Biographies of contributors Diane Amans is an
independent art consultant and director of Freedom in Dance, a Stockport
based community dance organisation. Her career has included working in
education (schools, FE and Open University), the youth service, training
staff in health, social services, industry and the arts and managing dance
projects in health and community settings. Diane has a particular interest
in developing inclusive approaches to arts work with diverse communities.
She delivers equal opportunities and diversity training to a range of
organisations including dance companies, the NHS and colleges of further
and higher education as well as delivering training in safeguarding in
the arts. Professor Christopher Bannerman (Middlesex University) Christopher Bannerman danced and choreographed for the National Ballet of Canada and London Contemporary Dance Theatre where, for fifteen years, he performed numerous principal roles, was active as an arts education worker and created several works. He has performed and choreographed internationally. He has served as
a panel member for two Higher Education Research Assessment Exercises
and as a Specialist Assessor for the Quality Assurance Agency. He has
also served as Chair of Dance UK, Chair of the Arts Council of England's
Advisory Panel for Dance, Chair of the National Dance Co-ordinating Committee,
as a member of the Trustee Committee of Akademi and as Adviser to London
Arts.
Ken Bartlett (Director, Foundation for Community Dance) Ken leads the CDF’s artistic policies, and the development of programmes of work of strategic importance nationally and internationally, particularly those that support intercultural dialogue, diversity, and disabled people. Ken is an advocate for access to, participation in and progression through dance, and is responsible for our senior-level policy relationships. A regular contributor to conferences and publications, Ken also commissions our own magazine, Animated. A former Teacher and School Inspector for the arts, Ken was, before joining the Foundation for Community Dance in 1995, Head of Arts and Cultural Services for Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council starting the process of developing the New Art Gallery. Ken is a Board member of Yorkshire Dance, and has previously taught and lectured in the USA, Australia, Latin America and Europe.
Professional dance
training at the Rotterdamse Dansacademie (RDA) and the Parttime Educational
Dance Training in Amsterdam. Further schooling in modern dance, improvisation,
composition, yoga, Tai Chi, directing, etc. Since about 10 years she focusses on seniors by: teaching dance improvisation
to seniors Ann Dickie - Director/ dancer ‘From Here To Maturity Dance Company and independent dance artist. Ann Dickie was born in Coventry in 1946 and moved to London at seventeen to study dance at the Nesta Brooking/Roger Tully Studio, and part time at London School of Contemporary Dance. Funded by a grant from Coventry City Council. Currently dancing in ‘Unfolded’ by choreographer Jennifer Jackson at ‘Atelier’- a forum for independent artists of various disciplines to meet audiences in an intimate setting; leading ‘Age Concern movement & stretch/chair exercise classes in Barnes, Richmond, Twickenham, Ham and Waterloo; continuing own dance study; researching/preparing for next FHTM performance projects. Intergenerational research & development project with FHTM and dance theatre choreographer Maresa von Stockhert; ‘Endangered Species’ – Arts council funded performance project and two uk tours with From Here To Maturity Dance Co, co commissioned by South Bank Centre and East London Dance. Community education projects with older people took place on tour in theatres, residential/nursing homes, day, community and arts centres; Reflectors - Co-mentoring project with dance and disability as part of the Foundation for Community Dances’ Potential programme; CandoCo Dance Company foundation course teacher; FHTM dance workshops for people 60+ at Brixton Library, Brixton Recreation Centre and Waterloo community centres; Molten Arts festival, Barking (2005) - led older persons dance project for East London Dance; Led (2003/4) ‘Leap of Faith’ (older persons group) at East London Dance, Stratford Circus. Born in Wallasey
and attended the Wallasey School of Ballet where she was entered for the
Espinosa Scholarship to the Royal Ballet School. After training at the
Upper School she performed for several years and took teaching examinations
at the Shelagh Elliott-Clarke School in Liverpool. She moved to London
where she ran her own school for 15 years before taking a degree in Dance
& Education at Middlesex University followed by the MA Dance Studies
programme in Dance History at Surrey and began teaching this subject at
Hackney Community College where she later became Head of Dance. She has
been Education Officer at Sadler’s Wells Theatre for the past 12
years and has had a special interest in dance and older people where she
has developed the creative work for the performers in the Company of Elders.
For the past eight years she has taught Dance History at Birkbeck, University
of London. She is a committee member of the European Association of Dance
Historians and is a trustee of Community Focus – a Barnet based
charity providing arts education mainly for people with disabilities.
