Leicester academic stars in Victor Frankenstein movie
A Teaching Fellow in our School of Management features in Victor Frankenstein starring Daniel Radcliffe and James McAvoy as a dancer and assistant choreographer which is currently showing at UK cinemas.
Born in Leicester, Dr Heidi Ashton's passion for dancing began aged nine and she has since travelled the world performing in prestigious venues such as the Royal Albert Hall, dancing a range of styles from ballet to Musical Theatre.
Heidi’s career took a different path after she completed an undergraduate degree in Psychology with the Open University. Balancing her studies with dancing, she often found herself finishing assignments through the night after shows, studying on trains, coaches, planes and noisy rehearsal studios.
Heidi completed a Master's in Occupational Psychology at Birkbeck, University of London by distance learning whilst working as a professional dancer and dance psychologist.
It was at this point Heidi decided to study the career transition of dancers and successfully applied for the opportunity to obtain a PhD through a position as a graduate teaching assistant alongside experts in the field of transitions, Dr John Goodwin and Dr Henrietta O’Connor at the University's Centre for Labour Market Studies.
Heidi also starred as a dancer in A Little Chaos, a film starring Hollywood A-listers Kate Winslet and Alan Rickman, which was released in cinemas at the beginning of 2015.
Watch a video of Heidi discussing her research below: