One door opening leads to another

In November I was asked by my friend Angeline in Cambodia about dancing for an online event. It was a Joint ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Societies virtual event for all the Ambassadors from ASEAN and members and guests of the members of the different Societies.

This was a big challenge because I had many things going on in the same month and this had to be a good quality video. They also wanted me to introduce myself and tell them what I was doing. I asked Rambert if they could help me by letting me use the studio space to choreograph and film. They have been so supportive. They gave me space to use, the school technology guy helped me by doing the filming, another student from the 3rd year helped me with the editing, I was allowed to use costume from the school and they were very encouraging.

In the video I danced 2 pieces. For the first piece I filmed the solo that I had to dance for my ballet assessment this term. The second piece I choreographed especially for this event. It is a modern dance with Khmer traditional music. Below is the video that I made. The introduction includes photos and some story of how I started dancing and finally came to Rambert in the UK.

This project has helped my relationship with the school become stronger and closer. They have become more interested in how I am getting on and started asking about my financial support. At the end of term they awarded me another £1500 from the school hardship fund to help cover my second year and they are also helping to look for other funds for next year. They are interested in what I'm hoping to do in Cambodia and they are willing to help as much as they can as a school.

Things start to make sense

This year, I feel like many things have started to make sense to me at school and at home. I am more independent and have been learning how to cook all my own food and do my shopping. I find it really fun to cook for myself. Here are some of my favorite meals that I have made.

At school I feel like I have now caught up with most of the other students. Classes have been harder than last year but now I am able to focus more clearly because I am not as distracted as last year with all of the other things I had to learn like travelling on the trains and buses, cultural differences and language. I am also less homesick and am more used to the weather. This year I am able to focus my attention on technique, musicality and performance. After one year at my school, I am starting to understand each teacher’s style, I am more flexible and stronger, which makes me feel more confident and my body is starting to understand things better. My perspective has changed and I feel like I have become more fearless and not so worried about what others think or who’s judging me. One of the teachers advised me that as soon as you lose that fear and you use that positivity, dancing changes. I’m no longer so afraid of the classroom, the people, the material, and school.

Building friendship this year has been working. I feel like all the people in my dance group seem calmer this year and we understand each other more. Having good friendships in my class makes me feel so encouraged and it is much more fun. Here are some photos of me with my friends at school. We have to work in a small group that stays the same due to Covid restrictions.

This term I have been able to use my bike from Rachel to explore the areas near my house. I have also started to visit the museums in London so that I can learn about art and study about history. I also found a church near my house through the family that I lived with last year. The people there are so friendly and nice. Over half term I had to self isolate as someone in my house had Covid. It was my 20th birthday and I was sad to be alone. But my house group from the church got together and baked some cookies and gave me presents. The church also let me use their place to choreograph a dance for the student choreographic platform this term. Here is a link to the piece that I created if you would like to watch.

I created this piece because I wanted to share something that is hopeful and joyful because of what is happening in the world right now.

Starting my second year!

I want to invite you all to celebrate with me the fact that God provided enough money for me to finish my first year at Rambert. This is amazing because I started this journey with nothing. God has provided for me through many people and I am so thankful. I am trusting that He will provide for all that I need this year and I will keep on doing my best with this opportunity.

My second year at Rambert is going to start earlier than normal. Because of the lock down and the school closing, they are offering 2 weeks of catch up classes for 2nd and 3rd years. This starts on 17th August.

Being back at school is going to be be a bit different this year. We all have to wear masks for all classses, they will check our temperatures every day and there will be social distancing. This means smaller classes. We will have to keep seperate for everything as much as we can. Our classes are also going to be a mix of online and face to face. For example, all academic lectures will be online. This is going to be strange to dance with a mask on and teachers will not be able to correct anything using touch. They need to keep a distance. It is going to be hard but it is better than doing all classes online by myself.

This is one of the masks I will wear in class - made by Stormie!

I am really grateful to the family that I have lived with in my first year. They have helped me learn how to deal with many things as an adult and an international student as well as helping me learn how to use a map and get around safely. For example, when I went to a dance performance they taught me to plan how to get there and back safely before I left the house. At first I didn't understand why this was such a big deal. But now I realise there are so many things that could have gone wrong, such as the train not running late at night or changes in schedule. This is going to help me a lot this year as I will have a lot more independence and I will need to sort things out by myself.

This year I will be living in a new place much closer to school. It will be 15 minutes walk and I am going to have a bike that has been given to me by Rachel. I am looking forward to using the bike in London because I can get around more easily and be more independent.

Me with my bike.

I will be living with a host family that were introduced to me by Rambert. This year I need to do all my own shopping, cooking and laundry. This is a lot but I think it is time for me to take another step towards being an adult and taking care of myself.

My new room in London

From what I been told by the 2nd and 3rd year students and teachers at Rambert, the 2nd year is the hardest year. This year we will have more dance classes and we will be expected to create our own dance choreography for performance. We will also continue with academic classes and they are going to go deeper by looking at the history of contemporary dance and ballet. I am nervous about the academic work because it is going to require a lot of English vocabulary but I am interested to learn about how these styles of dance were formed.

My goals for this coming year are making friends and connections, visiting more places in London such as art galleries, watching more dance performances and learning as much as I can from school - phsyical and academic. Now I have been here for a whole year, I know what to expect, I know where I want to go and what I want to do. These are things that I won't be able to do in Cambodia. So I am going to try my best to achieve all of these goals in my second year as if it is my last year in England. I want to make the most of this opportunity.