We recently connected with Laura-Jane Fenney and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Laura-Jane, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

The most meaningful project I worked on was choreographing “The Village” for Britain’s Got Talent. The piece was a true celebration of diversity and inclusivity and showcased that no matter who you are or where you come from, you can achieve anything you want to if you work hard enough. The group is called “unity” because we believe that we are at our strongest when we truly support and lift each other up. We also performed this at the National Diversity Awards and it was a truly emotional moment for me, to use my creativity to push boundaries and tell a story, to make people across the world feel deeply and maybe even alter perspectives. Having Simon Cowell push the golden buzzer for us was a moment I will never forget.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I originally trained as a dancer, I attended the Royal Ballet School and performed with The Royal Ballet Company at The Royal Opera House and Buckingham Palace. I then moved into Musical Theatre, performing as Roxie Hart in Chicago the Musical and Sandy in the National Tour of Grease. During my career I also trained as an aerialist and fell in love with the discipline, I performed as a Principle Artist with Cirque du Soleil and in Royal Caribbean’s Aqua Shows on the biggest cruise ship in the world! When COVID hit, it was such a difficult time for all performers and I knew that I wanted to be a part of keeping the next generation of artists inspired, so I launched my company Mission: Inspire. I contacted every educator, performer, creative I knew and asked if they would join me in providing masterclasses, workshops and lectures for anyone who wanted to continue dancing! I was able to offer affordable opportunities to young dancers who were struggling financially while also keeping creatives and educators in work. It was a huge shock to see such success happen so quickly but I am so proud of the community I created and the impact I was able to have on our industry. After the pandemic, I continued to offer these opportunities in person and it has been amazing to see young dancers develop into true artists. During these masterclasses I truly found my love of choreography and this kickstarted my career as a creative, I have since choreographed for television, concept videos, cruise ships, award shows and conventions – it has been a whirlwind! I am so grateful for every opportunity to grow and learn from the incredible creatives I work with and I’m excited to see where it takes me next!

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

As a choreographer, I want to make an audience feel something, I want to create spaces for people to escape from their lives and get lost in beauty and art. As a child I was always obsessed with books because they were a way for me to fall into a world where anything was possible, watching my first show I realised I felt the same about live theatre. The stories told, the emotion shared, it all made me feel inspired to do the same for others and that’s what drives me. As a dancer, movement is my way of expressing the things I can’t say out loud, it’s my way of working through difficult feelings and I want to share that with others, no matter who you are, what body you have or where you come from I would like to encourage people to express themselves in any way that feels authentic. For me, that’s choreography and I want to share as much as I can. It might not always hit the mark, my work will not always be perfect or even good but I believe that if you keep pushing, creating, growing, something will resonate and you might even make magic.

How did you build your audience on social media?

My social media truly started to grow when I decided to be fully authentic. I started sharing not only my work but also myself and my views on our industry, I was delighted when I realised people really seemed to resonate! I am very passionate about educating the next generation of artists and I believe that there is so much to be said about technique, training and the importance of tradition and history in dance. Dance is constantly evolving and I think that’s an amazing thing but I also want people to understand that we shouldn’t lose sight of the culture and importance of knowing WHY you’re performing a specific style or step. My social media is still growing and it’s a whole other aspect to being a creative that is becoming more and more important, it’s a fantastic tool to reach people internationally and I feel extremely grateful that mine continues to do so. (Although I am not as active as I probably should be!!) it’s a whole other skill that is constant trial and error to learn what works and what doesn’t – my advice would be to keep posting, keep putting yourself out there and be truly YOU!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @laurajanefenney
• Other: TikTok: @laurajanefenney

Image Credits

Adam Brazier, Michael Carlo