Steven and Gemma have grown up as part of a big family, with two older sisters, with Steven being the youngest of the lot. Their parents, who enjoyed dancing socially, and who wanted to give their children every opportunity possible, sent them to their first dance lessons when five and eight years of age respectively. They have both individually danced their ways through the Junior ranks with different partners making a number of achievements for themselves. It seems however, that since teaming up to dance together when Steven was 16, success comes ever more quickly. Since storming into the last 92 at Blackpool this year, they were runners-up at the National Stars of the Future and placed 51 at the recent IDSF International Open Standard in Barcelona in July.
Gemma has just finished her degree in Environmental Science, while Steven still has two years to go in his studies of Geography, but they both are entirely focussed on and committed to their career as professional dancers...
You must have had your fair share of fights when you were growing up. Did you always get on well? Were you apprehensive at all to dance with your sister/brother?
(laughter )from both.
Steven: “Err, no. But I think we get on very well when we’re dancing. I don’t see our dance partnership related at all to us as brother and sister. Dancing is dancing. And when dancing, we become different people, it’s professional. At home is a different story.”
Gemma: “Whenever we’re in a dance environment, I don’t think of Steven as my brother. It is really weird. But you think about it even to the point where people might think we are completely weird (giggles). When we practise I punch him, I prod him, I shove him all across the floor.”
Gemma is your older sister, so who wears the trousers in your relationship?
Steven (laughs): “Well, I think it’s actually changing at the moment, but Gemma has always been more assertive. She knows what she wants and in a way it’s good because I cannot always see myself in the mirror so she tells me what I’m not doing and what I should be doing.”
So, being so close and knowing each other so well, has a positive affect on your dancing?
Steven: “Yes, certainly. Knowing each other so well is a major advantage. We know how to wind each other up, but we also know how to make things work for the other person as we know what upsets them. Also, we cannot just storm off and run away, be it when practising, or more figuratively, because we live together. We need to deal with things and always get things sorted out.”
Gemma: “I think it’s also got to do with having only one set of parents, because it always complicates things when you have two sets of parents and they want their kids to do different things. We are more independent. If we want to practise that night, we practise, if we don’t, we don’t. We don’t need to let anyone else know etc. It’s a lot easier. I think what we have is a much stronger team than most people. Due to being so close, we are more of a partnership and on the same wavelength, whereas others are just two people together trying to get through it. This partnership aspect is very important also to Chris Hawkins and Hazel Newberry, with whom we’ve trained for two and a half years now.”
How did this association come about then?
Gemma: “We went to one of Chris and Hazel’s lectures at Cheam one summer and liked what they had to offer and their approach. Consequently we asked them if we could have a lesson and it all went from there.”
You are part of the EADA scheme. How big a part does it play in your success?
Steven: “I think Chris and Hazel and the EADA scheme, which reflects what they teach, have been sort of our biggest assets. They are different because they coach you on all levels and tell you exactly what you need. We never used to realise how much work around your dancing you have to do to be prepared (ie fitness, psychological preparation etc). The physical side of things will help the mental side. If you know you are physically and technically fit, you can concentrate on other things.”
Following your coaching from Chris and Hazel, how do you prepare for a major competition such as Blackpool?
Gemma: “The most important aspect is to make sure we have a shared and achievable goal. For Blackpool that was to get into the last 92, which we managed. Then there’s the preparation to do to ensure we reach that goal — inside and outside of dancing, for example a fitness work out — we even do our own stuff at home based on EADA — and the psychological aspects. Communication is a major thing. For something like Blackpool you have to be so in tune with each other because when you’re under that kind of pressure, you have to be able to rely on each other to achieve your goals. Otherwise it can go wrong and it has gone wrong. We’ve learnt from experience in the past, where we haven’t talked about our goal properly and got on the dance floor with a completely different idea of what we were going to do. When we came off each of us would have a go at the other person asking them what they thought they were doing out there....”
Entering for the first time into the Amateur ranks at Blackpool, were you more nervous than usual? Were you surprised at your success? What do you think helped you achieve this?
Steven: “No, we were actually more relaxed in comparison to previous ones. We had never done the Amateurs before so we just thought ‘whatever, we will give it a shot’.”
Gemma: “We hoped to achieve our goals but weren’t sure. The Amateurs were a completely different league to the Youths. The support that we have around us is so good, we felt confident of challenging the other couples. I feel like we’re improving all the time. With that in mind, we have a direction and we know we are capable of more.”
What are your long-term goals and hopes for dancing?
Steven: “We’d like to be in the top six professionals in the world eventually. Next Blackpool we would like to be in the last 24, and then in three years we want to be in the final.”
Gemma: “Well, in that sort of time-frame. We want at least to have a rough idea. But we also know that if, just in case things didn’t work out with us together or we wanted to go our separate ways, we are kind of open about that.”
What is more important for you in your dancing? The competitive or the artistic aspect?
Steven: “Both. I love the enjoyment of dance and I enjoy competing. I’m definitely competitive, I don’t like losing, but I enjoy performing to a crowd.
Gemma: “The artistic aspect is very important as this is to do with your personal interpretation of the music which is what dance is all about. However, being able to compete as well adds adrenalin and more excitement to what is already a fabulous thing to do. I’m competitive and love the buzz competition gives you.”