Previous management committee work includes the British Ballet Organization,
the Council for Dance Education and Training and The Dance Teachers’
Benevolent Fund. Since graduating
from LJMU with a BA (Hons) in Politics and Sociology, Lisa continued her
studies in dance, gaining a HND in Dance and is currently studying for
an MA Dance Studies. For over three years
Lisa has been a part-time Community Dance Artist at MDI. This involves
for the main part delivery of dance to a diverse community. For example
teaching children with disabilities, in hospital and working with asylum
seekers and older people. Lisa is also a Visiting Lecturer at John Moores
University, teaching Contact Improvisation and Choreography as well as
giving tutorials to students regarding their choreography. In addition
Lisa has continued to develop through many intensive training courses
with leading artists in both the UK and abroad such as, K.J Holmes (US),
Nancy Stark Smith (US), Lisa Nelson (US), Karen Nelson (US), Eva Karczag
(Netherlands), Martin Keogh (US), Yolanda Snaith (UK), Rosemary Lee (UK),
Gill Clarke (UK), Mary Prestidge (UK), amongst others. Also Lisa has embarked
on studies in Body Mind Centering completing a module in Ontogenetic development
in February this year. Sian is based in
Manchester and is a founder member of Nomad Dance International. She has
been teaching and performing Arabic Dance for over 12 years and leads
weekly classes for Ludus Dance in Lancaster, The Pyramid in Warrington
and Manchester University amongst others. She specialises in adapting
the dance as a vocabulary of movement to teach Special Needs groups and
for working with older people and in schools.The emphasis in these sessions
is to have fun She has been employed by Freedom In Dance on a number of
occasions. As well as having a thoroughly researched the history of Arabic
Dance, Sian is able to draw on her extensive knowledge and love of world
music to encourage class participants to reach their full potential in
each session. Performances include Manchester Museum, The British Museum,
The Lowry in Salford, Manchester Free Trade Hall, Romiley Forum, Kendal
Brewery Arts Centre and Manchester's Opera House. Eric
Foxley Jackie Guy is an international choreographer and one of Britain’s leading tutor/lecturers in the area of Afro-Caribbean dance forms. Jackie trained at the Jamaica School of Dance and is a graduate and former Principal Dancer of the National Dance Theatre Company of Jamaica. Dynamic and inspiring, he fuses traditional dance vocabulary and Folklore with elements of contemporary dance technique. Using dance as therapy, Jackie extended his creative skills working with the Jamaica Social Development Commission, catering for youths in prisons, remand centres, community centres and youth clubs in poor and inner city areas. The knowledge and experience gained was to serve him well when he relocated to England in 1987. Jackie was appointed Artistic Director of Kokuma Dance Theatre in 1988 and won the Black Dance Awards for outstanding choreography and production and the Prudential Commendation award for Excellence, Innovation, Creativity and Accessibility. In 1998 Jackie was appointed Course Co-ordinator for Britain’s first and only Diploma course in African and Caribbean Dance, accredited by Birkbeck College, University of London. This groundbreaking course is managed by IRIE! Dance Theatre. Jackie has lectured at many Universities including Demontford, Birmingham and Liverpool amongst others. He also has extensive experience in leading community dance projects and has conducted some for the British Council in Zimbabwe. Jackie balances his theoretical principles with a practical approach, so as to enable participants to experience the dance form and at the same time learn its socio-cultural dynamics. Jackie has recently choreographed the stage version of the movie ‘The Harder They Come’. Julie has worked
in the NHS for over 20 years as an occupational therapist, counsellor
and manager. Her work has been predominantly in specialised mental health
services. In 2004 she began a secondment with the Liverpool Culture Company
as creative health and well being manager. This period has been a period
of personal and professional growth for Julie who has gained much from
being in an environment which brings health workers and creative and artistic
partners together with different perspectives and experiences yet with
shared goals. Born in the US but
now resident in the UK, Donald Hutera has been writing on the arts since
1977. He has been covering dance for over two decades, initially for papers
and magazines in Minnesota. Publications in which his work subsequently
appeared include The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times and The Chicago
Tribune. Since coming to Britain in the early 1980s, he has written regularly
for numerous publications including: The Times, Time Out, Dance Europe,
Dance Now and others. Additionally he contributes programme notes to such
venues as Sadler's Wells, The Royal National Theatre, The Peacock Theatre,
the Barbican Centre and others. He has spoken about dance and physical
theatre performances for British radio and television. Donald co-authored
(with Allen Robertson) The Dance Handbook in 1988 and has contributed
to the Chambers Biographical Dictionary, The Larousse Encyclopaedia (Latin
American edition), Fifty Contemporary Choreographers and the International
Dictionary of Modern Dance. He has accepted speaking engagements on dance,
dance criticism and cultural issues at the Tapias Festival (Brazil), the
South Bank Centre (on dance and disability),Northrop Auditorium (US; new
trends in dance) and for London Arts, Laban and TheCity University, London.
