Speakers announced for Folk Education Network Development Day at Cecil Sharp House
Speakers announced for
Creating Accessible and Inclusive Folk Dance
Saturday 15 March, 11am - 5.30pm
Cecil Sharp House, London
£35 Supporter (includes £10 donation) | £25 Standard | £15 Concessions
We are delighted to be able to put the lived experience of disabled people at the forefront of this day’s workshops and talks.
Janet Bell she/her– Janet grew up in ceilidh tents, fostering a lifelong passion for folk dance. Over the years, she has honed her skills as a dancer on feet, wheels, and using electric wheelchairs. With nearly two decades of wheelchair dancing and teaching experience, Janet is a highly skilled and inspiring wheelchair dancer and a dedicated advocate for accessibility. Janet will be our keynote speaker.
Seth Bye he/him - Composer, fiddle player and educator, facilitating accessible folk workshops across the UK. Specialising in traditional music styles, Seth tours with Filkin’s Music and The Destroyers. He has also toured with Giffords Circus, performing on fiddle, banjo and accordion.
Laura Dajao she/her - aka LauraDDances, Freelance Inclusive Dance Artist and aspiring producer influenced by Hip Hop and Contemporary and other styles such as Waacking, Lockin’, Dancehall, African and Krump. The three pillars of her work are Representation, Access and Inclusion where she looks to fuse movement from different styles to create her own vocabulary using her wheelchair to make cross collaborative art – inspired by Sign language, theatre, music, storytelling and spoken word through film and video technology as well as live performance with access at the core of her work.
Lisa Heywood she/her and Poppy Price Dowhan she/her – both experienced ceilidh* callers and folk dancers, Lisa and Poppy have been collaborating to research the experiences of disabled ceilidh dancers. With funding from an EFDSS mini grant they have surveyed over 100 dancers, and will be presenting their findings. There will also be a practical opportunity to join in with an accessible ceilidh dance.
Louise Katerega she/her– Head of Professional Development at People Dancing and freelance dance artist, performer, teacher, choreographer, consultant, strategic thinker, dramaturg and creative producer. Louise is especially acknowledged for her national and international development work in dance by, for and with disabled people. She will talk about People Dancing's work with disabled people and professional development programme. People Dancing: the Foundation for Community Dance is the development organisation for community and participatory dance, driving forward inclusion and excellence and supporting a UK-wide network of members – dance artists and organisations – who make great dance happen in all its diversity.
Penny Lury she/her – Co-Leader, Milkmaid Molly and former SEN/D school teacher and Founder, Mrs Gill Bosley she/her. Milkmaid Molly are a music and dance performance group for adults with learning disabilities and non-disabled dancers and musicians, based in Bury St Edmunds. Penny will present a case study and screen a short film of a performance by the group.
Sara Marshall-Rose she/her– Co-Director and dance artist at Folk 3D, and Dance Movement Psychotherapist in private practice. Sara will talk about her work, including Folk 3D’s mini grant from EFDSS in 2024 to develop an inclusive daytime ceilidh series aimed at older adults in the local community, and their families. Followed by a short practical workshop. Folk 3D creates exciting and innovative Folk Arts Programmes with schools and communities and were recently commissioned to work with the Morris Federation's successful Old Dances, New People, New Age project (aka Buzzing Britain project). Based in the East Midlands, they work with people of all ages and abilities across the UK to connect with local and national culture, tradition and heritage.
Emmie Ward she/her– Lead tutor, and Roary Neat they/them - tutor, EFDSS’ Inclusive Folk programme for learning disabled young people will present their learning resource, Dancing Days: Using Folk Arts in Inclusive Settings. The session will include a short practical workshop based on the resource.
This workshop and discussion day is for anyone who is interested in broadening the accessibility of folk dance teaching practice and performance, or anyone who is interested in finding out more about accessible and inclusive practice. Our focus will be on disability inclusion. There will be opportunities available for all to participate in dance and discussion.
