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By day she teaches secondary school science, by night she's a dancer. While Tepaeru-Ariki Lulu French loves her creative work, she wouldn't give up the security, balance and fulfilment of teaching science.

"I love dancing but I also love science, so I have both, I’m not defined nor confined to one or the other, I am a ‘dancing scientist’.

Who would have thought that combination could work. But it does."

Age/location: 31, Otara, Auckland

Qualifications: Masters of (medical) Science, Universtiy of Auckland

What’s your day job?

I am a secondary school teacher at James Cook High School.  I teach science, biology and health. I decided to become a teacher after much deliberation on which career path to choose that would suit my family life.  I enjoy teaching and all its challenges; it incorporates my science content knowledge as well as my creative and performance ability.  Teaching is 70 per cent performing!

Tell us about your creative work when you're NOT doing your day job?

As well as being part of a community dance family – Anuanua Dance Troupe, I fit in rehearsals for my current piece that will be in TEMPO Fresh.  The piece was developed in the Pacific Dance NZ choreographic lab in 2011, and it has taken me two whole years to bring it to it’s absolute.  The Pacific Muse is a dance piece which challenges the ‘white’ construct of the Pacific as a ‘sexual paradise’. 

How do you manage juggling both?

The skill set you develop when you become a mummy kicks in! When you have to get something done, you make sure you get it done.  When you get home to your child, it is all about them, and even taking a long shower is a luxury.  I suppose, very good time management is essential, and then there is the need for flexibility as well, children run your schedule, so when my son is sick, everything is on hold, and my dancers who have children experience the same thing too, so it makes it easier to understand each other. 

Tell us about your creative background?

I’ve always been around dance and performance growing up on Aitutaki in the Cook Islands.  My mother’s family have always had dance groups and encouraged us to dance and perform when the occasion rises.  So I have had the best ‘creative’ training ever, and that is, living it from birth.  Since moving to Aotearoa, I think like many Pacific Islanders who migrate here, your perspective changes, and you start to view things using “lenses” that you did not know you had.  So, the move here is another big part of the creative background, because it quiet simply allowed me to be a bit more critical, analytical and daring in terms of how I view the Cook Islands (and to a certain extend also Pacific) creative arts (performance and/or visual).  I’ve had a stint of dancing in Dubai, UAE for 6 months as a Polynesian entertainer in a five star hotel, and this added to my ‘views’ on how my culture is being viewed.

What has inspired you? Who or what keeps you going?

The creative people I surround myself inspire me.  It is really true what they say about surrounding yourself with like-minded people.  They keep me going. We all need that someone, or people, who can sit there while you get all excited about what is working or listen to you moan and moan about what is not working.  I also have friends who are not in the creative industry, and it is great to just offload.  Lastly, I have to add, my love for my Island, my culture and my home.  Being separated from it, keeps you going, because somehow, it makes you feel like you are there, and it becomes closer than you can imagine. To keep that connection and the fear of losing that connection is really, what keeps me going.

Would you like your creative work to be full-time?

No. When I was working in Dubai as a full time entertainer, I felt like I was missing out on something.  I missed the ‘science’ in my life.  Because you see, I am also a scientist.  I initially wanted to get into medical research, research that would benefit Maori and Pacific Islanders, maybe one day I will, maybe.  I have been through a time of my life, where I worked casual, and just performed other times.  I enjoyed it, because not only was there enough time to make it to rehearsals, and you had some form of steady income from the casual work, but I enjoyed it because I had balance.  I think, that having the dance & the scientist persona’s gives me a break and reboot/refresh, if one becomes overwhelming.  I would hate to hate one or the other, instead, I shift the focuses and shift the scales as I go, and always, always, it does balance out and I find contentment. As a teacher, I get the financial stability and Science ‘outlet’ I need, and with choreographic work I do, I get the more creative and ‘moving’ aspect I also need.

What would help you achieve this? 

To be honest, some days, I wish I could teach for only two days and get paid the same, then be a mum most of the other days as well, as being given more time to invest in creative ventures.

If you could start your creative career or path again, what would you do differently?

Maybe during University days, I could do some formal dance training papers, so as to help me explore my body more, and learn how to use and manipulate it to create unique vocabulary.

What advice would you give to someone pursuing a similar creative career or pathway?

Don’t always expect the one career you have to give you all the pleasure or the happiness you want.  Finding that in any job is rare.  So, don’t be afraid to have other things too. To mix and match things so that you do get that much deserved happiness and fulfilment.  I love dancing but I also love science, so I have both, I’m not defined nor confined to one or the other, I am a ‘dancing scientist’. Who would have thought that combination could work. But it does.

What’s your big idea for 2014?

I think, for the first time (definitely for me) in Aotearoa at least, I want to exhibit my dance piece. A Cook Island dance inspired piece, as an actual exhibition, free to the public!  This would include the movements in the form of a recording of the performance, the photographs, the costumes, and everything pertaining to the journey and the showcasing of the dance.  It was such a big investment for me, money, time, emotions and I think that with much of our dances here in Aotearoa, once performed, the audience has missed out. There are segments of the dance piece that as an audience you could have missed; the costumes, or the music. Therefore, working with Fresh Gallery in Otara (South Auckland, where I am from), I’m going to exhibit The Pacific Muse.  In doing so, I hope to inspire other Pacific performers, to continue pushing the boundaries and to utilise facilities such as an art gallery as a platform to share their talent and passion for all to enjoy.