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Elena Collins 27/04/2020 Elena Collins 27/04/2020

How We Built MyCharleston

Dance brought us together when Elena stumbled into Fiona’s dance class on a cold January evening back in 2013. Within just 20 minutes we had a connection and were planning our first performance. Neither of us could have imagined that this newly formed friendship would lead us to teach thousands of people to dance, to become world record breakers and create our company, MyCharleston.

Elena and Fiona's first photoshoot in 2013.

Our business is a partnership characterised by our energy and passion which has been enriched by having two distinct personalities with a shared vision: Creating a successful dance company.

The success of our relationship is as much about our differences as our similarities. One thing we have in common is we are not shy to speak in public, in fact we love it! We both have drama degrees and when we arrived at the NatWest Accelerator in Brighton (a business programme to support SMEs), we won the pitching competition on the first day. While many people hate public speaking, we are in our elements when talking about MyCharleston.

Wining the Pitch Challenge on the first day of joining the NatWest Accelerator, 2016.

Leading dance lessons for 200 people at Brighton Fringe 2017.

Apart from our love of the limelight, we are quite different, but this works because we can be the ying to each other’s yang. Elena keeps Fiona on task and answerable to deadlines. Fiona pushes Elena to step outside the day to day business and focus on the future vision. Sometimes we do struggle to see things from the other person’s perspective because we are both passionate, strong women. Thankfully our senses of humour are completely aligned and this has always got us through tense moments. Teaching dance and creating 1920s events leads to some ridiculous situations and we would not have come this far if we didn’t both see the funny side.

Elena and Fiona in the studio ready to teach.

People quickly recognise that Elena has the business brain, she is considered in making decisions and can structure her time to achieve tasks. Her five years’ managerial experience in the marketing industry has given her so many useful skills for running the business, from project management, to web editing and running marketing campaigns. Her creativity and talent for marketing is so effective that when we looked to enhance it, marketing consultants they said there was little we could do to improve our social media campaigns.

Fiona loves working with people, she is a strong communicator and will work hard to nurture the talent she sees in others. She is excellent at designing content for dance courses and training teachers. Her experience as a documentary maker for BBC means she can bring our product to life. The first video we made went viral and as a company we recognise video marketing is a huge part of our success.

Together we are creative, enthusiastic, analytical and supportive bringing out the best in each other and, in turn, our work.

Elena Collins 21/04/2020 Elena Collins 21/04/2020

Elena’s top 7 and half dance costumes

Being involved in so many dance shows and competitions has left me with a rather large dance costume cupboard and more importantly some amazing photos. With some many great pictures of florescent leotards, tutus and sequins, here are my 7 top outfits which I couldn’t not share…

As cheesy as it sounds I can’t remember a time in my life that I haven’t danced. I went to my first ballet class aged 3, first performance on stage aged 4 and completed in the dance festival circuit from the age of 5 to 18.

Throughout my life, I’ve studied ISTD ballet, tap, jazz and modern with a brief stint in Bharatanatyam, classical Indian dancing, when my family moved to Italy when I was 8 years old.

I went on to study drama and Italian at university but always kept up with the dancing. In 2012, I had the opportunity of a lifetime by performing at the London Olympics Closing Ceremony. It was just a year later when I met Fiona and we started working together.

Being involved in so many dance shows and competitions has left me with a rather large dance costume cupboard and more importantly some amazing photos. With so many great pictures of florescent leotards, tutus and sequins, here are my 7 and half top outfits which I couldn’t not share.

Costume one 'I can sing a rainbow'

Elena: Age 4

This photo is a true 90s classic - lilac leotard with puffy sleeves with my matching purple cycling shorts. This outfit was for my first ever performance at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham with my dance school Central Stage School of Dance and Drama (Now Dance Studios) where we sang ‘I can sing a rainbow’ and where I remember singing too loudly and feeling mortified!

Costume two 'The Butterfly Catcher'

Elena: Age 6

Now in love with the whole concept of dressing up and performing I took part in my first dance festival. These are dance competitions run throughout the country. I entered the ‘character’ section where I acted out being some sort of victorian butterfly catcher and was placed 4th much to my delight at Loughborough Dance Festival.

