alayna ng
If you’ve ever been mesmerised by the talent of stage performers, dancers and ballet, this story is for you! We’re excited to share more of the personal story of a lady that has accomplished so much in her young life, starting her career at the age of four, working with some of the best global talent, and now evolving her career into new arenas.
Alayna Ng has successfully danced for The Royal New Zealand Ballet for the past 11 years, enjoying it immensely, and eventually that lead to the decision that it was time to do something new. Currently enrolled at the Tourism Management School, Alayna talked to us about the important of a balanced life, moving towards an integration of exercise in the workplace and how a knee injury showed her how much strength she truly had.
Having started ballet at the age of four, Alayna’s passion for dance fuelled her. Becoming a leader or performing at the top level in any disciple requires a big commitment. For Alayna, from a young age that meant some tough decisions, such as putting aside other passions and hobbies like piano, and family and social time, so she could hone her skills and do more of what she loved.
Right from those younger years, success to Alayna was clear –to be a ballet dancer in a ballet company. One of the things she most loved during her ballet career was to be able to express herself with real human emotions in some big roles, alongside brave, bold and inspiring talent.
Once she achieved this goal, she took time to be grateful, and really enjoyed life for a couple years. This reflective time lead to her giving time and thought to as to what her next steps would be.
Alayna Ng has successfully danced for The Royal New Zealand Ballet for the past 11 years, enjoying it immensely, and eventually that lead to the decision that it was time to do something new. Currently enrolled at the Tourism Management School, Alayna talked to us about the important of a balanced life, moving towards an integration of exercise in the workplace and how a knee injury showed her how much strength she truly had.
Having started ballet at the age of four, Alayna’s passion for dance fuelled her. Becoming a leader or performing at the top level in any disciple requires a big commitment. For Alayna, from a young age that meant some tough decisions, such as putting aside other passions and hobbies like piano, and family and social time, so she could hone her skills and do more of what she loved.
Right from those younger years, success to Alayna was clear –to be a ballet dancer in a ballet company. One of the things she most loved during her ballet career was to be able to express herself with real human emotions in some big roles, alongside brave, bold and inspiring talent.
Once she achieved this goal, she took time to be grateful, and really enjoyed life for a couple years. This reflective time lead to her giving time and thought to as to what her next steps would be.
Alayna spent the next few years growing confidence and experience in other areas, honing and building new skills, working hard, and learning through a collection of different roles. As we all know, this can be quite challenging. Every director, manager, leader, recruiter or selector has an idea about the person/people they want, and so sometimes, even if you have the skills and the style, you might not be offered the opportunity. It’s a hard lesson to learn, but putting herself out there and not taking these decisions personally was a learning process for Alayna, but she enjoyed learning and working life and always followed her principle of “remaining humble and working hard.”
“Dancing is creating a sculpture that is visible only for a moment.”
― Erol Ozan
There was a tough period during her ballet career, an incident happened that deeply impacted her – a knee injury that resulted in 11 months off work, not just work though, away from her passion. Alayna had knee surgery after a period, and was then allowed to start rehabilitation, which can be a long and frustrating road, with no guarantees.
She remembers this time very clearly and reflects that she could have easily given up, because your confidence gets knocked back and so many people stop believing in themselves. However, her passion for dance pushed her forward and motivated her to come back from it even stronger than she was before.
She remembers this time very clearly and reflects that she could have easily given up, because your confidence gets knocked back and so many people stop believing in themselves. However, her passion for dance pushed her forward and motivated her to come back from it even stronger than she was before.
Alayna describes this journey as the biggest challenge and equally the biggest success in her career to date. Pilates was a core part of her rehab program and she used the time to become an instructor. Nice way to find a silver lining and make the most of a tough situation! Alayna wants women to remember “Everyone makes mistakes and sometimes you might hit walls or feel like you are failing but it is just important to know that you can learn from those things and keep moving forward and not to give up.”
|
One of the future-oriented questions we often ask, is what people would love to see emerge as a new work trend or become more commonplace. Encouraging exercise in the work place was Alayna’s answer. Exercise produces endorphins and makes you happy, we're pretty sure all of us have felt the buzz after a run, reinvigorated after a game of tennis, or the calm that fills you after yoga. So good!
Imagine if more organisations allowed time and flexibility for people to attend classes, go for a swim, walk or bike ride before, during or after work? We all can take the lead and manage our own wellbeing though as regardless, all jobs will have stressors, so it is important that you manage yourself and are well rested. Take the time out for something you would like to do. Alayna reminds us all that “it's important to have some you time amongst the chaos of stress in life.” |
As Alayna navigates the next stage of her career, she would love to hear more stories and appreciation of women managing a busy home and work demands (we’ve definitely interviewed cool women doing just that), and reminds us that the basics of good time management, managing money, planning and really following your passion. Hear, hear!
Summer 2017/2018
Watch this space! There's a tonne of content being moulded for you which will make it's way here in the coming months so be sure to flick us a LIKE on Facebook to keep up with the latest and greatest.
If you are a cool chick with a great story, we'd love to hear from you. Feel free to send us deets of other amazing ladies you know too, and we will reach out.
Tēnā rawa atu koe.
If you are a cool chick with a great story, we'd love to hear from you. Feel free to send us deets of other amazing ladies you know too, and we will reach out.
Tēnā rawa atu koe.