Achieving a 1st Class Honours degree – BA(Hons)Diverse Dance Styles and joining IRIE! dance theatre by Shadi Alcott

I am Shadi and a couple of weeks ago I received two very important pieces of information within two days of each other. The first was my degree grade; and the second was the confirmation that I was officially a dancer in a national touring company- IRIE! dance theatre.

I was surprised when I achieved a 1st Class Honours degree. I knew that I had put in the hours and the sweat for the entire three years at IRIE! I also knew that through doing that I had found a true passion and dedication for something that would alter my life, but when I got the email and saw the actual grade, I was so shocked I didn’t even blink.

That 1st signified the cumulation of a lifetime of educational and physical resilience especially in my Third year where so much was required and I doubted for a while whether I was going to make it to the end.

That grade made all the hardship worth it and validated some questions I had held about myself. Meaning that I was in such a better headspace to begin a new chapter of my life – Professional Dancer/Creative.

I am currently writing this preparing for months of rehearsals and performances in a style that I was able to discover and hone within my degree years. Becoming a part of IRIE! dance theatre is something I am so grateful for and something I believe will allow me to live within a physical and mental framework that will push me towards being my absolute self, as well as burrowing deeper in on lessons I have already learnt, whilst teaching me new ones.

These past three years have facilitated the largest and most pivotal shift in myself and my thinking to create a being that I am proud of and will continue to be proud of as I grow and engage at a higher level in my newest endeavour.