Costume three 'Squirrel Nutkin'

Elena: Age 8

Flying high from my previous success, I continued dancing in festivals and when I was 8 I was placed twice on one day! 3rd for my ballet solo and 2nd ‘character’ number where I acted out Squirrel Nutkin at Nottingham Dance Festival. The costume included my mum dying my ballet shoes brown, some papier mâché acorns and a mighty headpiece. Unfortunately you can’t see the impressive squirrel tail I also had!

Costume four and five - 'Ballet and Bharatanatyam' Elena: Age 10

At the age of 8 my family moved to Italy for 3 years due to my dad’s job. I was quickly enrolled in a local dance school ran by an English ballet teacher. I soon became involved in dance shows and even learnt classical Indian dancing with my American dance teacher. I particularly love this classic silk indian outfit which I keep always keep.

Costume six - University of Kent

Elena: Age 20

The teen photos are always the most cringe which I can’t quite bear to share but I can just about cope with this one from my second year at uni so skipping forward 10 years here is me performing in the annual show in a lyrical number that I choreographed (obviously!) and dresses from Primark which I customised for everyone. Each dress was just £1!

Costume seven - 'The Lennon Head' at the London 2012, Olympic Ceremony. Elena: Age 24

At the age of 24, I decided to audition for the Olympic Ceremony and I was cast as a ‘Lennon head’. The section was to the track 'Imagine' where the dancers performed with giant jigsaw pieces coming together to make John Lennons face which then suddenly broke apart to reveal the one and only George Michael in the centre! It was the most magical experience with some amazing people and not to mention a string of celebrities including the Spice Girls (the 10 year old within me was delighted to be backstage with them!) Following this experience I was completely reignited by love for dance and performance which pushed me into going along to Fiona’s jazz class which lead to a completely new chapter in my life...

…. oh and of course here is half costume, my first Charleston photoshoot with Fiona but it is just the headpiece so technically it doesn’t count as a full costume but still a nice memory of where the Charleston adventure all started in 2013.

Elena Collins 14/04/2020 Elena Collins 14/04/2020

Fiona's Story - From Irish dancing to Charleston

I was born in Portsmouth, the second eldest of four children, we are all loud, lively and prone to bursting into song. Needless to say it was a vibrant and somewhat raucous household.

I was born in Portsmouth, the second eldest of four children. We are all loud, lively and prone to bursting into song. Needless to say it was a vibrant and somewhat raucous household.

Many of my clothes were hand-me-downs from my older sister as were my first dance lessons. She was in the habit of starting classes and dropping out so to get my parents would send me along in her place. When I was eight I decided I wanted to learn Irish dancing, my Dad is Irish and I loved the dresses. Back then they were beautiful hand sown designs and you didn’t have the tacky wigs which have sadly become standard. I competed in regional and national competitions until I discovered Jazz in Pompey…

Portsmouth Youth Dance were auditioning for a new dance toupe, I attended wearing a swimsuit as I didn’t have a leotard and to my surprise I got in! The drama centre where we rehearsed became the centre of my universe. It was here I meet my future husband Tom aged 11! The friendships from that group have lasted a lifetime and it’s all thanks to Donna Bish, my slightly scary dance teacher who I love. She whipped me in to shape and had some success in getting me to stop talking!

I kept on dancing all through university and during my ten year career at the BBC. The styles I liked were Jazz, Street, Bollywood and African. I found an amazing teacher Francis Angol who leads they way in contemporary African dance. It was while working on a dance show for Angol that I had my road to Damascas moment. I was suddenly sent to Thailand for some filming and had to miss out on the performance I’d been rehearsing for. I realised how much dance meant to me and decided it was time to make it central in my life.

I moved to Brighton with Tom and I signed up for a course in street dance at Brighton city college. It was a real eye-opener being a 30 something in a class with 18 year olds but it gave me the confidence to start running my own classes. It was in January 2013 Elena came into my Jazz class I had just been asked to put together a little Charleston Troupe and she was up for getting involved. We had no idea then what would develop from that small performance but we must have recognised something in each other. Through our passion for dance, creativity and Charleston we began plotting and the rest as they say is history.

I’ve recently been reading about the roots of jazz dance in America and it emerged from a fusion of Irish Jigs with African American dances. So I guess my journey from Irish dancing to Charleston was meant to be.

Fiona

Elena Collins 12/09/2018 Elena Collins 12/09/2018

MyCharleston Stories: Isabell

We are very excited to welcome our new intern Isabell to our team who will be working with MyCharelston for the next three months and helping us with all things social. Isabell has travelled over from Germany especially for the internship and as tradition we always like our readers to get to know our team so here is our 60 second interview with Isabell.

