Pid’or Tampa: 'Don’t limit yourself on what creativity is'

How did you start off in the arts? 

I began drawing, singing, and writing poems, songs and stories as a child. My official entry into the arts, however, was about age 14, when my parents put me into Sylvia Young Theatre School to do singing and acting.

What led to your move into coaching?

The coaching was instigated by health challenges. I was burnt out. I often disregarded my physiological and emotional needs to meet targets. The push to overachieve meant that I and ignored signals my body was giving me to slow down. My body staged an abrupt intervention and ‘shut up shop’ so to speak. When I became too unwell to function as I had been, I gained perspective, identifying a trail of signals my body had been giving me. Somatic coaching enables us to listen to our natural body wisdom, so we don’t have get to that point.

What would you change about the theatre/arts industry if you could? 

I was recently discussing with coach Mike Simon the need for somatic coaches in production teams. Performers often dig deep into their emotional and psychological streams to build resonant characterisations. A performer can live through the character’s experience show after show, with no aftercare. That material can still live in the body. A somatic coach can help release or redirect that material.

Who are the arts practitioners you admire most and why?

Breathe Arts is an organisation centred around arts health research that asks how artistic practice and expression support our health and well-being. They do brilliant work.

What is the one skill every successful theatre professional should have?

Don’t limit yourself on what creativity is. Your originality is a muscle strengthened by willingness to pull from unlikely sources.

Any tips readers could put into practice to increase their mental/physical well-being?

Make a list of all the ways you used to play, and don’t any more. Circle two that you miss the most and figure out how to reincorporate them into your life as a regular practice.