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Wednesday Dec 02, 2020
Wednesday Dec 02, 2020
This week’s guest is Stuart Worden, Principal of the Brit School. The BRIT (British Record Industry Trust) School is a performing arts and technology school in Croydon, South London and free to attend. But this is no ordinary performing arts school. The alumni read like a who’s who of music, dance, film and production;
Singers - Adele, The Feeling, Leona Lewis, Katie Melua, Jessie J,
Actors - Cush Jumbo, Tom Holland, Cleve September,
Dancers - Twist and Pulse,
Youtube comedians - Percelle Ascot, Joivan Wade
Many more students come through the school who we wouldn’t know, but are the people that set the lighting for concerts or stage shows, write poetry that maybe we haven’t yet read or adapt screen plays that we have yet seen.
So how does a performing arts school support the talent that comes through its doors? How do the school teachers select people to attend?
In this discussion with Stuart, he shares the values, philosophies, challenges that he and many of the incredibly talented teachers create. What lies at the centre of the discussion that you’ll hear is about environment and how the very sense of a place and what it lives for how it feels - can be a force for the development of incredible performance and people who want to make a difference in this world.
This all against a backdrop of the arts being profoundly undervalued in educational systems around the world and under great threat during the restrictions on gatherings with the coronavirus pandemic.
Stuart has such passion and conviction, his approach seemed to me to be deeply caring about how we should support young people. I found his outlook and insights enriching, as I could feel my worldview being enhanced with every answer he gave. By the end of the discussion I was genuinely enlightened.
Notes
How well the students have responded to the strange times
Exploring specialisation or exploring the whole creative process
The process of applying to joining the Brit School
Artists fundamentally need to be able to display empathy
The importance of activism
What do the Brit School look for in people?
Working hard and realism
Advocacy and mentoring of students
How non-uniform reduces barriers
Rules and regulations
Alumni such as Tom Holland, Tuwaine Barrett enjoy returning and meeting the current students
The Alumni of the Brit school and how they still contribute to the school
The destination and results are not as interesting as the journey
Stuart’s ambitions for the Brit School and the future
Links
https://twitter.com/Stuartworden
https://twitter.com/TheBRITSchool
https://www.instagram.com/thebritschool/
Contribute to the school
https://cafdonate.cafonline.org/11242
Steve Ingham on Twitter www.twitter.com/ingham_steve
Supporting Champions on;
Twitter www.twitter.com/support_champs
Linkedin, www.linkedin.com/company/supporting-champions
Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/supportingchampions
If you’re looking for some coaching support or some virtual team development help to support you to get to the next level in work, life or sport then take a look at https://supportingchampions.co.uk/coaching-mentoring/
or drop us a note at enquiries@supportingchampions.co.uk then you can sign up for a free consultation to explore which package is right for you.
If you’re ambitious to work in sports performance, and you realise that there’s no golden ticket to the chocolate factory – that you have to learn and develop and build a network of collaborators to get there – then sign up for our Graduate Membership today – go to http://supportingchampions.co.uk/membership/ and enrol. We’ll look forward to connecting with you there.
Wednesday Nov 18, 2020
Wednesday Nov 18, 2020
This week’s guest is Professor Mark Williams who has spent his professional career understanding the neural and psychological aspects of acquiring skills and developing expertise. Mark has recently published a fascinating book called “The Best”. The subtitle of the book captures your attention though, “How elite athlete are made”. Now you might starting jumping to conclusions that the book tends towards the nurture side of nature vs nurture, but you’d be mistaken. Mark and his co-author Tim Wigmore weave a narrative from the social, economic, environmental and family factors that contribute to success. And in this discussion I explore many of these concepts but ask Mark given that we have a certain set of cards dealt to us, what can we do as athletes, coaches, parents and supporting members of the cast to enable others to succeed, enable others to grow especially during a disruptive pandemic.
Enjoy the pod.
Notes
Does Mark constantly analyse performance and expertise?
What is expertise?