1. Where did you grow up?

In a small village near Hanover in Lower Saxony.

2. Why did you want to do your internship in the UK?

Because I love travelling and when I was in England in 2016 I fell in love with this place. I also think that it’s a great opportunity for me to learn new things every day, for example about British culture or life and the work, but also about me.

3. What’s the last thing you watched on TV and why did you choose to watch it?

On Netflix the film ‘To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before’, because I loved the books, and so I needed to see if the film is at least as good as the book.

4. What songs are included on the soundtrack to your life?

Wie Ich, by Kraftklub

You Will Be Found, from the Musical ‘Dear Evan Hansen’

5. If you could learn to do anything, what would it be? 

To speak Portuguese, because then I could understand the family of my Brazilian exchange student.

6. If you won the lottery, what is the first thing you would do? 

Thanking my parents by buying them a trip to anywhere they would like to go, because they made it possible that I were able to travel to Brazil, Scotland and England in the last two years and now England again for three months.

7. If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would it be? 

Canada, Sweden and New Zealand.

8. If you could be any fictional character, who would you choose? 

Hermoine Granger from Harry Potter.

9. What's your favourite indoor/outdoor activity?

Indoor - reading and writing

Outdoor - photographing

10. What chore do you absolutely hate doing?

Cleaning the cage from my budgies.

11. If you could meet anyone, living or dead, who would you meet?

Walt Disney, because I grew up watching Disney movies and I still love them. I admire him for his creativity and for what he did.

Isabell with her sister at the "Erntefest" in her hometown.

12. Where has been your favourite place to visit?  

The Iguazu Falls in Brazil.

13. What three traits define you?

Kind, creative and helpful.

14. After your internship what is next for you?

I'm going back to Germany to study.

15. What one thing should an English Person try, or do, in Germany?

They should definitely try German bread and Lebkuchen. And they could visit a "Erntefest", which is basically a harvest festival which preserves old traditions, with dancing and a pageant.

16. What are you looking forward to the most during your stay in Brighton?

To explore Brighton and its surroundings, to get some good photos. But also to meet new people.

Elena Collins 28/08/2018 Elena Collins 28/08/2018

Rachel's Story - Swapping Pom Poms for Pearls

Dancing has been a part of my life since I was a child. Like many little girls they get taken along to ballet. I never really got on with it that well. My mum said she could hear the teacher from outside the studio telling me to stay still or stop talking. Despite the fact that I wasn’t going to be a prima ballerina I enjoyed it and wanted to attend.

After a short time, a Freestyle Disco dance class started in the community centre very close to where we lived. I went to one class and I was hooked, ballet was soon forgotten. The music I think was part of the draw, it was a real change from the sounds of the piano in the ballet studio.

I quickly started competing and continued until I was 18. During that time additional dance styles were added in to the mix. Latin American, Ballroom, Rock n Roll, Street Dance, I even went back to Ballet!

I enjoyed dancing so much that I really wanted to make it part of my career. I took a contract to be part of the entertainments team on holiday resorts over the UK this also took me to Canada where I choreographed shows and performed in weekly cabarets.

Since then it has taken me in many wonderful and strange directions some of the more “memorable” ones are Cheerleading for BHAFC, A giant purple pyramid in a music video, danced at Her Majesty’s Theatre in London’s West End (pretending to be 16 when I was 21!) and too many nights dancing in nightclub podiums then I care to remember.

Dance jobs are often in unsociable hours, take a lot of rehearsal commitments and often being away from family. I made a decision after some disastrous contracts and missing many family events that it was time to get a “proper job”.

I am actually quite good at my proper job, but after a while I wanted to reintroduce dancing to my life and one booze fuelled boxing day I started a google search and stumbled across a new Charleston class starting up in Hove. Elena tells me now that I was the first person to book on to the course and she did a little celebration dance when I did.

The rest is history as they say. I've lucky enough to be involved in so many of the projects that Fiona and Elena have created, from the I Charleston Brighton film to the Speakeasy event at Brighton Fringe. I have lost count of the amount of performances I have been a part of.

Now I am teaching Charleston as part of the team in Worthing and you can often find me at the classes in Hove or flicking around with Savoy Kicks, Oh and I still have my proper job.

