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AN Inverness performing arts school has welcomed a new head of dance as the new academic year kicked off.
Hayley Anderson (25), originally from Bo’ness, has taken up the role as head of dance and student welfare at TFX Performing Arts Academy and had her first class last Friday.
She said: “It feels like it has been a long time coming, to be doing what I love to do, so I am really excited for it.
“I had been looking for jobs in dancing for a long time, and I was almost about to be heading back to Edinburgh and I saw a message on Facebook from the dance company Little Beats saying they needed a new dance teacher and I sent over my CV.
“Then they told me they were looking for a teacher not just for Little Beats, but as a full-time position. It was great timing and luck!”
Hayley moved to the Highlands in 2016 to study sport and fitness at UHI, tailoring her studies on dance.
As a high school pupil, she commuted twice a week to another high school in the Falkirk area to be able to study dance. Aged only 16, she was then instrumental in starting a dance programme in her own high school, taking over the teacher’s role during her free periods at school.
Since January, she has also worked at Mellow Yellow dance school in Nairn teaching acrobatics.
She said: “I always wanted to either be a dancer or a dance teacher because dance is my escape in life, in any sort of way, shape and form. If I have a wee boogie, I feel better.
“I didn’t have the upbringing that other people might have had or the same opportunities so I always wanted to allow as many children as possible to be in an environment where they were having fun and where they were learning.
“I hope to bring a bit of freshness. Maybe because I am a bit rough around the edges and have not attended an elite school, but I have so much passion and love for it.
“It doesn’t feel like I have had a job now.
“I have always said that I didn’t care how much I earned, I just want to wake up and feel eager to get into work.”
Hayley is taking over the role following the announcement that the former head of dance Claire Darcy – a teacher at TFX for more than 10 years and who had been involved with TFX for two decades – decided to hang up her dancing shoes after the school’s summer show.
Head of drama and creative assistant at TFX, Amy Crook, said they were delighted to have Hayley taking up the role.
She said: “You can take someone who has studied at prestigious London colleges, but if you don’t love the job and what you get from teaching children, it’s never going to work. That’s what Hayley is going to bring to the kids, she is just so passionate about teaching and dance.
“TFX is thrilled to have Hayley on board. She’d just been here for three weeks and has already got our energy up!
“I think that for the kids, they will be so excited to have someone who has got fresh ideas and to continue the standards at TFX.”
