What are you doing here?  Aren't you supposed to be on a cruise?"
And then I have to go through the lovely job of reeling off the whole story again.  I think that the majority of people know now though, Alison and I put a message on Facebook also letting everyone know, as we were still getting good luck messages from people..... awkward!!

But anyway, onwards and upwards now.  Onto the next project.
At the weekend just past, Alison and I went to visit an old friend of mine who has decided to start a Dirty Dancing tribute for hotels and cabaret clubs and she wants us both to be the principal dancers.  It all sounds pretty exciting and was nice to have something to look forward to.

I'm on a bit of a fitness mission as well, especially as lent is happening.  My work friends decided that I need to give up lazy mornings!!  I love a lazy morning and the snooze button takes a constant bashing every morning in my bedroom.  But for the 40 days and 40 nights of lent, the snooze button has been banned and I have my alarm set for 6.30..... ouch!.... then I need to get up and do 60 pressups and 60 situps.  I'm now into my third day of lent and it seems to be getting harder and harder every day.  The first day was actually Ok, I think because it was something new.  As the days go on the early starts seem like even more of a chore, and especially having to get up and work out!  But I'm hoping that it will boost my fitness and make me a bit buffer for the summer.  I'm going to invest in some protein shakes, but need to research which ones are the best.

I also tried spinning class last night, was really nice trying something different.  It's pretty tough though, I sweated so much.  After about 10 minutes I was dripping!  It really did feel like I had worked out though once I was done, so was money well spent.
This weekend I may be trying out a pilates class, I have a feeling that the class is going to be full of older woman and I will probably be the only guy but then again that's never put me off before.
Anyway, wish me luck!

What a difference a day makes....

Well this last week has been eventful, to say the least!
If you read my last post, you'll see that Alison and I were set for the seas, off on a little adventure together around the world, dancing on a luxury yacht.... well that has kinda changed.... and by kinda I mean, completely changed.

Last weekend was probably the most emotional weekend of my life, I said farewell to my friends in the microbiology lab on Friday, then Saturday I said a teary goodbye to my bestest friends and on Sunday I said bye bye to my lovely family.  It was so upsetting, I was really excited but at the same time, devastated that I wouldn't be seeing my loved ones (apart from Alison of course) everyday.  My parents gave me a diary and my Dad told me that they bought it because they didn't want to miss one single day that I was away, they wanted to hear all about it when I returned home.  It was a simple yet completely perfect and touching gift.  I promised them both that every day I would make an entry and tell them how it was going.
After squeezing them both so hard, I said goodbye and set off to collect Alison.
When I got to Alison's, the mood was much the same in her house.  I helped her load up my car with her luggage and then we were off to Northampton.

