Mentors
Cecilia Macfarlane
Cecilia Macfarlane trained as a teacher at the Royal Academy of Dancing, and as a dancer at the London School of Contemporary Dance. She has worked as a dancer, teacher and choreographer with many companies including Scottish Theatre Ballet, Citizen’s Theatre Glasgow, Birmingham Arts Lab and the Cambridge Theatre Company.
She is an Oxford based independent dance artist with a national reputation for her work in the community.
She was an Associate Senior Lecturer in Arts in the Community at Coventry University for nine years and is now a guest lecturer. She is the founding director of Oxford Youth Dance, DugOut Adult Community Dance and Crossover Intergenerational Dance Company and co-founding director of Oxford Youth Dance Company.
She also trained at the Institute for Arts in Therapy and Education, London, as a creative art’s therapist. As well as guest teaching all over Britain Cecilia is regularly a mentor to professional dance artists.
Cecilia has a national and international reputation for her Intergenerational Dance Practice and regularly presents at conferences and festivals. Most recently she created new work for Tan Dance, Wales. In 2007 she created ‘Mind the Gap’ with parents and children from Swansea and returned in 2008 to create ‘Whisper and Shout’ for the same group of dancers. She has on going work in Japan for Japanese Contemporary Dance Network. She returned to Japan to collaborate with a Japanese choreographer on a new site specific, intergenerational piece in Fukuoka in November 2010.
Cecilia’s work is based on her passionate belief that dance is for everyone; she celebrates the uniqueness and individuality of each dancer. As a performer Cecilia is continually curious about expression, how movement can communicate so powerfully to others without the need for words. Her work is very influenced by her studies with Joan Skinner and Deborah Hay and particularly dancing in the landscape with Helen Poynor in England and Anna Halprin in America.
With a passion for dance that is accessible, inclusive, creative and artistically challenging, and with many years of experience as both a mentor and a mentee, she is ideally placed to support the artists on the creative path they choose to follow.
Joe Moran
Dancer, choreographer and Artistic Director of Dance Art Foundation, Joe Moran creates dance and video works for theatres, galleries and public spaces. His recent works in 2010 include Unsignal (The Place), Score for 30 Dancers (Christchurch Spitalfields), Open to change (Chisenhale Dance Space) and Survey (The Place). He is currently touring his adaptation of At Once, the 2009 solo by America choreographer Deborah Hay. His collaborations with visual artists include Background, a film by Magali Reus (La Salle de Bains, Lyon; IBID Projects, London) and Reform, a performance project with Shaan Syed and 12 dancers (Coventry, 2009).
In the 2008/09 Dance Art season, his work was presented at London’s Herald St and Wilkinson galleries. His new project Differ and Repeat will be presented in 2011 incorporating live performance installation, video works and a performance programme by Moran and other dance and visual artists.
Joe has worked as a dancer with a number of distinguished choreographers including Deborah Hay, Siobhan Davies (Bank project), Stephanie Skura, Kate Brown, Florence Peake, Gaby Agis and Christopher House (Toronto Dance Theatre). He trained independently in dance and choreography at studios in London, New York, San Francisco and Seattle and at London Contemporary Dance School, following his undergraduate training in theatre at Bristol University. Joe directs the national Breathing Space dance-in-health programme and curates performance and critical dialogue projects for Dance Art Foundation. He is a certified teacher of Skinner Releasing Technique, and teaches widely, for universities, studios, festivals and companies in the UK and internationally.
www.danceartfoundation.com
www.youtube.com/joemorandance
Louise Katerega
Louise is one of the most popular and versatile contributors to the UK dance scene. Based in Leicester, East Midlands since 1998, she enjoys a varied career as a performer, choreographer, educator and mentor to people of all ages with differing amounts of dance experience. She trained at London Contemporary Dance School and Coventry University (Performing Arts). She also holds a first class degree in Film and Literature from the University of Warwick and has trained as a life coach. Louise was nominated for Leicester Chamber of Commerce “Woman of the Year” 2008. She is Creative Director of Foot In Hand dance company, which makes shows, teaches workshops and runs training programmes. They aim to keep their work portable, accessible and relevant, and to create positive changes in peoples lives and in British Dance.
Louise toured the UK as a member of Britan’s first National Youth Dance Company from 1985 – 86 and has since performed nationally and internationally choreographers Jamie Watton (Edwards & Watton), Adam Benjamin (co-founder CandoCo),Sheron Wray (Jazzxchange) and Bawren Tavaziva (Union Dance Company, Tavaziva Dance). In 2004 and 2005 she completed two tours of rural England with State of Emergency Dance Company in works created on her by Donald Edwards (co-founder Phoenix Dance Company, RJC) and Maria Ryan (Phoenix Dance Company).
Louise’s solo performance work is now focussed on collaborations with experienced artists from other forms, such as soul diva poet and playwright Carol Leeming.
www.footinhand.co.uk