Effie is a dance artist whose interests lie both within performing pieces and facilitating spaces where each individual is valued within the community. Effie began her professional dance training at Stella Mann College where she received an award for 'Student of the Year' in her first year and later became Head of Year. Following this, she then went on to undertake a Postgraduate Diploma at the Northern School of Contemporary Dance.
On graduating, Effie's first professional performance experience was with Shobana Jeyasingh Dance Company in Counterpoint (a site-specific piece in the fountains of Somerset House) which was later filmed for Sky3D.
Her experience of site specific works has continued with work as a core team member for large scale participatory projects. As part of the Cultural Olympiad in 2012, Effie took on the role of local dance champion for Games Time in Northampton – a large scale outdoor performance event under the direction of Lea Anderson and Gary Clarke. For Milton Keynes International Festival 2014, Effie worked with Rosemary Lee on Under the Vaulted Sky - producing a promenade performance in the Cathedral of Trees in Newlands.
In 2015, Effie worked on site at Bede House and Chichele College in Higham Ferrers with Two Thirds Sky. The resulting performance, Eventide, was created under the direction of Lisa Spackman. Effie has also reconnected with Lisa Spackman and Two Thirds Sky on further projects - participating in a research and development period and performance of From the Windows Gaze in 2018.
At the outset of her career, Effie frequently worked with Helen Parlor - as a mentee, performer and collaborator. She first performed with Parlor Dance for Step Forward in collaboration with the Movement Science Group at Oxford Brookes University. In early 2014, Effie participated in the research and development phase of Parlor Dance's Home from Home. Following this, from summer 2014 until 2018, Effie acted as a co-assistant director for MÓTUS (a dynamic dance festival for Milton Keynes) alongside Chris Bradley and under the directorial lead of Helen Parlor.
In 2016, Effie went on to work with NOCTURN and Stopgap Dance Company. She worked with NOCTURN in the development of ...And They Have Escaped, which involved creating a series of dance films that were incorporated into an exhibition at West Berkshire Museum. For Stopgap, Effie was a dance captain and core team performer for the Seeds of Diversity - the Heritage Flame Lighting Ceremony for the Paralympics which was held at Stoke Mandeville Stadium and broadcast live on Channel 4.
Alongside these projects, Effie toured with Ffin Dance for five seasons in Connections2012, Inspired 2013, Still Standing 2014, The Power of 3 2015 and Ten 2016 - performing pieces by artistic director Sue Lewis and associate choreographer Gary Lambert. Her time with the company saw Effie performing at the Edinburgh Fringe, Tanz@Namedy, DanceLive Aberdeen and MÓTUS Milton Keynes.
As part of her commitment to ongoing development, Effie was delighted to be invited to be part of the 2017 cohort of Kerry Nicholls' Performance Mentoring Programme as one of sixteen selected artists to benefit from a 3 week intensive and ongoing mentoring with Kerry until January 2018. After connecting through the PMP, Effie spent some studio time with Rebecca Randall (Here We Are Dance), exploring and researching initial ideas as part of Rebecca’s choreography award in Birmingham.
2019 saw Effie strike up new connections with JoinedUp Dance Company, Danielle Teale Dance and Loop Dance Company. For JoinedUp, Effie performed at the BBC Contains Strong Language Festival in Hull, having been involved in the creation of a new piece ‘Pas de Deux’ based on poems by Jackie Kay. She also learnt and performed ‘This Tide of Humber’, an existing piece in the company’s repertoire created in response to a poem of Imtiaz Dharker. For Danielle Teale Dance, Effie was invited to engage as a dance artist collaborator on the Collectivity and Identity (CID) Project. Through this project, Effie worked within Danielle Teale’s Dancing with Parkinson’s Company to create both live and recorded work which was performed and exhibited at Poplar Union. For Loop Dance Company, Effie danced the role of the Snow Fairy in ‘The Christmas Adventures of Archie the Mouse’, a promenade performance piece for 3-6 year olds created by the Brook Theatre’s resident companies: Play on Words Theatre Company, Icon Theatre and Loop Dance.
In addition to her performance and leadership roles, Effie worked as an animateur for Rambert between 2015 and 2020 - teaching and working creatively with company repertoire on workshops/projects across the country.