Nicky studied Drama & Theatre Arts at the University of Birmingham, with a final year specialism in dance and choreography. As a dance artist and drama teacher, she has been performing, teaching and choreographing for the past 30 years.
The passion she has for her art forms and especially for teaching, leads her to constantly challenge her knowledge, abilities and perceptions; never settling, always learning. Her creative work is playful, humorous and human; work which highlights the joy of dancing and acting together.
Nicky believes everyone should have the opportunity to access the benefits of dance and aims to enable this to happen in a nurturing, creative and fun manner.
Since 2009 Nicky has worked in some capacity or other for Stopgap. Initially as a researcher, then as audience development support for the 2010 tour of Within, a quick stint as minibus driver for the 2011 tour of Spun Productions to Southern Ireland, then community dance development officer and finally as creative learning manager until January 2020. Just before the pandemic struck, she had decided to leave all her office-based work (she had also been administrator for The Dance Movement since 2008) and concentrate on teaching. Her greatest achievement whilst working in the office for Stopgap was helping to secure the company as one of the six set works on the AQA GCSE Dance Anthology.
On the teaching side of things, Nicky has delivered inclusive classes for the company regularly since 2010, helping to establish new groups and partnerships as well as becoming an IRIS teacher taking groups through the syllabus and celebration days. She regularly leads and supports many elements of the company’s outreach work including residencies for youth company members, CPD sessions for teachers and students and in recent times in recent times she has developed an interest in working with young people on a 1:1 basis – taking them through Bronze and Silver Arts Awards, making short dance films as-well as working through Stopgap’s IRIS Respond syllabus. Nicky is also Arts Award trained from Discover to Gold.
She is an avid reader and has run her own reading group – The Book Club – since 2004. She is a keen runner, recently discovering the joy of trail running. She loves to garden and has finally discovered how to rest.