How do things proceed after your degree?
I came to the end of my degree course in Wales, in Cardiff, where I was based at that stage, and decided that I might as well do something that I liked for work rather than just go into a job in a bank, which is the job my family wanted me to do.
I met a wonderful woman called, Molly Kenny, who ran the Cardiff Community Dance Centre, (it’s called the Rubicon Community Dance Organisation now) and I had a conversation with her, saying that I didn’t have any experience but wanted to learn. She arranged for me to do classes at the “Rubicon” for free, as long as I helped her out in the Bed and Breakfast she ran. So, I went every morning to cook breakfasts for her, I was a terrible cook, but I learned how to cook eggs. I cleaned for her as well, and in return I would go to three dance classes a day. I didn’t have any technique, only what I’d picked up at University, so I was way behind other students and other dance practitioners. I did that for a year.
What does that end up leading to?
I lied my way into a job at a time when you could still do that. I told people I had experience that I didn’t have. I went to an audition which required me to teach a class and I was sitting outside in the corridor and I asked the person next to me, “How does this work?”, and they went through with me step by step exactly what you had to do and what you had to say and when you had to say it, and I got the job.
That job was part of a scheme, and I did three years on that scheme, I worked with Footloose Dance Company, part of Theatre Powys, and I performed and taught in communities around Wales. I was now part of the theatre and dance world.
What develops after that?
From Wales I moved to Wexford, and there I took over a community programme while the person in charge went on tour.
From there I worked with a number of different dance companies on the island of Ireland, doing various productions. I was predominantly a performer, I got to tour extensively and I loved that, although it did get to the point where I would wake up in a hotel room and would be wondering where I was. So I taught in local communities along the way and that kept my feet on the ground.
Eventually, feeling dissatisfied I decided to leave dance. I spent about a year searching for something else. I realised that what I was looking for was something that made a social impact, something that made a difference.
See more of the work of Mags Byrne at the link below