He was a participant in the Unesco-sponsored World Arts Conference (Spain). Debbie trained at
the London Contemporary Dance School graduating in 1982. She was a founder
member of Theatre of Motion (director Pete Purdy) and Tacit Dance Theatre
(director Neil Fisher) with whom she performed for several years. Debbie
also has extensive experience as an independent dancer, working with Yael
Flexer, Duncan Macfarland, Paula Hampson, Erica Stanton, Dale Thompson
and Janet Smith. Debbie's practice as a choreographer, director and performer
directly feeds into her teaching at the University of Winchester where
she is a Senior Lecturer in Choreography & Dance. Debbie's area of
research is concerned with the dilemmas of the ageing process upon the
mature dancer, collaborative processes and the relationship between innovation
and accessibility. Debbie’s recent choreography ‘Something
To Say’ for 3rd year dance students at the University of Winchester
has been performed extensively in Holland and Belgium as part of the Fonty’s
Dance Festival 2006. The work will be performed next month at a Graduates
showcase at The Point in Eastleigh, Hampshire alongside graduates from
the University of Chichester and LIPA. Debbie has worked as choreographer
and movement director for Salisbury Playhouse on many productions. She
has extensive teaching experience including LABAN Centre London, Greenwich
Dance Agency and Swindon Dance amongst others. She is Co-Director of Soma/Numa,
based in Salisbury. Soma/Numa’s works created and toured include
Flipped (2001), 3fold (2003) FastTrack (2004) and 'Body of Experience'
(2006) which has just completed a National Tour. Debbie is grateful to
the University of Winchester for enabling her to continue with her professional
practice with Soma/Numa. François Mattaraso (Chair, Arts Council, East Midlands) François Matarasso is a researcher and consultant with 25 years’ experience in community-based arts activity. He currently leads a Culture East Midlands/EMDA programme on culture in rural development, based in Nottingham. He specialises in practice-led research, especially on the impact of culture. He has been commissioned by partners in over 25 countries and his work has been widely published and translated. He is Chair of Arts Council East Midlands. Miso'shi, is a Ghanaian
freelance performance artist, now resident in Chorley, Lancashire. She
has experience working with Age Concern, Hospital Arts now LIME in Manchester,
Museums and Community venues. Her audiences and participants range from
age 0 - 75. She has over 15 years experience working with Secondary, Primary,
Main Stream and Special Needs Schools in the UK. Originally an Olympic
gymnast in the 1960’s, Mary's first professional work was with the
English dance company, Ballet Rambert as a contemporary dancer. In the
mid 70’s she co-founded the radical X6 Dance Space in London and
was a member of its artist collective, and its successor Chisenhale Dance
Space, until 1989. Both organisations provided an important context for
the research and development of new dance forms and practice in Britain
during that period. Mary has been an influential practitioner and teacher
of new and experimental dance in both the independent dance scene as well
as the specialist academy. She continues to evolve new work through collaboration
with other artists and art forms in a variety of performing contexts.