Sibling advantage
Maintaining an optimal learning environment in lockdown
Using time in lockdown wisely to hone our weaknesses
The differences between performance and learning, variations in briefing levels of challenge and reflection
Helicopter parenting
How to enable athletes to live a life well outside of sport
Personal effectiveness and developing successful teams
The joint curation of group rules, norms and behaviours, enables the agreed consequences of breaking the group agreements
Links
Take a look at Mark’s new book, ‘The best; How elite athletes are made’.
https://www.markwilliamssportsscience.com/
Steve Ingham on Twitter www.twitter.com/ingham_steve
Supporting Champions on;
Twitter www.twitter.com/support_champs
Linkedin, www.linkedin.com/company/supporting-champions
Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/supportingchampions
If you’re ambitious to work in sports performance, and you realise that there’s no golden ticket to the chocolate factory – that you have to learn and develop and build a network of collaborators to get there – then sign up for our Graduate Membership today – go to http://supportingchampions.co.uk/membership/ and enrol. We’ll look forward to connecting with you there.
If you’re looking for some coaching support or some virtual team development help to support you to get to the next level in work, life or sport then take a look at https://supportingchampions.co.uk/coaching-mentoring/
or drop us a note at enquiries@supportingchampions.co.uk then you can sign up for a free consultation to explore which package is right for you.
Wednesday Nov 04, 2020
Wednesday Nov 04, 2020
This week we have two guests, Mark Richardson and Marcus Smith. Mark Richardson is the drummer for the band Skunk Anansie, a band that were figureheads of the Britrock explosion in the mid-nineties, with defining songs Weak and Hedonism and remain a highly influential band 25 years since they were formed.
Dr Marcus Smith is Reader in Sport and Exercise Physiology at the University of Chichester, with background of supporting elite athletes, especially boxers to Olympic success but Marcus loves his music too and as you’ll hear he became curious about how hard drummers work while on stage. This led to him contacting Clem Burke the drummer of Blondie and from there a fascinating project was struck up involving quantification of the physiological demand of performing Their work began to gain momentum and the Clem Burke Drumming Project was founded. And Mark Richardson got involved in the project because in music circles he was known as one of the most ferocious drummers about.
In the conversation, Mark describes his early career, how he found drumming as an outlet, how exploring his own performance with Marcus has opened up his thinking and practice to a much healthier, sustainable way of approaching the demands of performing on stage or touring. They also both share some wonderful spin-offs that the project has had in supporting children with autism too (see the links below).
Make sure you listen right to the end of the episode where you can listen to Mark performing the drumming for "Tear the place up" (courtesy of Skunk Anansie and reproduced with permission)
This episode is sponsored by Junius, a multi-award winning, health food + drinks company. Junius have made a superb range of plant-based juices. We’ve partnered with Junius so that you can benefit from a 10% discount on your first order from a range of themed boxes of 7 juices. When you go to the checkout at wearejunius.com/shop make sure you enter the exclusive code Champions10.
(Disclosure: Affiliate links are used for each product that we are an affiliate of, which means that if you click that link and subsequently make a purchase, we will earn a commission. You pay nothing extra; any commission we earn comes at no additional cost to you.)
Show notes
Drawing comparisons between performers and understanding of what is performance
Marcus discusses how he became interested in music; Blondie & Clem Burke the drummer. PhD with Olympic boxers and sport science.
Heart rate data collection of Clem drumming
Mark - the baddest hardest hitting rock drummer
Marcus discusses why he was fascinated by drummers and specifically fatigue
Mark discussed his childhood and how physical activity helped him not misbehave
Alcoholism, AA meetings and therapy, learning to get fit and stay healthy
The similarities between Premier League football players and drummer
The dichotomy between the perception a=of a having a dream job and the reality of the demands
The need to look after self pre-tour, including fitness, food and mentally
Marcus discussed the importance of asking questions and the person above the numbers
Learning to accept when ‘good enough’
The importance of collaboration and surrounding yourself with people more intelligent than you
Communication through movement and sound reaching out to kids with autism and the benefits of drumming
Outro of Mark playing “Tear the place up” (courtesy of Skunk Anansie and reproduced with permission)
Links
If you’re ambitious to work in sports performance, and you realise that there’s no golden ticket to the chocolate factory – that you have to learn and develop and build a network of collaborators to get there – then sign up for our Graduate Membership today – go to http://supportingchampions.co.uk/membership/ and enrol. We’ll look forward to connecting with you there.
