Sue Lewis talks in depth about life as company director of Ffin

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Every little girl loves to perform. Putting on a show in the living room for parents and grandparents is all part of growing up. For Sue Lewis, however, this was to form the course of the rest of her life.

Sue Lewis is now Director of Ffin Dance Company, based at The Met theatre, Abertillery. She initially founded the company herself back in 2003 with funding from the Arts Council of Wales. Sue then took the plunge in 2005, quitting her job after over 20 years of teaching dance in schools, and setting out as a lone business woman. She tells Rhian Lewis all about how she made her dreams a reality.

Growing up, what actually developed your passion for dance?

I grew up in the valleys, in Tredegar, and it was just what I always did. My grandparents and my family were very musical. We would sit around a piano and play, they would play and sing and I would dance.

My Grandfather would put a curtain across the middle room, and I’d put on a show for my family. I was one of those children who was always shouting, “Look at me, watch my shows!” I even put shows on in my Dad’s garage and people would come see me. Highly inflated opinion of myself I guess!

How did you get into dance?

I did the local ballet and tap stuff; they were the only classes we could do. Then I did a lot of choreography at school, but never had any formal training in it.

There were no contemporary dance degrees, or formal certificates that I could have done. So I decided to do P.E training with performing arts as my second subject, then I knew that was what I wanted to do.

Where did you go next after college?

I spent a year at Cardiff College with Dilys Price, the founder director of the Touch Trust at the Millennium Centre, she was a very inspiring woman..

With still no formal dance qualification in Wales in the late 70’s, I got a job teaching P.E and decided to create my own dance department at the school. I was the first teacher to teach CSE, O level and A level dance in Wales at Ebbw Vale, and spent the next 21 years developing it.

Because there was nothing else, again I decided to do it myself. We were completely un-funded, and did our own shows, and performed at the local theatre.

What were your ambitions personally back then?

I wanted to choreograph on professional people, so just decided to just test the ground with high level technique on students and get myself out there. I’ve now developed my own way of moving and taken bits and pieces from other techniques, and evolved this mish mash of techniques to make a Sue Lewis way of moving.

With Ffin, your own company, where did that come from?

I left full time teaching to work with my own project, so to do that and make it financially viable for myself as I still had a young family, I went into part time teaching and part time choreography and running the company. We performed at local platforms and went from there, and it took off a bit. That got hold of me, and I loved doing that.

I got together a group of dancers and called it Ffin in 2003, and we performed at Resolution! That was a project that was funded by Arts Council Wales, and when Resolution! Finished, it finished.

I was still working on other projects, but decided in 2005 to completely finish teaching. Which was totally mad. But by then, Richard my son had gone off to a music conservatoire in London, and Catrin my daughter was doing GCSE’s, so I’d put enough money away for them to see them through. Then Ffin started full time as a not for profit company.

How did that affect you? Was it a huge leap?

Huge, huge leap. I mean, financially I’m still reeling from that. But that doesn’t matter. I’ve only got myself to worry about; my kids are doing their own thing now. It was a huge leap of faith in myself. People who I really highly regard for sound advice said, “You need to do this now Sue, you need to be making work on professional dancers.”

I found doing half lecturing; half choreographing, nothing was getting done properly. I just thought, “Right if I don’t do this now, I won’t ever.”

Along the route, what setbacks did you face?

I had to completely retrain myself. But, like lots of things in life, I find the things that knock you down make you perhaps a bit more determined and make you the person that you are. Then you make something that you really want.

Personally, I had to make huge sacrifices… but I have a huge faith, I’m a Christian, and I have a faith that if you throw yourself to the universe in honesty that the right thing will happen for you, and what’s meant to be will be.

It sounds a bit odd, but I really do live from day to day thinking, right this is today, what’s going to be thrown at us? The company is my passion which overrides everything.

What is your inspiration?

In this area, there is so much raw talent, and the kids can’t get out of the valleys.

We feel that, because it doesn’t exist , we had to make it. The passion behind the kids as well is that they are the future coming out of this area, and we want to help them believe that they can get out of the valleys and do something.

It isn’t just about English and maths, people around here are very good physically, and musically, we are trying to help them understand that this is just as good.

How do you feel about your children entering into the performing arts?

You don’t want your children to have to feel like they must do what you want them to do. You’re behind your children no matter what your children want to do. I’m delighted my son is a performing musician and my daughter will be a performing dancer. But, I guess they were dragged around all of my performances as little ones, and be at the front of my class in a baby bouncer.

Nevertheless, I know how hard it is, and I do worry that they have these things to come and it is an exceptionally harsh world, the performance world. If you want to do it, you have to go without a lot of things, like money in your bank balance and give up family life. I know they’re strong enough to do it, but I do worry.

And how about you, what’s next for Sue Lewis?

I’d like to have, next year, two visiting choreographers so as much as I love choreography, I would like to actually just steer the company from a director’s point of view. I’d really like to try my hand at that, developing the company with two pieces which are not mine