Has been lecturer in dance at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts
since 1995. Ana Sánchez-Colberg and Theatre enCorps Ana Sánchez-Colberg has gained an international reputation as a choreographer of dance-theatre, which is novel and distinct. Ana trained in classical ballet in her native Puerto Rico before turning to contemporary dance. After completing a BA (Hons) in Theatre at the University of Pennsylvania she pursued a Master of Fine Arts (Choreography) at Temple University in Philadelphia. Under the tutelage of Helmut Gottschild (who was assistant to Mary Wigman in Berlin until 1969) she trained in Wigman, Jooss and tanztheater techniques. During this time Sanchez Colberg was a member of the Terry Beck Troupe, a Philadelphia based dance theatre company and Movement Coordinator for Intuitons, a physical theatre company. In 1986, under the auspices of a fellowship from the Institute of Culture of Puerto Rico, she came to England to pursue further dance training and to follow a Ph D programme at the Laban Centre London (which was completed in 1992). With Theatre enCorps she has produced Alice, Alice, Alice...Are You A Child or a Tee totter (1989 1990), performed as part of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, as a site specific work at Newcastle Arts Centre and West Greenwich House and as part of Spring Loaded 1990. This was followed by Fragments: Discourse on Love (1991 92) performed at the Oval House Theatre. Family Portraits (1993 94) was also performed as part of Continental Shifts at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and was performed in London at The Place Theatre (Evolutions! 1993) and the Bonnie Bird Theatre. In 2006, with support from Arts Council England and The Place Choreodrome, she engaged in an international collaborative project with Swedish choreographer Efva Lilja entitled Holds no memory. She has been the recipient of and artistic fellowship from the Swedish Research Council to produce a further work in April 2007.
Bisakha Sarker is
a leading practitioner of Indian creative dance. She has worked as a performer,
choreographer, researcher, educationalist, critic, writer and video maker.
Bisakha was born in India .She received her masters degree in Statistics
from the University of Calcutta. After coming to the UK she adopted Liverpool
as her home. She works all over the country in a wide range of situations.
Her innovative work, much of it with disabled people, has challenged traditional
cultural boundaries. Her rich spiritual creativity inspires others to
translate their experiences and emotions into the shapes and rhythms of
dance. Bisakha hands over the ownership of the dance to all those with
whom she works, empowering them in a unique way. Both her performance
and participatory work is informed by eastern spirituality. Bisakha Sarker
is currently the director of Chaturangan, an agency based in Liverpool
working to raise the profile of South Asian dance, culture and spirituality
both locally and nationally. Chitra Sundaram (editor, "Pulse" magazine, UK) Chitra Sundaram is
a dance artist of distinction, trained in the Indian performance idiom
of Bharatanatyam. She is widely acclaimed and respected in both the diasporic
and original homelands of this form. Chitra trained traditionally, one
on one, from an early age with several illustrious teachers in India.
She was an early contributor to the history South Asian Dance in the UK
both as a received and interpreted form and was a collaborator in the
first ever Bharatanatyum-Contemporary-Jazz hybrid of work in the country,
teaming up with Union Dance in the early 1980’s. Her work ‘Moham’
A Magnificent Obsession’ premiered at the South Bank and was presented
by main stream venues in the UK and India as well as North America. Primarily
a soloist, her collaborations include Akademi’s ‘Coming of
Age’ at the South Bank Centre and the Royal Opera House’s
‘Back Garden Project’ with Mavin Khoo Dance. Chitra has taught
dance at academic and practice-led institutions including Goldsmith College
and has been a mentor for students and young choreographers. Chitra also
serves arts organisations in trustee and advisory capacities and brings
a transnational perspective having lived and worked in several countries
around the globe. She is involved in current aesthetic debates in and
around South Asian Dance and is a significant contributor to the discourse
as the editor of PULSE, the premier South Asian dance magazine in Britain,
sponsored by Arts Council England. Chitra lives in London and works internationally.
Amel Tafsout Amel was unable to attend the conference in person, but contributed a paper, see here. Julia Taylor (Director Liverpool Healthy Cities 1993- 2005) Background in Health
Promotion. One of the first non medical Master of Public Health graduates
from the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Liverpool 1990. Appointed
to Liverpool Healthy Cities in 1993 (WHO European Network Phase II) Directed
the development of Liverpool’s pioneering City Health Plan 1996.
Elected as the Chair of the first WHO European Network Healthy Cities
Advisory Committee in 1998. Course design and accreditation through Merseyside
Open College Network and Liverpool John Moores University. Published “Liverpool
Healthy City – A 21st Century Approach” (Oct.2002). Developed
a Public Health Network across Cheshire and Merseyside 2002-2004 Growing Older (Dis)Gracefully
is an amateur dance group for those aged forty and over, it is a non profit
making organisation. The group has approximately twenty five members some
of which have no dance experience, some have not danced for more years
than they like to remember and yet others have spent their lives in dance
education. This varied mixture of people brings a very special vibrancy
and excitement to the creation and performance of dance. Meetings are
held weekly and performance projects occur whenever the possibility arises.
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