We arrived in Northampton and were shown to our flat, which was lovely!  Really nice and spacious rooms, and positioned right in the middle of the town, perfect for us.  We were sharing our flat with two of the singers who would be boarding the ship with us.  When they arrived we all bonded straight away.  They were lovely, bubbly girls and we all had a lot in common.  We spent the most of Sunday night, chatting about what was to come and getting excited about stepping foot onto the glamorous ship and setting sail.
Monday morning, the first day of our contract.  Alison and I woke up, eager to get dressed and prepare for our exciting day ahead.  The butterflies were in full swing in our tummies, but full of positive energy.  We couldn't wait to get started.
When we arrived at our rehearsal location, we met the other cast and crew and of course, our choreographer.  She was great, such a happy and charismatic person.  The first routine she taught us was a Viennese waltz, it was beautiful.  The music, the moves!  They all flowed and we both fell in love with it.  Every time the choreographer turned her back on us, Alison and I would quietly jump around and grin in excitement, obviously when she turned back around we sharply returned to our professsional composures.  Lunch time came around very quickly, and we had finally finished the waltz.  We sat with our singer friends at lunch, and spoke of how excited we were and also how in pain we were, the rehearsals were very tough but great all the same.
Once lunch had finished, we returned to our rehearsal room and began to learn a new routine, this one was a lot more what Alison and I were used to, a contemporary routine!  With lifts!!  Everything was going well, until.... in walked the owner of the agency, I won't mention any names... lets just call her Linda Queen.  She was a scary lady, her face had obviously had a lot of work done, it was as tight as a badgers arse.  Straight away the atmosphere changed, there was a huge amount of tension in the air.  She walked over to the choreographer and asked if she could see what we had done.  So the choreographer turned to us both, smiling but with a serious and slightly scared look in her eyes and asked us to get into position for the Viennese waltz.
Alison and I, took to the floor and although I was absolutely bricking it inside, I tried my best to give off a relaxed and confident manor, not only for the owner's sake, but also to put Alison at ease.  We danced the waltz, and naturally it didn't go as good as it should do because we had only just learnt it, but it didn't go horrifically wrong.  Afterwards the owner turned to us both and said "See you soon" and walked out, beckoning the choreographer to follow her.
A few minutes past and the choreographer returned, smiling and carried on as normal.  We spent the rest of the day learning the new routine which was brilliant.  The choreographer was high-fiving us, and cuddling us, telling us how well we were doing.  So we both got really good vibes from the day, well apart from when the scary witch woman came to investigate.
When we got home, we both began to prepare our dinner and during this my mobile rang.  It was a lady from the office.  She phoned to tell me that after watching us dance 'Linda Queen' felt that we wasn't going to progress enough in time for the contract and that they had to terminate our contract with them.  My heart sank, I was completely shocked, I didn't know what to say.  So I stuttered my way through the conversation and hung up.  I then broke the news to Alison.  She couldn't believe it either.  It was the worst feeling ever, we both felt completely hollow.  What was we to do now??  We had both given up our jobs and lives back home, now after saying goodbye to everyone and receiving such lovely cards and gifts we had to return home and say that we had lost the job!!!?  How humiliating!
We called home and spoke it through with our parents.  That night Alison and I didn't sleep very well, it was impossible too, we couldn't switch off.
On Tuesday (Valentines Day), we woke up, packed our things and set off for home.  I couldn't wait to get back home and pretend like it had never happened.
When I got home, I straight away got in touch with the microbiology lab and explained everything that had happened.  Luckily they had held my position for me and I got my job back.  Alison got herself back into dance college too.  So everything went back to normal.
Was obviously a tad embarrassing going back to work and having to explain to everyone what had happened, but everyone was so sympathetic and lovely so it made it all a lot easier.
So here we are back to "normal", a week ago today it felt like our world had been turned upside down, but now it has all been put right again.  It's times like this that I appreciate what loving friends and family I have.

As for Linda Queen, I'm not sure I'd ever want to work for her again.  Although in the contract it stated that the rehearsals are a trial period, it just didn't feel like we were trialled.  We were given half a day to learn and routine and show it to her.  Fair enough if she thought we needed work, but tell that to us (to our face!!) and ask us to work on it, give some time to improve!
A lot of people have said that they think she had someone else lined up, that we will never know.  A lot of people have also said that everything happens for a reason and that something good will come out of this for me and Alison.... let's hope they're right!

Onwards and upwards!

And the award for most stressful chore goes to.... applying for a visa!

So the countdown begins!

Not long now, Alison and I will be moving up to Northampton for rehearsals.
I'm really really getting nervous the closer it gets.  This week just seems so surreal.  It's very strange being at work and thinking that this is the last week that I'm going to be here, I'm never going to be coming back.  It's a stressful week that's for sure, what with sorting out lesson plans for when we're on the ship and trying to organise paperwork for the offices.  The most annoying job definitely goes to applying for a visa!!  It's so much grief, I still am not 100% on whether or not I have done it right.  We have an appointment scheduled for next week but that's when our rehearsals start so not totally sure how we will manage that.... guess we will just have to wait and see.
Although I am going to miss being at home with everyone so so so much, I kind of want this week to be over with already.  The stress of pre-cruise nerves, visas, paperwork, financial information, leaving my job, choreographing routines, making lesson plans is just topping me over the edge.  I think by the time Saturday arrives and I have to say goodbye to my friends and family, I am most definitely going to be a complete emotional wreck.  I'm so drained... mentally!  Kind of looking forward to being just physically drained at the rehearsals and concentrating on the routines and nothing else.
We have been told a few times now to watch our accents and make sure we are practising our "posh" voices... I'm not so great with that!  Oh well, perhaps I'll just let Alison do the talking.
This Saturday I plan to have a lovely meal with the family and then in the evening go for a great night out with all my best friends and party the night away.  Should be good fun!

I guess the next post I do will be when I'm in rehearsals, so I'll let you know how they're going and whether or not our brains are close to exploding.
Any of you who are thinking of working on a cruise, get the visa part done first, just get it out of the way because it's such a chore.

