Derbyshire Contemporary Dancers and Dance Organisations

In Derbyshire we have a wealth of dance talent to be proud of. Here we celebrate the range of dance artists and organisations to be found around the county, from professional dance artists to groups for beginners and nearly everything in between.

If you would like to be included in this round up, let us know the web address of your artsderbyshire profile and drop us a line to tell us just how great you are to  sitedevelopment@artsderbyshire.org.uk

Alongside these contemporary dance practitioners, organisations and schools we also have an article dedicated to our  Derbyshire dance heritage .

Dance artists in the county should be aware of Derbyshire Dance Artist's Network, co-ordinated by Amy Rose. This is a forum that offers information, training and other support to professional dance artists either living or working in Derbyshire.

Click here to find out more about Derbyshire Dance Artist's Network

This summer Buxton Opera House is showing a huge range of dance events. Click here to see the Buxton Opera House Summer of Dance article

If you haven’t yet signed up with artsderbyshire’s artists directory, then do so now by visiting the following link - http://www.artsderbyshire.org.uk/subscribe/  

 

Featured dance artists and organisations

With over 260 dance artists, organisations and venues listed on the website, we can't list them all here. So here's a fine selection for your perusal;

  • Bodies in Flight    
    A performance company specialising in inter-disciplinary arts, they have been around since 1990 working on an exciting and unusual projects around the world that are site-specific. Recently they have been working on a project called "Dream-Work", which was recently performed around Nottingham city centre.  

    "Bodies in Flight formed in 1989 to make performance work that explores the encounter between flesh and text, and challenges and reinvigorates the conventional relationship between audiences and performers. Over the years the company (led by Sara Giddens and Simon Jones) have become renowned for their innovative collaborations with sonic and visual artists and have toured extensively nationally and internationally."

    Get more information about Bodies in Flight.

    Photograph by Tony Judge 
  • Déda (formerly Derby Dance) 
    A unique venue located in Derby city centre offering a dance-focussed arts programme. Their dance development strategy is as follows:

"Aside from our programme of professional dance performances, Déda has had, since its inception, a very strong participatory programme. It has also built up an excellent reputation as successful organiser of high profile community projects e.g. Buildings that Breathe (2006) and more recently the Westfield Shopping Centre Launch (2007) and Big Dance 08; fulfilling our mission to deliver a diverse and enriching dance focussed arts programme to the wider public.

In addition to our work in Derby City, Déda continues to play an active part in dance development in the county of Derbyshire. Beginning with the 3D Derbyshire project and its legacy, and continuing with our work with The Derbyshire Arts Partnership Dance Development Group on fulfilling the objectives of the Derbyshire and Derby City Dance Development Plan 2009 – 2012.

Déda is also a County Partner Organisation (CPO) in the strategic planning and delivery of the Youth Dance England Regional Delivery Programme (‘09 – 2011)."

See an example of their work below:

  • James Bartley
    A professional contemporary dancer just starting out in the region, with a degree in Mathematics, no less. James forms part of a local independent collective of dancers called James Bartley Contemporary Dance Imagethe Chaos dance company. His most recent performance was as one of the Derby Dance Artist Network's participants in DISGO at Déda alongside dancers from Darkin Ensemble, and will be very soon working with them again in Laban. James described his latest work:

    "The piece itself was very unusual, with the audience being asked to remove coats and shoes and being given white socks to wear.  They were then included in the performance itself, moving amongst the dancers; a fantastic opportunity for people in the area to get up close and personal with contemporary dance!"

As well as this, he has aspirations to get people around Derbyshire more involved in dance through an exciting inter-disciplinary approach:

"I'm currently developing ideas for ways to explore and explain science and maths through art and dance and hope to be able to create classes, workshops or artwork in the region to engage people who would otherwise find the subjects boring or even frightening!"

You can see James dancing at Déda on the 29th May 2010 as part of an album launch for Marley Butler.

  • Derby Jive and Swing
    Mark and Sharon of Derby Jive & Swing teach both Modern Jive (LeRoc) and Swing Jive (Lindy Hop, Balboa and Charleston). Mark has been teaching for some fourteen years Derby Jive and Swing Imageand is a qualified professional dance instructor with the UKA (United Kingdom Alliance of Professional Teachers of Dance), while Sharon has been teaching for five years. Although they keep dance as a hobby rather than a profession, they manage to find the time to teach up to 3 nights a week.  Their aim is to have all their dancers enjoy the classes they attend and to be able to enjoy a social dance as soon as they are confident enough to do so.  All of the classes are designed with their dancers work and home commitments in mind and are therefore not course based.  They say that people are more than welcome to come and go as they please, thus enabling them to learn at their own pace, as and when they can.  If you would like to get involved in a fun social activity that helps get you fit, Derby Jive and Swing could be just the thing.

Who else have we got?

These dance practitioners, organisations and venues are either based or operate within Derbyshire and the surrounding area;

Dance Performers, Practitioners and Choreographers

  • Schani Cave
    Dancer, Pilates Foundation Matwork Teacher and Massage Therapist.
  • Joanna Leah Geldard
    Interdisciplinary artist across textiles, painting and contemporary dance creating performance, installation and object art forms.
  • Jenny Edwards
    Specialises in providing accessible dance opportunities aimed at celebrating the diversity of each community.
  • Ian Dolan
    Freelance dance practitioner.
  • Elizabeth Foster
    Professionally trained dance practitioner and qualified dance movement therapist (MA).
  • Louise Jaggard
    Local dance practitioner specialising in creative and contemporary dance classes.
  • Sarah Delvin
    Dance artist with a wide range of performance, choreography and education experience.
  • Gary Turvey  
    Choreographer based in Leeds, with twenty years experience of creating and educational work .
  • Sohan Kailey
    Specialises in a variety of dance styles from, Bhangra, Bollywood to Creative Dance.
  • Claire Pring
    Highly experienced choreographer and teacher working predominantly in contemporary techniques.
  • Liz Clark
    Dance Artist with over fifteen years experience of working through dance with a wide range of community groups.
  • Andy Martin
    Specialises in country dance, music and writing workshops for children. 
  • Lucy Killingley
    Body of art: Contemporary and creative dance for all ages.
  • David Barker
    Freelance dance artist specialising in street and breakdance.

 Dance Groups and Organisations 

Schools that Specialise in Dance and Performing Arts

Dance Therapists

Bands for Dance Events  

 

If you would like to be included in this round up, let us know the web address of your artsderbyshire profile and drop us a line to tell us just how great you are to dap@artsderbyshire.org.uk .
 
If you aren’t yet signed up with artsderbyshire’s artists directory, then do so now by visiting the following link - http://www.artsderbyshire.org.uk/subscribe/ 
 

Other Google Maps and Heritage articles in this series ;



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