My time as third year at Rambert/finale year

Wow, it has been a while since I last wrote a blog post. A lot of things have happened but the biggest thing is that I finished my dance training at Rambert and have graduated with a BA degree from Rambert school and the University of Kent! We had a small graduation ceremony at the school in July and then we had the main ceremony at Rochester Cathedral in November. Below is a video I put together from the main ceremony. It was a lot of fun and Stephen and Rachel came to watch!

Some of the highlights of my last year at Rambert that I want to remember are:

• Working with two very experienced choreographers - Darren Ellis and Alleyne Sisters, both helped me to understand what it will be like working as a professional dancer.

• Having the opportunity to perform at big venues: The Royal Opera House and Sadler's Wells.

• Finishing my dissertation and learning a lot more about dance in Cambodia.

• Going on tour with my class and performing at 4 different venues.

• Melissa coming over from Cambodia to celebrate completing this part of my journey. Melissa, Stephen, Rachel and I spent some time reflecting together.

Here are some photos of me with students from my year group before and after performances.

Here are some photos from my official graduation day at Rochester Catherdral in November.

And here is a compilation video I made of the graduation day!

And here are some photos with Melissa Stephen and Rachel as we celebrated finishing 3 years at Rambert!

Reflecting on the last 2 years

I made it to the third year! And its already begun...

I am at Rachels house for Christmas, which has given me some time to reflect on all the things that I have been learning. Here are some of them:

• I am starting to understand how much I can learn from books.

• I am slowly obsorbing the idea that a reseach project could take me anywhere and that I shouldn't be too fixed or afraid of changing direction and expanding my thoughts.

• I am starting to understand that making friendships is a two way thing and I need to reach out and not just wait for people to come to me.

• I am starting to beome responsible for my own faith and not wait for other people to guide me. This means having a first hand conversation and relationship with God.

• I am starting to realise that I am an adult now, this means that I have more responsibility but I also have more freedom to choose my direction.

Here are a few photos of me over Christmas with Rachels family:

Cambodia in the UK

This term I have been able to connect with Cambodia even though I am living in the UK. In October I was invited to a special event at the Cambodian Embassay in London. It was the 9th memorial anniversary of HM The Late King-Father Norodom Sihanouk. I was so excited to meet with other Cambodian people for the first time since I arrived in the UK, that I arrived an hour early. I was the first to arrive so I had to wait outside. I loved being able to greet people with the Cambodian hand greeting and we ate lots of Cambodian food including Khmer curry and deserts. I felt like this was a gift from God, it helped me to recharge and it encouraged me to keep going in what I am doing. Here are some photos from the day.

I have also connected with another Cambodian dancer. I was introduced to Bong Nadenh by one of the musicians at Rambert, who had been to Cambodia as part of a dance project. We finally met in a workshop at the Royal Festival Hall in October this year. He is a dancer with a company called Stop Gap and we have many things in common. He was sponsored to come to England and work with Stop Gap in 2013 and has been living and working in the UK since then. He is a hidden treasure. He has been sharing his experience as a Cambodian dancer with me. It is helping me to understand more of the challenges I will face as a dancer when I go back but also inspiring me to work harder and take advantage of what is being given to me.

Finally, my dissertation this year is focusing on Cambodia. I wanted to use my dissertation as an opporunity to learn more about dance in Cambodia before I go back. I knew that there was some contemporary dance already but I wanted to understand how this started and what is happening now. I have been finding many things that I did not know were there. It is helping me to understand more about my country, its history and challenges. I am also learning more about who I am as a Cambodian and it is inspiring me as an artist as I see how important the development of the arts is in my country. As a result I have also started to reach out to other dancers, introduce myself and build relationships.