Also if there are any dancing couples out there like Alison and I, and you're thinking of trying to get onto a cruise ship, make sure you know some ballroom and latin because that's pretty much what every company will be looking for in a dance couple.
We have started ballroom and latin classes in Sittingbourne, £21 for a 1 hour private lesson, not bad!  And my waltz is top notch now... I think!  Hehe!  Anyway I will be back in touch soon!

Bon Voyage!!

Well guys, Alison and I did it!!!  We got booked for the cruise job!!
I'm still in shock I think!  It was a hardcore audition, they really put us through our paces, but it was all worth it.
It really hasn't sunk it, when I think about it, I feel sick with nerves/excitement.  It's really going to be a fantastic experience and a great little adventure for us both.  I hardly slept since I found out we had the job, as I lay in bed and my brain goes into overload and I go through all of the things that we have to prepare and keep wondering to myself whether we're going to be able to do the job OK.  But I have to think that, these guys are pro's in the business, they know exactly what they're doing so if they didn't think we could do it then they wouldn't have hired us.

We move to Northampton for rehearsals on the 13th February, which is only just over a week away!!  ARGH!  We rehearse non-stop for a month and then on the 23rd March, we board the Seabourn Sojourn in Monte Carlo and set sail.  Here are a few of the countries we'll be visiting:

Italy
France
Spain
Portugal
Ireland
Scotland
United Kingdom (Yay)
Netherlands
Germany
Sweden
Estonia
Russia
Finland
Denmark
Norway
Netherlands
Belgium
Iceland
Greenland
Canada
United States

So quite a few to get through.  We will be finishing our trip in Montreal.  I think the two places I am most excited about seeing are Iceland and Greenland, just because all of the other destinations are places which I may consider later in life to visit for a holiday, but Iceland and Greenland I don't think I would ever dream of visiting.  They are apparently beautiful places though, and fingers crossed we might get to see the Northern Lights!!  Argh!
Our contract ends in October so we will be on the ship for 7 months altogether.  Seems like a long time, I wonder whether it will go quickly or not?
I am hoping that they have the internet so I can keep in touch with everyone and also update my blog of course.  I am going to miss all my friends and family so much, but it's a chance in a lifetime, so couldn't turn it down.  Just hope nothing changes too much while I'm away.

It's so good that I get to share the experience with Alison also, we will be doing what we love and seeing the world at the same time.
I've given up my microbiology job now too, so when I get back, I will be..... (gulp).... unemployed!  Scary!!  But I will just have to audition my ass off and hopefully get something else.

I of course will be sharing as much of my experience on here, so keep an eye out!

Are they actually warming up... or showing off?

On Saturday I had a very last minute audition in London, so I got on the train and made my way to Dance Attic in Fulham.  There were a lot of boys that had turned up for this one so straight away everyone is eyeing up the competition and seeing who is the biggest built, who is the most flexible, who is dressed the most eye-catching.  I probably find the worst part of auditions is the warm up, because it's so competitive.  All around the room were guys laying in box splits and just having casual conversations and I couldn't help but wonder, are they actually warming up... or showing off?  As soon as you walk into the room, the other auditionees glance over to judge whoever has just entered as a new contender.  It's all a bit tense!

So the audition finally got to a start after a long, drawn out warm up, and we got learning a funky commercial routine.  Now I'm not really a very streety/commercial dancer, so straight away I'm having to concentrate even harder on trying to make the moves look good.  I feel so much more in my element at a musical theatre audition.  Oh by the way, this audition was for backing dancers!  After about half an hour, the routine had been taught out, and the first the time ever, I wasn't really enjoying the audition.  It was just not my style.  To the point where I considered walking out and not even bothering to audition.  But I thought to myself 'No Billy, you have come all this way on the train, spent your money on the train fare, what have you got to lose?'  So I decided to stay.
When it come round to my time to audition in front of the choreographer I just wasn't feeling the same energy and competitive adrenaline that I normally do feel.  I think that showed in my audition as well, and needless to say, I didn't get the job.
Afterwards, I didn't regret my decision to go for the audition because at the end of the day, it's all experience and confidence building.  It did make me realise that maybe I'm not made for backing dancing.... perhaps I am just a theatre show kinda guy?

