GRADUATE SPOTLIGHT | CATCHING UP WITH NORTHERN RASCALS

We caught up with Anna Holmes about her journey from NSCD student to becoming Co-Founder and Co-Artitsic Director of UK based dance theatre company, Northern Rascals.

As Northern Rascals embark on their next UK tour of Sunny Side - a raw, portrayal of the modern young male experience, combining contemporary dance, theatre and spoken word - we asked Anna how she's navigated the professional dance world since graduating. In this interview, Anna talks to us about the often-overlooked skills that sustain a long-term career in the arts, as well as giving honest insights into how to start making your own work, and staying adaptable as a dance student graduating today.

What skills or qualities do you think dance students often overlook, but are essential when transitioning into the professional world?

The importance of community, of finding your place in the industry. The industry can feel impenetrable when you graduate, but when you break it down to your skillset, your taste, what you’re interested in, and what you can give back, you can narrow it down quite quickly. Focus your attention there, find the place that will nourish you as a young artist and then the big dreams will come with time. Patience is so important. You have to believe that the right things will happen at the right time, and the wrong things will pass you by for a reason.

We come out of training with all of the energy and the might and we’re raring to go but in reality freelancing can be a slow-paced life - until it’s not and I think that is one of the hardest things to adjust to. We feel that when the calendar is empty and the future uncertain that we are failing, then suddenly the work will come out of nowhere and you’re cramming it all in and yes - it’s fast-paced and full of energy and thrilling but it’s exhausting at the same time. I wish I could go back to my younger self and tell her to love the quiet periods, to not fill them with anxiety or apprehension about the future, those moments of quiet are so needed in order to rest, to live your life outside dance, so that when the work comes, you can approach it with all the energy it requires.

You’ve built your own critically acclaimed company which is currently touring across the UK, what advice would you give students who want to start creating their own work?

Back yourself! Go for it with all your might and believe in yourself wholeheartedly. Always stay curious and be a champion for your own work. Become comfortable with being unknown and the ‘underdog’, and make something so refined and brilliant that the doors have no option but to open to you.

For every rejection that we got, we channeled that energy into proving people wrong and finding a way to do it anyway. Take the time to understand your practice, I wanted to be confident that if anyone picked apart our work that I could back it 100%, you’ve got to take the time to develop that. Interrogate your practice to truly understand why you are doing this work and why it is needed.

How do you balance the creative side of your work with the practical realities of funding, income, and running a company?

This is a difficult one to balance - it helps that there are two of us, for sure. To be creative, you need space, you need to have the time to allow your mind to drift and play and explore. Running a company doesn’t always allow the space to do that, particularly in the scarcity mindset that the current arts landscape can put you in.

Don’t be afraid of hard work - it’s going to need it! Honestly, a lot of the work that myself and Sam have done for Northern Rascals has been unpaid, particularly in the start, (sometimes even now!), but I think anyone running a business - no matter if it’s a gym, a café, a bar, a bakery - will have to work many hours unpaid in order to be successful - unless you’re lucky enough to have the cash to start with! That’s not me advocating working for free - it’s just the reality of running a company.

The best way we balance being able to be creative is having clear boundaries (mostly with ourselves!), to hold ourselves accountable and prioritise creative work over the neverending admin!

AND - the biggie - having a team of people around you to support you. That’s the key to a sustainable career - learning that you can’t do it all - and the last thing you want to sacrifice is the quality of your work (the reason you’re doing it in the first place!).

Northern Rascals often explore social issues, how can young artists find and develop their own authentic voice in their work?

I think it’s about using your art as a tool to better understand not just the world, but yourself. I feel that a fundamental part of being an artist is understanding and trusting yourself; and then always using the core pillars of who you are as a sounding board to refer back to when it comes to making decisions - whether creative, business or life-related.

As a young female artist, it took me a while to figure that out. My gut instinct was often hidden behind pleasing people, not wanting to fail, not wanting to make the wrong decision, not being sure if I was good enough. Once I removed those thoughts and went with my gut instinct when making creative decisions, I was able to make something that satisfied my creative ambition and felt authentically me. If you’re wanting to make something but not sure what, start with yourself - it’s the thing you know best.

If you were a dance student graduating today, what steps would you take in your first year to build a career?

If I was graduating now, I would’ve begun exploring beyond my comfort zone at NSCD in my third year - attending classes, workshops, shows; consuming as much material as possible. I would begin bridging the gap before I leave so that it didn’t feel like such a jump when I left formal training.

I’d try not to compare myself to people doing post-graduates or jumping straight into a ‘dream job’; if there’s one thing I’ve learnt after graduating 10 years ago, it’s that everyone’s timelines are so different. Who seems successful now, might have a quiet period in their mid twenties; the person who feels lost when graduating and can’t get a job for years, might get their dream position with their dream company 2,3,4,5, or 6 years after graduating! The key is resilience. The people from my NSCD year who are still working in the industry are the ones who never gave up, who put themselves in front of the people they wanted to work with and took every rejection as a part of the journey.

I also have many wonderful friends who have segued off into different careers, it’s okay for your dreams to change - just try to trust the process!

From perservering through challenges to embracing innovation, Anna's journey offers valuable lessons for anyone looking to grow in the dance industry.

You can catch Sunny Side by Northern Rascals on tour at Riley Theatre on Saturday 25 April, 7.30pm. Book your tickets today!