Connect with Marcus on Twitter on https://twitter.com/MarcusSmith78
Mark on Twitter https://twitter.com/markskunkanansi
https://clemburkedrummingproject.org/
Steve Ingham on Twitter www.twitter.com/ingham_steve
Supporting Champions on;
Twitter www.twitter.com/support_champs
Linkedin, www.linkedin.com/company/supporting-champions
Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/supportingchampions
If you’re looking for some coaching support or some virtual team development help to support you to get to the next level in work, life or sport then take a look at https://supportingchampions.co.uk/coaching-mentoring/ or drop us a note at enquiries@supportingchampions.co.uk then you can sign up for a free consultation to explore which package is right for you.
Wednesday Oct 21, 2020
Wednesday Oct 21, 2020
This week’s guest is Peter Vint. I’d got in touch with Peter with the full intention of discussing analytics, and the trend towards data and to fully explore the wave of interest, activity and investment in capture, understanding and use of information – and we do explore this especially as he has directed and delivered this function at the highest level at the USOC and in the Ineos sub 2 hour marathon project with Eliud Kipchoge. And now Peter is Chief of Sport at USA Volleyball – so has a much broader leadership role.
But I can’t say we spent the whole conversation discussing data – that’s because Peter is such an interesting person that we ended up exploring adapting to the pandemic, culture, long-term athlete development to name a few areas. So I promise you I’ll be exploring information and data in more detail in future episodes, but in the meantime enjoy a free ranging conversation with someone who over the last ten years of knowing Peter, it’s become apparent to me, that he is a luminary, a source of deep insight and knowledge and philosophy.
This episode is sponsored by Junius, a multi-award winning, health food + drinks company. Junius have made a superb range of plant-based juices. We’ve partnered with Junius so that you can benefit from a 10% discount on your first order from a range of themed boxes of 7 juices. When you go to the checkout at wearejunius.com/shop make sure you enter the exclusive code Champions10.
(Disclosure: Affiliate links are used for each product that we are an affiliate of, which means that if you click that link and subsequently make a purchase, we will earn a commission. You pay nothing extra; any commission we earn comes at no additional cost to you.)
Show notes
As Chief of Sport at USA Volleyball Peter discusses how COVID affecting the year?
The culture of pay-to-play in youth sport
What could, and should, youth sport look like?
Peter discusses the need of sports people to achieve something very special and the technology that supports these feats
The gap between what we know and what we have and how do we make it useful and impactful
The Ineos Project
Deterministic approach becomes probabilistic
Links
Follow Peter on Twitter https://twitter.com/PeterVint
Steve Ingham on Twitter www.twitter.com/ingham_steve
Supporting Champions on;
Twitter www.twitter.com/support_champs
Linkedin, www.linkedin.com/company/supporting-champions
Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/supportingchampions
Graduate Membership enrolments are open for students and graduates to up their skills, join in the conversation about what’s on their mind and to network and connect. If you would like to sign up go to https://supportingchampions.co.uk/membership/
If you’re looking for some coaching support or some virtual team development help to support you to get to the next level in work, life or sport then take a look at https://supportingchampions.co.uk/coaching-mentoring/
or drop us a note at enquiries@supportingchampions.co.uk then you can sign up for a free consultation to explore which package is right for you.
Wednesday Oct 07, 2020
Wednesday Oct 07, 2020
This week’s guest is Chris Rosimus, Chris is the Head of Nutrition at the Football Association, leading all aspects of dietary provision to the England football teams. Prior to that Chris was nutritionist at England and Wales Cricket Board, English Institute of Sport and England Squash.