Me and Alison have our audition tomorrow for Belinda King, it's all very exciting for us, as it's our very first couple audition!  It'll be nice to go to an audition with someone and be able to share the nerves with her.  Tonight we will be deciding what we're both going to wear as that is a very big part of going to an audition.  You need to dress to impress!  For boys it's quite easy, clean shaven, neat and tidy hair, best to wear a vest top to show off your build, perhaps a very small amount of tan, but you don't want to cake yourself in it and go looking like you have been well and truly tango'd, just like my friend here: 

For girls on the other hand, it's all about big hair, gorgeous makeup, a sun-kissed tan, sparkling teeth and wearing something that shows off their figures and elongates their legs.
Also not forgetting to always take a copy of our CV and headshot.

Just typing out this blog makes me get butterflies thinking about it!

I will keep you posted on how we do!

'A Great Leap Forward For Male Dancers'

Men In Motion opens today at Sadler's Wells.  This is a show which is bringing together some of the best male ballet dancers in the world.  The show was organised by a guy named Ivan Putrov, a Ukranian born ballet star, who trained at the Royal Ballet.
I found this article on The Independent website:
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/features/a-great-leap-forward-for-male-dancers-6293562.html
The title of the article is 'A Great Leap Forward For Male Dancers', and the article goes on to explain how females have dominated the ballet scene for many years but now as dance is becoming a lot more popular and also a lot more accepted in England, more and more male ballet dancers are being discovered. 

This isn't the first time that there has been a show devoted to us male dancers, Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake for example and of course one of my favourite West End shows, Billy Elliott, which tells the story of a young boy who wants to dance but hides it from the world, as years ago it wasn't seen as a "manly" thing to do.  I for one can relate to this as growing up I was in exactly the same position.  I loved to dance and although I wanted to do it so bad, there was a little part in side of me that was ashamed of it and wanted to hide it.  The hardest part for me was when it came to P.E. lessons and the teacher would announce to us all....

"You have two choices today, whoever would like to do football go to the right hand side of the sports hall, those of you wanting to do gymnastics and dance go to the left hand side of the hall."

So there I was, left standing in the middle of the hall, while all of the boys ran to the right side and all of the girls ran to the left.  I tried to do football like the other boys at first, but then as I grew older I decided to do what I WANTED to do, not what I felt I should be doing.  So I walked over to the left hand side.  Then came the sniggers and the pointing and the mocking, "GAY BOY!" from the jocks across the room.  It was horrible, and I felt completely isolated from the other guys but once I had started the lesson I realised how much I thoroughly enjoyed it and knew from then on that that would be the choice that I would be making from now on.
I carried on with the dance and gymnastics lessons and worked so hard at it because I wanted to be the best that I could.
One year when I was about 11, my school decided to put on a show and allow all of the pupils to perform and show off whatever skill they thought they had.  I put together a gymnastic/dance piece and thought to myself why not just grab the bull by the horn and show the school what I was made of.  So I did.  It was one of the most nerve-wracking moments of my life waiting to go on stage infront of all of the big, tough guys that had been laughing at me before but I thought, to hell with it.  I did my routine to the best of my ability, I got some laughs at first but as the routine went on, the other kids began to quieten down and  actually watch what I was doing.  When I came off the stage, my heart was pounding, it felt like it was going to come bursting out of my chest, I was really scared, but part of me was also relieved to just get it out there and show the bullies and the low lifes, 'I don't care what you think of me, no matter how much you taunt me, I'm not going to be a sheep any more and follow the group, I'm going to do what I want to do.'

It has been really interesting for me growing up with dance as literally within the last 10 years, I have been able to really notice peoples attitudes change towards dancing.  When I first started, it wasn't the done thing, but as the years have gone by, show after show, I've had more and more young lads, grown men, fathers and grandfathers come up to me and shake my hand to say "Well done".  It really is nice to feel like the hard work and perseverence has actually paid off.

So to any young boys out there that happen to be reading this and want to dance but feel embarrassed, screw the bullies and the so called "hard nuts", you do what you want to do because it paid off for me and if you stick at it and try your best then it will for you.

If any of you want to see Men In Motion at Sadler's Wells, it's running from the 27th to the 29th January, so get booking.

A Book Called 'Contacts'

When I first started going to auditions, the only place that I could find them was through internet sites, such as http://www.thestage.co.uk/ or signing up to online performer databases like http://www.starnow.co.uk/ and http://www.dancerspro.com/.  Although these websites are good and they do expose your profile to a lot of people, the auditions that you get from them are always open auditions, unless on the very rare occassion, you are contacted by the company direct and they invite you along to a closed audition.  This never happened to me. 
Now, although open auditions are still good, you have to give up your entire day for them as people turn up in their hundreds to try out.  So the chances of the casting directors spotting you out of all of the people from the day is quite slim, and you'd have to be something pretty damn amazing.

