Alum and artist Jake Walker on creating movement through brushstrokes
From The Royal Ballet School to Slade School of Fine Art, alum Jake Walker has expanded his artistry in exciting, multidisciplinary forms. He returned to the School for the first time in over a decade this April, reminiscing on his time in the Associate Programme and full-time training at White Lodge and reflecting on how his early dance training has led to a broader creative career and artistic practice.
Discovering movement
Jake discovered his love for movement in nursery school dance classes. He continued dancing in weekend RAD classes, where a teacher suggested he apply for the Junior Associate Programme. As a Junior Associate, Jake had the opportunity to perform at the Royal Opera House several times, as a Page in Romeo and Juliet by Sir Kenneth MacMillan, and as a Page in Sleeping Beauty, and the Changeling Boy in The Dream, both by Frederick Ashton.
‘I’m realising how amazing it was as a child to be in an opera house, see backstage and see all the dancers. I take my friends to the Royal Opera House now and can say that’s what I was doing, those child parts. And it was when I was so young, so that was a really good experience.’
In Year 6, his teachers encouraged him to audition for full-time training, and he entered White Lodge in Year 7 with several friends from the Associate Programme.
‘It was nice to join the School knowing some people already. Obviously, it’s a different change of pace in intensity and workload, but it was good. I had really good times with my friends there. We had a lot of fun hanging out on the weekends and after school.’
Beyond ballet
The transition into vocational training and boarding went smoothly, and Jake remembers trips to Sheen just outside Richmond Park and playing games with friends in the dorms. Although he loved dancing, he struggled with his mental health and decided to leave the School in Year 10.
‘That was a challenging period. My whole life had been ballet, and when I left the School, I was a bit unsure about what direction my life would take. But in the years after, I found that my training has been really helpful for me in this new route. At the time, it seemed like being a professional ballet dancer was the route everyone had taken. I would have liked to know then that there was a different option, and that the training I received at the School would still be useful in the long run.
My parents were very supportive both when I wanted to go to White Lodge and when I wanted to stop. They were supportive of me continuing to pursue the arts and any decision I wanted to make.’
Jake continued dancing as a Senior Associate while transitioning out of full-time vocational training. After completing his A Levels, he attended an Art Foundation year at Loughborough University then completed a BA at the Slade School of Fine Art.
‘I had a really good time at Slade. It was four years of making art that you wanted to make. It was mostly about the networks and communities you made, and all the tutors were practicing artists in all different fields – painters, sculptors, sound artists, performance artists, photographers, DJs – all in a mix of contemporary art practice.
I was making sound work, making video works I’d project in nightclubs, organising performance nights, DJing and then always drawing while thinking about movement, notation, rhythm and sound. It was only in my final year of studying that I decided to start making paintings. It came very naturally, I think because of my understanding of rhythm, musicality and the body.’
The Director of Slade organised a collaboration with Studio Wayne McGregor during Jake’s studies, which further inspired him to explore the relationship between drawing and dance.
‘When I am making paintings, I am hyper aware of the most minute details from all those years of technical training at the School. Even just the placement of a finger moving just a few centimetres can affect so much. I am very aware of the body and the limits of what a dancer can do when I am making paintings.’
Developing drawing and dance workshops
He now primarily works with oil paints, improvising works on the canvas. ‘It is very automatic. I don’t make a plan for them. I just approach the work and think about the marks I make on the canvas and how that mark could be translated into movement. It’s like I’m making this painting as a notation or graphic score that could be used with dancers to create a dance work.’
He recently collaborated with fellow alum Charlotte Edmonds on a drawing and dance workshop, blending all of his artistic training in a collaborative process. ‘Since my work is so much about paintings that can become dance, this was my opportunity to make it happen. The workshop was initially for 10 participants, and I led them to make diagrammatic drawings through a series of simple tasks. It was aimed at participants of all abilities, so no one had to have a background in art or dance.
Then, we used those drawings to create dance. The first time I did it, I invited Charlotte to work with me, and we spent 45 minutes looking at the drawings and translating it into movement. I like that it’s a collaborative and quite democratic dance-making process. Everyone makes drawings and dances together.
I also recently ran the workshop in New Zealand in February 2025 with a group of people I’d never met before and worked with contemporary dancers to translate the drawings into movement. I’m hoping I can do more workshops and work with more dancers.’
Jake’s artistry has taken him around the world. He completed a painting residency in Los Angeles in 2024, had a solo exhibition in London, and a solo exhibition in New Zealand in 2025. During his degree show at Slade, the university bought one of his paintings for their collection, and it is now on permanent display.
Returning to the barre
Jake recently returned to classical ballet, taking drop-in classes at Pineapple Dance Studios with Amber Doyle, a Diploma of Dance Teaching alum and Associate Programme teacher, along with Josephine Holling, another School alum, , and Anna Du Boisson.
‘The technique came back so quickly despite 10 years of not doing ballet,’ he said. ‘It’s been nice coming back to ballet as a hobby. I don’t have an intention of dancing on stage, but I do have the intention of making choreographic work. I have been thinking about movement and painting for years, but dancing again now has helped me embody it a lot more.’
Currently, Jake is showing his work in a group exhibition at Haricot Gallery in Camden from 7 May to 10 June and will continue to develop his work in his studio in King’s Cross. He hopes to continue running dance workshops and explore choreographic projects.
Learn more about Jake’s work here.
Have a story to share? Email [email protected] to tell us about your journey after the School.
Catja Christensen is the Marketing and Communications Executive at The Royal Ballet School and joined the School in 2025. She enjoys interviewing students, staff and guest artists for news stories and crafting eye-catching newsletters.
