I recently had the honour to speak to Terry Hyde who has set up the charity, Counselling for Dancers. We chatted for half an hour about his journey as a dancer, appearing on the stage in London from the age of 10 until he came away at the age of 29. During his time as a dancer he performed in front of the Queen Mother and had a career he adored.
After becoming a father he set up an accountancy firm for people in performing arts and started to realise many were in need of someone to talk to. He decided to train as a counsellor and realised the need to offer it to people who knew he’d worked in the industry and would understand what they’d been through.
Our conversation showed me how difficult things can be even for children who follow their passion – something, here at Joinavision, we want every child to do. Often these schools push the children so hard it can lead to recurring injuries and a deep sense of failure if they don’t into the places they want to or get the big parts. However, what Terry is finding now is that many drama and dance schools do want to offer the nurturing place he is striving for. They are empathetic to their students and passionate about keeping their mental and physical health in top form.
We are lucky in that our daughter is embarking on this path too and is currently at an amazing college which genuinely cares for all the students on her course. I feel optimistic that she’ll choose a very nurturing dance or drama school as she’s been shown what positive role models teachers can be. She’ll be more alerted when a school doesn’t have their students well-being at the core of their ethos. What Terry wants to see is an education system and a society that doesn’t damage its children so they won’t need counselling from their experience in these establishments.
We both feel optimistic that if we all unite we can create that.
To listen to our conversation please click on the audio file below.