Oh and in case you want to see it, here I am as the giant purple pyramid in a music video:

Elena Collins 21/08/2018 Elena Collins 21/08/2018

Elena’s top 7 and half dance costumes

Throughout my life, I’ve studied ISTD ballet, tap, jazz and modern with a brief stint in Bharatanatyam, classical Indian dancing, when my family moved to Italy when I was 8 years old.

Costume one 'I can sing a rainbow'

Elena: Age 4

Costume two 'The Butterfly Catcher'

Elena: Age 6

Costume three 'Squirrel Nutkin'

Elena: Age 8

Costume four and five - 'Ballet and Bharatanatyam' Elena: Age 10

Costume six - University of Kent

Elena: Age 20

Costume seven - 'The Lennon Head' at the London 2012, Olympic Ceremony. Elena: Age 24

Elena Collins 15/08/2018 Elena Collins 15/08/2018

Fiona's Story - From Irish dancing to Charleston

I was born in Portsmouth, the second eldest of four children, we are all loud, lively and prone to bursting into song. Needless to say it was a vibrant and somewhat raucous household.

I was born in Portsmouth, the second eldest of four children, we are all loud, lively and prone to bursting into song. Needless to say it was a vibrant and somewhat raucous household.

Fiona

Elena Collins 08/08/2018 Elena Collins 08/08/2018

How We Built MyCharleston

Our business is a partnership characterised by our energy and passion which has been enriched by having two distinct personalities with a shared vision: Creating a successful dance company.

Together we are creative, enthusiastic, analytical and supportive bringing out the best in each other and, in turn, our work.

Elena Collins 29/11/2017 Elena Collins 29/11/2017

What's in a name?

Its happened, we've changed our name! Elena and I began four years ago with the name ‘I Charleston Brighton’ and it will always have a special place in our hearts. But to understand why we changed I Charleston to MyCharleston you need to know the story of how we began.

Elena and I performing Charleston together for the first time in 2014

Elena and I became instant fans of Charleston when we performed in a Charleston troupe for a one off show in 2013. We decided we wanted to continue Charleston dancing and whilst looking for a project we discovered 'I Charleston the World.’ These charming films showcased dancers doing the Charleston in iconic locations around their city. So we decided to put Brighton on the map! The problem was no one was running regular Charleston classes in Brighton, so we brushed up our moves, made a flyer and I Charleston Brighton began.

We had no idea what it would develop into but from the first class we ran in January 2014, we fostered a group who were up for filming, learning, performing and socialising. So many of the students from those early classes are now dear friends and collaborators in the much larger business we’ve become.

Elena’s dynamite ability to market, organise and draw people together for the sheer love of dance was a huge part of our success. She gathered the momentum we needed for the film, with interviews on TV, Radio and publications. The film got over 42,000 hits and the Lord Mayor of Brighton came to the launch. By then all this dancing had made me very large and pregnant and on New Years day, January 2015, I had the child I’d waited seven years to conceive, I called him Charleston – not really but I was tempted!

Elena and I being interviewed on Juice Radio

The classes expanded and we now had a performance troupe, drawing talent from those early classes. Over the next three years our classes grew and other exciting opportunities came our way such as breaking world records, flashmobs, performances, festivals and speakeasy events. But all this had to fit around full-time jobs and motherhood. We would conduct our business over lunch breaks, evening calls and a lot of chats in car parks!

This summer we decided to throw everything at growing our classes into an actual business after we were accepted on the Entrepreneurial Sparks programme. So many people had told us how much they loved Charleston and wished there was something similar in their area, so we thought lets take our classes to other cities.

Like any new venture it’s been a whirlwind but so interesting and rewarding. One of our first new products was a ‘Dance in a day’ where we took the best moves, music and routines and combined them into a three hour workshop. The response has been phenomenal although the best quote was from I guy who’d been dragged along by his partner and was over heard saying ‘It’s actually alright'.

So there’s the story but why the rebrand? I Charleston Brighton was directly inspired by the ‘I Charleston the World’ project, so it wasn’t our creation. We had also found there was much confusion as to weather it was a small ‘i’ as in apple products or a good old fashioned capital I. We loved the name so much but by simply changing the ‘I’ to a ‘My’ we kept the essence whilst making it personal to all the people who have essentially created our business; Yes you, the dancers who come and embrace this silly wonderful dance every week in class. So whilst we are very happy to have a growing business and love the new designs it is essentially you who have created MyCharleston and for that we thank you.

Fiona