So as of last year, I began attending agency auditions as I had been told by a guy I knew, who was in the business, to get an agent because they will offer so many more opportunities.  He also told me to get hold of a book called 'Contacts'. 

Which is available here http://www.spotlight.com/shop/contacts12
Contacts is essential for any performer who is looking to meet people within the business.  It contains new listings of over 5000 companies, services and individuals in the entertainment industry.  So it's great for people who are just starting out.
My friend told me to literally work my way through the book, noting down all of the agencies that I would like to be considered for and then send emails and letters out to all of them asking for audition details.  Admittedly I didn't do this for all of the agencies in the book as I would have been there forever but I did do it for quite a few of them.  One company being Success.

Then in August 2011, I got an email back from Success informing me that they had auditions coming up and that they would like to see me!!  Hurray!!  So I went along to the audition and got through, it was a brilliant feeling, and after a couple of days they called me to confirm that they would like to represent me.  Ever since being with Success I have noticed how much better it is.  I cannot stress enough to every performer out there, how important it is to get yourself an agent.  It makes such a difference!  Success called me and asked me to go along to their office in Regent Street and meet the team and basically just get to know them and let them get to know me, and know exactly what sort of thing I would like to be auditioning for.  After doing this, I was being called every week with auditions for the top London shows, such as Chicago and Singing In The Rain.  Not any auditions either, CLOSED auditions!  They are so much better than open auditions, as there are only a few select people that the casting directors have already read up on.  So they only request people that they think will fit the bill.  Sometimes you could go to open auditions and wait around all day long, and you could be a fantastic performer but the casting people know exactly what they want and I mean EXACTLY, even down to hair colour, skin tone, height, weight and if you're not exactly what they want then game over.
Also with closed auditions, some of them you could be finished with the audition within an hour and heading back home in no time, still with plenty of the day left for you to do something productive with.

So once again, all you performers out there, if you're not already represented by a company, get on to it!!  It really does make a difference.

I must follow my heart...

So as you know, my goal is to make a career out of dance.  However at the moment, I'm working in something completely different..... microbiology!  Something that you never would associate with a dancer, but hey ho, there's always a first.
It's a good job and the people I work with are really, really great, but I can't help sitting at my desk and staring out the window thinking...

"Why am I here?  I should be on the stage staring up at a spotlight, not in a lab staring down at a petri dish".

The one thing that the lab job does offer though, is a stable and monthly income.  Something that dancing doesn't always do.... unless you teach, or you're lucky enough to secure yourself a really long contract.
But, as a lot of people have told me before, I must follow my heart..... my heart well and truly beats for the stage.

So, I have made it my mission to make sure I can get myself a decent dancing job, the dream has always been the marvellous West End of London or even better Broadway but as dance seems to be ever increasingly popular because of all the televised dance shows that are out, such as, So You Think You Can Dance and Got To Dance, the competition for the business is huge, which makes it a tough job when you go to auditions.

The other dream is to get onto a cruise ship, but not on my own, both me and my partner Alison want to do it together.  Go travel the world, dancing our way through each country.  We have been just recently completed our showreel, which can be seen in my previous post, so now the job of sending it out to agents and cruise companies begins.  Alison is such a determined person and so I am, so I don't think we will stop until we have done at least one contract on a cruise.  As I said before, there is a lot of competition out there, but Alison and I have been dancing together for a long time, and in that time have worked up a strong trust between us which has enabled us to learn some pretty impressive lifts, which I think and hope that not a lot of people could do.
We shall find out!

Just today we have booked ourselves into an audition which is on Tuesday (31st January), for a company called Belinda King.  They are looking for dancing couples, so hopefully we are what they're looking for!  I will keep you posted!

Home!

I thought I'd give you all just a little more information about me, as so far I've only blabbed on about what a huge mission it was trying to figure out a title for the blog.
So my name is Billy, I come from a small island in Kent, yes that's right, I said island... in Kent!  It's called the Isle of Sheppey and here it is....

PAHAHA!!  I wish!!  No our island is a little less tropical looking than this one and bit more swamp-like.  It's nothing special, but its home.  I have lived on the island all of my life, born and bred.  My family moved here from London when they were kids, I think their parents wanted to escape the hustle and bustle of London, as well as the smog.

