Can you tell us about coming to UC to study your BFA? Did you have any ideas about what you wanted to do after studying?
At 12 years old I got a singing part in the Christ The King primary school production. From that moment, all I wanted to be was an actress so I involved myself in performing arts as much as possible between theatre, jazz dancing and drama lessons.
At 17 I won the Arts Prize and was accepted into the Ilam School of Fine Arts, double-majoring in sculpture and theatre studies. I was very happy and fulfilled to have a foot in both disciplines.
How did something as unique as stilt walking and dancing come into your life?
After finishing my studies, my friends Juliet Novena Sorrel and Donna Demente invited me to Dunedin to embark on an artist residency at Moonscream Studios. I spent that summer drifting around Donna's studio dreaming up artworks and making new friends. This turned into the most creative four years of my life.
As a collective of artists, we experimented, played, created exhibitions, poetry circles and made music. We raved, sang, roller-skated, crafted, performed and laughed. A lot!
One day a group of us were taught how to stilt walk and invited to be in a parade down the main street of Dunedin. I was not keen, not confident and slow to learn but I did it anyway.
