Page 28 - Demo

28 || MOST FITNESS || JUNE / JULY 2016In the Royal Ballet between rehearsing, we would do contemporary dance training. That would take up the whole day, starting at nine in the morning and finishing around nine at night, and sometimes longer if I took private training. The techniques are different with ballet and modern, and they use a lot of different muscles.Ballet is all about being straight up, chest up, head up, jumping up, everything is focused on being tall, and the movement is elegant and focused on connecting to the audience. Modern is more about being grounded - having bent knees (plie), more of a personal style, connecting more with what%u2019s inside of you, and your movement is an expression of what you are feeling. Unlike ballet, where you are dancing for the audience, modern is more about dancing for yourself while an audience watches the dancer perform this personal style. I love dancing no matter what style it is! Recently, I have been leaning more towards modern because I feel I have more room to be creative and the freedom to do different and unique movements with less restrictions. It can be constantly changed, growing, and ever evolving, whereas classical will always be classical because of its structure. %u00a0%u00a0MFM: How did it feel to take after your mother and dance in world renowned ballet schools?NB: I was lucky and privileged that my mom was a ballerina; it helped in so many ways. She was able to prepare me at home for what I would be doing. She was always pushing me more and telling me to work extra hard when I wasn%u2019t training. She taught me that there is no such thing as %u201cI can%u2019t,%u201d and that if I put my mind to it, I can achieve anything I want. At times I felt like it was a curse because I had no rest and was always putting in work. But later on, getting into these amazing schools, I knew the main reason was because I was so well trained and prepared with the extra help from my mom, because it%u2019s extremely competitive and only top ballerinas got into those schools. I%u2019m so grateful for it and learned great lessons that now help me throughout my life. My mom was always there through the achievements and failures and the times when I needed to be picked up and pushed to start over again.MFM: As a choreographer, what is your process for creating and coming up with a vision? Do you have a signature style or move?NB: I%u2019ve always been a very visual choreographer; I don%u2019t like to rehearse too much. I like my imagination to come in when it%u2019s needed. Many times, I%u2019ve choreographed some of my best work in my sleep! One time at the Royal Ballet School, I choreographed a big dance for a young choreographer competition for 25 people, on the music of Notre Dame de Paris. The dance was called the Refuges, and I came up with the full performance when I went to sleep. I put the music on and listened to it through the night, connected with it, and in the morning, I had the whole routine figured out and showed it to the dancers without ever even practicing it. We ended up winning the special prize award, %u201cAudience%u2019s Favourite Dance.%u201d Now I have my own style that I have created and teach with called %u201cSafari Dance.%u201d It%u2019s a mixture of ballet, contemporary, jazz, and hip hop dance, based on people%u2019s personal emotions, feelings, environment, and animals. I think it%u2019s a great technique to follow for someone who doesn%u2019t know how to dance at all, or a ballerina who wants to get looser with her upper body and learn jazz or modern.