I currently live with my parents, who I have a lot of time and respect for.  In my opinion they have done a brilliant job of raising me up, as well as my brother and sister and providing us all with a warm, clean and loving home.
My brother is 30 years old and currently living with his fiance, they have a lovely home and gorgeous cat called Bella (named after his fiances Twilight addiction).  My brother and I didn't always get along when we lived together as we are like chalk and cheese.  We are both 100% completely different people, and when we shared a room we clashed like mad and were constantly at battle with one another.  Now that we have our own space, we get along brilliantly and I couldn't ask for a better brother!
My sister is 34 and she is living with her husband and two beautiful kids, who I adore!  All in all, we are a really close family, and all very happy people.

As well as my parents, brother and sister, it is also home to my huge family and of course my best friends; Chloe, Sian, Stacy, Laura and Alison (who I will talk more about later).
We're a very close group of friends and always there for each other.  Each of us are very different, which I feel is a good thing, as we all bring something individual to the group, the one thing we do have in common is that we love a good party!  That's the benefit of having dancers as friends, they know how to have a really good time.

Alison is very special in that, we were best friends for years and years, and finally we got together.  We have been together for 4 years now and I couldn't be happier, she is beautiful and very talented.

As well as being my lovely girlfriend, she is also my dance partner, Alison dances too and we are hoping that some day we will make it onto a cruise ship together so we can make our way around the world, seeing all the wonderful sites and doing what we love at the same time.
We have been dancing together for around 9 years, and at the end of last year we finally put our showreel together, which we will be sending out to agents and cruise companies in the hope that they will take an interest and hire us!!  Fingers crossed!
Here take a look:

What did you think??
I will keep you posted on the progress of our little double act!

So there you go, just a little insight into my home, family and friends.  I'm sure you will hear a lot more about each one of them through my blogs.

Sorry, this title is unavailable....

So, this is it, my very first installment onto my blog. 
My Life In Rhythm..... blimey, that was a task in itself just trying to find a name.  I was so excited about starting the blog, and I have loads of ideas for different subjects I want to post about, but I couldn't get started until I had a unique and smart sounding title.
I wrote down as many different options for a title that I could find, and yet none of them were jumping out to me....

A Dancers World.......Nope, not feeling it
The Boy Who Just Wants To Dance...... Too long
The Dancer Chronicles.... Woo a bit much!

I even asked my followers on Twitter for help, the only person who replied was a guy I've never even met, who said... "How about 'Too much to say, too little time'..." not a bad option, but just not personal enough and plus, I have actually got quite a bit of time on my hands, so I'm pretty sure I'll be able to vent all my thoughts before bedtime comes along.  So thanks Mr Randomdudeontwitter, but no thanks.

So then I took to looking up quotes about dance on the internet as I thought, perhaps if I find a good one I can personalise it.  I actually found some really good ones:

To Watch Us Dance Is To Hear Our Heart Speak
Dance Is The Hidden Language Of The Soul
Dancing Is Poetry Of The Foot
Dancers Are Messengers Of The Gods.....Wowsa, that makes us sound awesome!!!

And then I saw this:
Dance To The Rhythm Of Your Heart..... it's beautiful, but not what I want, however 'rhythm' could be used.... The Rhythm Of Life!  YES I'VE GOT IT!!  The Rhythm Of My Life! 
I finally had my title, entered it into the box and clicked "Check Availability".... waiting, waiting.... come on!.... "Sorry, this title is unavailable"...D'OH!!!!
But then all it took was a quick jumble round of the words, minus 'The' and 'Of', add 'In'... Voila!!

My Life In Rhythm

I think it's perfect because life does have a rhythm, from the repeating sequence of weekdays, getting up and going to work.  To the exciting, cresendo of birthday parties, days out, nights out, job interviews and auditions and then the slowing down, sombre moments in life.... which we don't like to talk/think about!  But that proves that life has its ups and downs, much like the rhythm of a song.

Not only is the title suitable for that reason, but also because if you haven't already noticed, I love love love LOVE to dance.  Dancing is a HUUUGE part of my life.  I have danced since I was a young lad, and fell in love with it straight away.  It's a huge passion in my life, and I couldn't imagine not doing it.  From ballet to swing to contemporary to hip hop, you name it, I love it.
I have basically grown up dancing and met and made the best group of friends through dance, as well as my gorgeous girlfriend, Alison.
So in that sense my life has been in rhythm also.

So there we have it, my explanation for the title, and now I can't wait to get started on all my other posts.

..... I still think "Dancers Are Messengers Of The Gods" would have been brilliant!