Simon steps up for a prestigious prize

When dancer Wayne Sleep visited the University, he was so impressed with our dance students he offered an annual prize.

And the first student to receive the £1,000 prize is promising dancer Simon Moore.

Simon, 30, is originally from Stockport, Manchester, and is a second year student on the BA (Hons) Dance.

He said: ‘It feels really good to be the first student receiving this prize, I couldn’t have hoped for anything better.

‘I first met Wayne Sleep years ago in a photo shoot and we had a good chat. He’s such an inspiring guy who’s still performing and the dance knowledge he has is incredible. To have him associated with the course is even better.’

Loving the thrill of performance Simon already has an impressive pedigree in professional dance. He first became interested in the discipline aged 13 at Poynton County High School, inspired by a teacher who set up a dance class for boys.

Simon went on to attend the Northern School of Contemporary Dance, achieving a National Diploma in Performing Arts. Following this, he joined several dance companies as a professional dancer, performing in the UK and Portugal.

He added: ‘Ballet is my main love in dance rather than contemporary. I have been called Billy Elliot in the past.

‘I love the thrill of performance, working with other people, coming up with ideas and being creative.’

Before enrolling at Teesside, Simon worked for Tees Valley Dance, whose performance venues included the Arc in Stockton. He sustained a knee injury last year which required surgery so was unable to perform. He enrolled on the degree when told about it by the course leader Heike Salzer.

Simon said: ‘I’ve always wanted to do a degree so it came at the right place at the right time.

‘I’m not dancing at full strength yet and can’t jump or do floor work. But my fitness is improving and the course is giving me the motivation to go forward.’

Showing determination and ambition Heike Salzer added: ‘Simon was selected for the Wayne Sleep prize because he demonstrates real determination and ambition to further develop his already successful career in dance.

‘He has been a professional dancer for the past nine years and now aims to complete an honours degree to develop skills that will bring him forward in his practice as a dance artist practitioner.

‘He is a North East based dancer with real commitment to contribute to the current developments of the dance field and his talent and ambition is recognised with this scholarship.’

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