What was fascinating about this conversation was the route that Chris followed, which you might consider unconventional, if there is such a thing as a conventional route. Chris essentially followed his passions and interests, and what you’ll hear from Chris is how through chance, through his own connection with his experiences and through his intuition, he honoured the ideas that have sparked deep enthusiasm by pursuing them. At the centre of all of these discussions is one recurring theme that Chris has respected and protected during his career, one theme that has enabled him to influence a whole host of elite players and coaches – and that is relationships.
This episode is sponsored by Junius, a multi-award winning, health food + drinks company. Junius have made a superb range of plant-based juices. We’ve partnered with Junius so that you can benefit from a 10% discount on your first order from a range of themed boxes of 7 juices. When you go to the checkout at wearejunius.com/shop make sure you enter the exclusive code Champions10.
(Disclosure: Affiliate links are used for each product that we are an affiliate of, which means that if you click that link and subsequently make a purchase, we will earn a commission. You pay nothing extra; any commission we earn comes at no additional cost to you.)
Show Notes
Chris’ unique route into nutrition, 6 months as an apprentice gas engineer, 6 months making conservatory roofs, 6 years as an alarm engineer
Football coach for kids
Progressing to coaching badges which sparked an interest in nutrition
Chris reflects on how much he has changed
Taking the leap in applying for a nutrition course
A foundation year and learning to be academic and use a USB stick
Chris had a plan and knew he needed experience
First time doing a one-to-one session and struggling!
Common characteristics of a nutritional role
Feeling under pressure, being supported but having to work very hard to survive
Preparing a team for a major event
Having something positive to sell
Research and reading to stay on top of your game
Perceived traits of effective practice
Links
Connect with Chris on Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-rosimus-a77425180/
Steve Ingham on Twitter www.twitter.com/ingham_steve
Supporting Champions on;
Twitter www.twitter.com/support_champs
Linkedin, www.linkedin.com/company/supporting-champions
Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/supportingchampions
Graduate Membership enrolments are open until 2nd November 2020 for students and graduates to up their skills, join in the conversation about what’s on their mind and to network and connect. If you would like to sign up go to https://supportingchampions.co.uk/membership/
If you’re looking for some coaching support or some virtual team development help to support you to get to the next level in work, life or sport then take a look at https://supportingchampions.co.uk/coaching-mentoring/
or drop us a note at enquiries@supportingchampions.co.uk then you can sign up for a free consultation to explore which package is right for you.
Wednesday Sep 23, 2020
Wednesday Sep 23, 2020
Dr Cath Bishop competed as a rower at three Olympic Games, Atlanta, Sydney and Athens (and I had the privilege of working with Cath throughout her career), with highlights including winning the World Championships in 2003 and an Olympic silver medal in 2004. As a diplomat specialising in conflict issues, Cath was posted to Sarajevo, Bosnia, Basra and Iraq, as well as leading in Whitehall on the UK civilian contribution to conflicts around the world.
Cath has written a book, out on 13th October 2020, calling on us all to redefine what winning is. Cath brings extraordinary and insight together, back up with numerous anecdotes, references and her own experience to examine what winning has come to mean to society and to us as individuals and offers a fresh perspective on how we might redefine success – personal and professional - for the longer-term.
This episode is sponsored by Junius, a multi-award winning, health food + drinks company. Junius have made a superb range of plant-based juices. We’ve partnered with Junius so that you can benefit from a 10% discount on your first order from a range of themed boxes of 7 juices. When you go to the checkout at wearejunius.com/shop make sure you enter the exclusive code Champions10.
Notes
Cath discusses the reasons for writing the book, being tested provoking debate and furthering thinking
Cath was a sporting failure at school
Shifting identity to an athlete and competing at the highest level.
Surviving in a high intensity, high performance environment
Relief at results at a high level but could it be reproduced at the Olympics
Being tough, but how much can you take?
When the results don’t match your physiology you realise there is more to performance
Associating failing to perform with your identity, at the time they were the same thing
If you come second you are a loser, but there is and has to be a different way
The longer you compete the more you realise the mental and cultural side of performance has a huge impact
There is a different psychology around ways to motivate it doesn’t need to be base on aggression or a macho narrative which is self-limiting
The Long Win – why are we still relying on outdated mantras and beliefs?
Athletes and even the athletes who are on the winning podium feeling unfulfilled and empty
Role modelling values and the way in which you can role model performance
Why is it important to win the medal? Why is it you train?
What are the costs of the sport you love, are you buying into them, do you understand them?
What is acceptable in the journey to success and what is unacceptable?
Playing to the longer term metric and strategies in both sport and business
Stating a wider purpose other than results
How can we unlock performance in a different way?
The IOC specifically states that competition is not between nations!
Working in partnership with your athlete and to explore unlocking even more
Links
Links for Cath
https://twitter.com/thecathbishop
https://cathbishop.com/
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Long-Win-search-better-succeed/dp/1788601912
Follow us
If you want to follow us on Twitter you can do so at www.twitter.com/support_champs
And me on Twitter www.twitter.com/ingham_steve
https://www.instagram.com/supportingchampions/
Follow our Linkedin page Supporting Champions at www.linkedin.com/company/supporting-champions
A reminder if you’re keen to pre-register for the next wave of Membership enrolments then you can do so at https://supportingchampions.co.uk/membership/
If you’re looking for some coaching support or some virtual team development help to support you to get to the next level in work, life or sport then take a look at https://supportingchampions.co.uk/coaching-mentoring/
or drop us a note at enquiries@supportingchampions.co.uk then you can sign up for a free consultation to explore which package is right for you.
Wednesday Sep 09, 2020
Wednesday Sep 09, 2020
This week’s guest former Formula One driver Mark Webber. During his career Mark won nine Formula one Grands Prix, finishing third on three occasions, while driving for Red Bull racing. Mark has also won the FIA World Endurance Championship with Porsche.
In this interview I ask mark about how he’s making sense of his career now that he’s retired and hear all about a strange mix of feeling fortunate and experiencing the loss of his career. We discuss physically and mentally what he felt he was losing that meant he wasn’t able to compete. Mark shares how he with the help of his father was stretching to ever higher standards and he offers a fascinating insight into competing against the very best in Michael Schumacher. In a really powerful section Mark divulges what it was like to experience some of the most severe and spectacular (in the factual sense of the word) crashes. Perhaps what was just as fascinating was how Mark processed his thoughts and what struck me about this discussion was how effective Mark is at using frameworks to move to action, deliver the necessary behaviours, discipline and focus required to ascend, recover and improve. Much of this is self-taught, instinctive and so perhaps is a talent itself.
This episode is sponsored by Junius multi-award winning, health food + drinks company – Junius. Junius have made a superb range of plant-based juices. We've partnered with Junius so that you can benefit from a 10% discount on your first order from a range of themed boxes of 7 juices. When you go to the checkout at wearejunius.com/shop make sure you enter the exclusive code Champions10.
Show notes
Mark discusses how covid-19 has affected him and Formula 1
Personality traits, competition scenarios and keeping perspective/composure
Retirement and career reflections
Levels of boredom
Mark does not want to get in a grand prix car again
Grand prix driving is a young mans’ game
It’s tough at the top, winning, tough conversation/messages and self-discipline to adapt
Mark’s youth, how did he rise to the top?
The subtlety of feedback
The paranoid perfection pressure
The crunch moment – not having a plan B
Moments when Mark new he was ‘good’
Winning in Europe
Michael Schumacher the desire, pressure, belief and risks
Adapting to scenarios, team mates and pressures
The crashes
Providing support to others
Hindsight is their foresight
Doing the basics brilliantly and focus on yourself
Links
Mark Webber on Twitter
https://twitter.com/AussieGrit
and Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/aussiegrit/
Supporting Champions on Twitter www.twitter.com/support_champs
Steve Ingham on Twitter www.twitter.com/ingham_steve
Supporting Champions on Linkedin, www.linkedin.com/company/supporting-champions
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/supportingchampions/
A reminder if you’re keen to pre-register for the next wave of Graduate Membership enrolments then you can do so at https://supportingchampions.co.uk/membership/
If you’re looking for some coaching support or some virtual team development help to support you to get to the next level in work, life or sport then take a look at https://supportingchampions.co.uk/coaching-mentoring/
or drop us a note at enquiries@supportingchampions.co.uk then you can sign up for a free consultation to explore which package is right for you.
