About Rachel

Having studied ballet as a child, I have always felt at home on the dancefloor. In my teens and twenties I discovered what my dance training had only hinted at - the exhilliarating, liberating power of being completely in the moment through improvised dance - and for several years I could usually be found dancing the night away in clubs and at gigs.

I first came accross 5 Rhythms in December 1996, a single mother of two very young daughters. My life was unravelling in alarming ways and I felt completely out of control. 5 Rhythms was what I didn't know I'd been looking for. It provided a structure for what I was already doing in an atmosphere without smoke and sleaze. I fell instantly in love with the dance and through it began an incredible journey of self-discovery and empowerment.

In the beginning my dancing gave me precious hours just to myself, preserving my sanity during a difficult time and feeding my hungry soul. My new knowledge gave me the courage to dip into the waters of my past and learn to navigate the turbulent oceans of my heart. As I ventured deeper it became an indespensible tool for getting to know, understand and like myself. Since I started dancing 5 Rhythms my life has transformed both internally and externally and my dancing journey continues to support, challenge and surprise me.

My aim as a teacher is to establish an environment that feels safe, accepting and compassionate so that honesty and experimentation can thrive. I try to keep a balance between pushing boundaries, and times to assimilate and consolidate. I enjoy combining 5 Rhythms with art, voicework, writing and other artistic pursuits to inspire and support creativity. All my 5 Rhythms teaching is 'waves' level. I aim to help people free themselves of limiting patterns and beliefs in order to be themselves as fully as possible.

I completed my 5 Rhythms training with Gabrielle Roth and the Moving Center School in America in 2001 after several years of intensive study. Since then I have taught regularly in the North East and occasionally further afield, organised workshops for visiting teachers in the area, and assisted Susannah Darling Khan of the School of Movement Medicine on the year-long workshop 'Zero Zone' in '05 - '06 and '06 - '07. I attended the 5 Rhythms Teachers Refresh in New York in January 2007 and again in 2009 and am a member of the 5 Rhythms teachers association.

Prior to my on-going love affair with 5 Rhythms I had, amongst other things, been a full-time mother, set up and run a cafe, spent 18 months traveling abroad as a busker / artist and worked as a waitress in hotels around the UK( in reverse order!)

So far I have not been able to find the perfect university course but I live in hope and in the meantime I have studied Theatre Studies and collected A levels in Art and Fashion, Scottish Highers in English and Modern Studies and more recently, an HEFC in Psychology.

In Spring 2008 I have completed two short courses in groupwork at the Gestalt Centre in London including 'movement in Geastalt'

In addition to my 5 Rhythms work with adults, I am a founder member of Bare Toed Dance Company, specialists in early years movement play and free-lance aerialist for Hang aerial dance.