About

I'm Leia, I was named after a fictional character. Where to begin?

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I started dance when I was four after my parents asked the paediatrician if it would benefit my ability to walk after I was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. My first dance class, I was the only pupil and my mum and teacher helped me as I struggled to lift my heels off the ground. 

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I knew I was never going to be a ballerina so I wanted to become a dance teacher, that then morphed into wanting to choreograph. 

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I was the first physically disabled student on my course at the University of Winchester. While at the university, I took classes with StopGap, Shobana Jeyasingh Dance, Jasmin Vardimon Company and performed Lila Dance choreography and Luke Brown choreography, as well as choreography by dance artists as part of the faculty: Debbie Lee-Anthony, Caroline Hotchkiss and Chris Matthews. During my third year, I was able to be in a group collaboration with D@win Dance Company and Blue Apple Theatre Company, a company with neuro-diverse performers, for a dance work that was about rehabilitation with relationships and the human experiences, choreographed by Caroline Hotchkiss, we performed at the 2018 Hat Fair in Winchester. I graduated with 2.1 honours. 

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Outside of university I've choreographed for my old dance school and my dances have been part of the British Arts Festival, one of them ranked high enough to get into the final. 

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Outside of dance, I write essays about dance and disability and I write fiction. I wrote a novel over lockdown and a new short story. Some of my writings are available here. I've become the copywriter and social media manager for my mum's craft page. I like photography too.