Wednesday Aug 26, 2020
Wednesday Aug 26, 2020
I would put this week’s guest into a very select place in the world of endurance, one that has combined four often distinct factors, first quality academic research, second in a topic that contributes to elite performance, third creates a paradigm shift that challenges how most of us think about training, and fourthly has been successfully applied to the non-elites, the serious amateur athletes or training for the general population.
Professor Stephen Seiler’s has captured, described, cross-referenced and validated the unique training patterns of the world’s best athletes and has found a somewhat remarkable, counter-intuitive trend – that the training they do is polarised, that is that the best endurance athletes make their easy training easy and their hard training hard. This has become known as the polarised approach.
Stephen and his research group’s contribution to endurance sport took a bit of time to become recognised, now is widely accepted, considered and underpins the practice and thinking of coaches and athletes around the world.
We have a right old natter in this discussion, and in truth we could have spoken for hours more, we take a good couple of hours to explore, psycho-physiology, training, periodisation, philosophy and we both coin some new markers of over-training. We actually sort of drifted into a fascinating discussion right from the off, before we really started, which is representative of what you’ll hear, much less an interview but much more of a long-form conversation
Show notes
Talking shared book titles, Star Wars
Steve and Stephen discuss children and the role of parenting, ensuring you are mindful of their resilience and coaching them in their chosen field
Stephen discusses his daughter’s eating disorder and the areas he needs to be mindful of. Passing on the mantle of coaching, Stephen’s role will then have been fulfilled.
Gathering teams with different skills sets communicating effectively and putting the athlete in the centre
Stephen discusses the routine, the mundane aspects of high performance and planning for the extraordinary.
Self-doubt and elements of OCD within athletes regardless of achievement or performance level.
Providing positive support to athletes during competition
Getting bogged down in the details whilst forgetting the exceptional work completed over the long term
Interval training relax this is not rocket science!
Confidence versus certainty
Agile periodisation
The cheetah - moments of aggression
The adaptive advantage of the polarised approach
Signal versus stress
Staying under the stress radar
Getting the athlete and the coach on the same page
The relevance of subjective indicators
The hair in the yoghurt indicator!
Evolution and innovation of training
Resistance to change
I have been a gold medallist and I can be one again
Science meets arts and the development of new constructs for explanation
Links
Follow Stephen on twitter
https://twitter.com/StephenSeiler
Supporting Champions on Twitter www.twitter.com/support_champs
Supporting Champions on Twitter www.twitter.com/support_champs
Steve Ingham on Twitter www.twitter.com/ingham_steve
Supporting Champions on Linkedin, www.linkedin.com/company/supporting-champions
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/supportingchampions/
A reminder if you’re keen to pre-register for the next wave of Graduate Membership enrolments then you can do so at https://supportingchampions.co.uk/membership/
If you’re looking for some coaching support or some virtual team development help to support you to get to the next level in work, life or sport then take a look at https://supportingchampions.co.uk/coaching-mentoring/
or drop us a note at enquiries@supportingchampions.co.uk then you can sign up for a free consultation to explore which package is right for you.
Wednesday Aug 12, 2020
Wednesday Aug 12, 2020
In this week’s episode I speak to a true innovator, pioneer and superstar of human movement – Sebastien Foucan. Sebastien was one of the founding developers of the discipline of parkour and later Sebastien stretched his practice to develop free-running – creative, acrobatic, exploratory, jumping, vaulting, rolling, climbing and interacting with obstacles and environments.
Sebastien was also Bond baddy, delivering his art form on the big screen in a breath taking chase sequence with Daniel Craig at the start of Casino Royale! Sebastien has starred in Madonna video and toured with her.
In this interview we discuss Sebastien’s early athleticism, the origins of parkour, the split to free-running, the assessment of risk against knowledge of his own physical capabilities, the founding philosophies and links to Bruce Lee’s doctrines and the demands of getting it right on stage and screen. We also find out who was the harder taskmaster Madonna or Bond!
