From dance to code — my journey into tech has been anything but ordinary.
For as long as I can remember, dance has been part of my life. I started dancing at six years old, and it’s led to the most wonderful career — one filled with incredible experiences around the world.
It all began on a Saturday morning in an old-age pensioners’ home in Manchester. During the school holidays, my grandma, auntie, cousin, and I would go to a dance class there. It wasn’t the most glamorous setting, but my cousin loved it, the pensioners enjoyed their Saturday morning entertainment, and I was there mostly for the snacks at the tuck shop.
I didn’t join in straight away. Then one week, someone said, “Why don’t you give it a try?” I was probably reluctant at first, but as the only boy in the class, everyone made a fuss — and I quite liked it.
Fast forward a few years, and we’d moved to a more professional dance school. I was partnered up and encouraged to enter competitions. Every Sunday for years, I competed across the UK and sometimes overseas. This was my life — my identity. I lived and breathed dancing.
After a successful competitive career, I ventured into the world of performing arts. I earned a scholarship to attend Italia Conti, a prestigious performing arts college in London. It was meant to be a three-year program, but after just one year, an opportunity came along that changed everything — a chance to join Burn the Floor, the world’s leading ballroom and Latin theatre show.
At 17, I flew to Australia and began an incredible journey into the world of theatre.
Since then, I’ve performed in West End shows, world tours, and on cruise ships — and I’m currently a professional dancer on Dancing with the Stars Ireland.
That was a quick sprint down memory lane, but this is, after all, a tech blog — so let’s talk about that.
I discovered programming during the COVID pandemic. Like many performers stuck at home and facing an uncertain future, I began exploring new interests and asking myself, “What if I wasn’t just a performer?”
So, I tried a few online coding courses… and gave up. Then tried again… and gave up again. Finally, after pushing through the abstract concepts of variables, strings, and functions, something clicked. I realised I actually enjoyed it. The idea that I could build something from anywhere in the world — with just my laptop — really appealed to me. Most importantly, I wanted to be Stephen Vincent, the dancer and developer.
That’s when I enrolled in a BSc in Computer Science through the University of London — and began three years of feeling very much out of my depth. I supplemented my learning with resources like freeCodeCamp and MDN Web Docs, which helped me understand web technologies more deeply.
While completing my degree, I worked on cruise ships with limited internet, performed three seasons on Dancing with the Stars, moved to Northern Ireland, and became a dad. Life was full — but so was my motivation. This period really defined my From Dance to Code journey — learning to balance creativity, parenthood, and a full technical degree all at once.
A few weeks ago, I submitted my final project. It’s been hard, frustrating, and incredibly rewarding. More than anything, it’s given me a second passion.
This website is the next step in that journey — a space to document my work, share what I’m learning, and hopefully inspire others along the way. Here, you’ll find my projects, tutorials, and reflections on life in tech. You can also check out more of my writing on the blog, where I share lessons from both the dance floor and the developer world.
Looking ahead, I’m excited to continue learning, building, and exploring how technology can merge with creativity. Whether it’s designing web experiences, experimenting with AI, or developing interactive tools, my goal is to bring artistry into every project I code. This combination of creativity and logic — of From Dance to Code — continues to shape how I see the world.
Even though it’s been over three years since I began this From Dance to Code journey, I feel like I’m only just getting started.
Thanks for reading — and see you in the next one.
Stephen 🙂
