Jemma was introduced to Ballet at the late age of 10 by her teacher Mrs Wilkinson
(Tockington Manor School) and performed as The Little Mermaid
and The Snow Queen in school Dance Drama performances.
She was encouraged to audition for Ballet School and gained a place at Arts Educational
School, Tring at the age of 13 and enjoyed 3yrs of Ballet, Character, Jazz, Modern,
Spanish and Tap Dance and a Royal Gala Performance at
The Strand Theatre with Prince Edward and Dame Alicia
Markova in the audience. Hollywood actress Thandie Newton and British Theatre and
TV actress Emma Cuniffe were fellow students albeit 2yrs above!
This was followed by a year at Thamesdown Dance College, which introduced her to
Contemporary Dance. She became the first female student from Thamesdown to gain
a place at the Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance
and she spent 3 years there gaining her Diploma in Dance. There she danced
Peer Gynt's Morning Song choreographed by Ross
McKimm. She went on to dance briefly with Pendulum Dance Company
in Pieces in Rhythm at London Contemporary's,
The Place before an injury caused her to turn her attentions to
acting.
Her first role was as Tom the Cabin Boy in the Pantomime
"The Golden Voyage of Sinbad", her most enjoyable
Theatre roles to date are Nancy in the play Oliver
Twist - she loved the emotional range needed to play Nancy and
the fact that she had a demanding 2 minute fight scene to perform which ultimately
leads to Nancy's death, Helena in a Midsummer
Nights Dream - she found her determination, honesty, naivety and
rejection a joy to play and Jane in Chris Pitts
Dreamcatcher - she enjoyed the challenge of playing an ordinary,
gentle, lost soul and slowly letting her instability and unhinged mind bring itself
to the fore with tragic consequences. Along with many Theatre credits she has branched
out into Film and Commercial
She has a keen sense of adventure and enjoys a challenge, back in 1997/8 she was
a Wingwalker with the Crunchie Flying Circus
- now known as Team Guinot. She performed in many Air
Shows all over England and mastered the knack of climbing in and out of the Cockpit
onto the wing and strapping herself in whilst the Bi-Plane was 1,500ft in the air!
Jemma has recently branched out into Holistic Therapies in a bid to expand her Spirituality.
She took her Reiki Level 1 in April 2006 and is about to finish her 1st year of
a 2yr Crystal Healing Course with The Vibrational Healing Foundation - for more
information please see "Holistic Treatment" Page.