I’ve been in awe of Sebastien for many years and it was a compelling, deep yet fun conversation to have.
Show notes
Early origins of Sebastien's athletic ability
Creation of parkour and the split with free running
The philosophical nature of three running and the links with Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do
Evaluating risk and understanding of personal physical abilities when performing free running
Importance of practice
Feeling flow, in the zone, the importance of the environment
Delivering free running on the big screen in James Bond Casino Royale movie
The demands of touring with Madonna
Sustaining performance as Sebastien gets older
Mentoring others and being the Obi-Wan Kenobi of free running
Links
https://twitter.com/SebastienFoucan
https://www.foucan.com/
Supporting Champions on Twitter www.twitter.com/support_champs
Steve Ingham on Twitter www.twitter.com/ingham_steve
Supporting Champions on Linkedin, www.linkedin.com/company/supporting-champions
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/supportingchampions/
A reminder if you’re keen to pre-register for the next wave of Graduate Membership enrolments then you can do so at https://supportingchampions.co.uk/membership/
If you’re looking for some coaching support or some virtual team development help to support you to get to the next level in work, life or sport then take a look at https://supportingchampions.co.uk/coaching-mentoring/
or drop us a note at enquiries@supportingchampions.co.uk then you can sign up for a free consultation to explore which package is right for you.
Wednesday Jul 29, 2020
Wednesday Jul 29, 2020
This week’s guest is Kit Holder, first soloist at the Birmingham Royal Ballet. Kit has spent his whole career dancing, he came from a family of dancers, he went to the Royal Ballet School and has performed at the highest level on stage and now is a choreographer for the Birmingham company.
There’s a number of interesting angles that I took from this interview, one that he is working to the direction of a new boss the world renowned Carlos Acosta – finding out how the style, manner and expectation change with the new direction. Kit also shares an interesting hurdle he had to overcome where a particular routine and section caused a real performance blocker for him and how he overcame this limiting inhibition. Fascinating still how this experience has propelled him to study more about the psychology of performance. Kit also shares his insights into choreography, nurturing others, directing, inspiring and co-creating works with other dancers.
We’ve always been super keen to learn from diverse fields. Sport is not the reference point for all things performance – that’s something I’ve learnt since we set Supporting Champions up and begun applying performance thinking to business, education and the performing arts. To that end we've featured, west end stars, military commanders, television presenters in our interviews and there is always something ratifying about the convergence of ideas from parallel fields. This episode does the same.
Show notes
Prior to lockdown Kit was performing with the Birmingham Royal Ballet in Swan Lake
How COVID-19 affected the rehearsals, performances, classes and training.
Kit observes his motivation during the first few weeks of lockdown
Balancing road cycling and ballet
The specifics of training for ballerinas and maintaining performance
The film, ‘Alone Together’
Challenging audiences with performance
Dancing for a digital audience
Kit’s experience of dancing as a child and following in his brothers’ footsteps
From the Royal Ballet School to the Royal Ballet Company
Kit set his sights on specifically wanting to work at The Royal Ballet School
The inherent desire to dance
Ballet dancers aesthetic
Physical performance and psychological skills
Choreography
Choreography of a jazz improvisation and the realisation of the bigger components that allow a ballet company to function
Kit’s learnings about choreography
The ability to admit you were wrong
What’s next for kit?
Links
https://twitter.com/KitHolder
Supporting Champions on Twitter www.twitter.com/support_champs
Steve Ingham on Twitter www.twitter.com/ingham_steve
Supporting Champions on Linkedin, www.linkedin.com/company/supporting-champions
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/supportingchampions/
A reminder if you’re keen to pre-register for the next wave of Graduate Membership enrolments then you can do so at https://supportingchampions.co.uk/membership/
If you’re looking for some coaching support or some virtual team development help to support you to get to the next level in work, life or sport then take a look at https://supportingchampions.co.uk/coaching-mentoring/
or drop us a note at enquiries@supportingchampions.co.uk then you can sign up for a free consultation to explore which package is right for you.