ResDance

ResDance Series 9: Episode 9: Breaking Barriers: Racial Equity in Dance with Imogen Aujla and Stacey Green  In this second episode with ResDance, Stacey and Imogen explore their thinking around racial equity in dance. Drawing on the work of the TIRED movement and their three-year RED Research Project into representation in dance training and education, they share key findings and discuss the development of an evidence-informed framework for institutions. The conversation centres on the barriers faced by those from the global majority in accessing training and education, the role of research in driving meaningful change, and the need for greater transparency, leadership, and collective responsibility across the sector. Stacey and Imogen reflect on positive institutional shifts emerging through the RED project; the wider work of TIRED; celebrate the ongoing impact of TIRED Ambassadors and young people paving the way for change and share recent milestones — including the launch of the TIRED Connect platform and two academic publications. This episode is one of hope, responsibility, and a shared commitment to collective change. Biography: Imogen Aujla Imogen is a dance psychology specialist from Dance in Mind. Her work covers research, lecturing, resource development, and psychological coaching. She originally trained as a dancer before specialising in dance science and later dance psychology. She has a PhD in dance psychology and a Diploma in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. Prior to going freelance, Imogen was a Senior Lecturer in Dance and Course Coordinator of the MSc Dance Science at the University of Bedfordshire. As well as her project-based freelance work, she is a regular guest tutor on the MAS Dance Science at the University of Bern, Switzerland, and is a peer tutor for the mental health charity Mind. Imogen is passionate about research that contributes to social justice and that has practical impact. www.danceinmind.org Contact details: Facebook: @danceinmindUK Instagram: @dance_in_mind_UK Website: www.danceinmind.org  Published sources:https://www.danceinmind.org/post/let-s-talk-about-representation-in-dance https://www.tiredmovement.com/research-project/ https://www.tiredmovement.com/imogen-aujla/ Biography: Stacey Green  Stacey Green is the co-founder of both the TIRED Movement (Trying to Improve Racial Equality in Dance) and the UK’s new inclusive dance brand, Shades Dancewear. She is also the principal of a well-established dance school with over 30yrs teaching experience. She currently delivers talks all over the UK, raising awareness about the importance of racial representation in dance education. Stacey is the brainchild of the RED (Representation and Equity in Dance) research project, which has developed a framework that teachers, schools, and colleges can use to enable them to become diverse and inclusive. Shades Dancewear is the first UK dance brand to offer four shades in 5 products in all children’s and adult sizes.  Shades are now selling their products to a number of West End shows including MJ Musical, Starlight Express and Hamilton the Musical. Using their unique new face recognition app “Shadify”, dancers can now find the perfect shade to match their skin tone before they buy, allowing dancers to embrace their ethnicity, and retain their identity. Contact details: [email protected]  @movementtired on Instagram  TIRED Movement on Facebook www.tiredmovement.com https://tiredconnect.com/ Other social media handles: [email protected] @shadesdancewear on Instagram, TikTok, X, Facebook, Pinterest www.shades-dancewear.com Other related links:  Two published papers from the RED project: https://accscience.com/journal/AC/3/1/10.36922/ac.3165 https://accscience.com/journal/AC/articles/online_first/4709 Please share this episode with students, educators, practitioners, performers, and interdisciplinary researchers curious to learn more about dance research in action. 

ResDance Series 9: Episode 8: The menstrual cycle in pedagogical contexts: a shared responsibility towards sustainable body literacy and agency with Clarisse RoudIn this episode, Clarisse shares insights into her background and work as a movement artist, educator, and researcher, focusing on female-related challenges within pedagogical contexts. Through her teaching practices, we explore how critical pedagogy shapes her work and supports individuals in finding their voice and agency. Drawing on her research interests, Clarisse discusses her MA dissertation and the need for greater acknowledgment of menstrual cycle symptoms, particularly in relation to sustaining training and overall wellbeing. She advocates for holistic, responsive approaches that honour individual needs and promote self-understanding, positioning the studio as a progressive space that actively supports the female student.BiographyClarisse Roud is a Swiss-born, London-based movement artist and educator working internationally. She holds apostgraduate qualification in Dance Education from London Studio Centre, graduating with distinction, and her work focuses on addressing female-related challenges within the pedagogical context.With a steadfast commitment to supporting pre-vocational dancers in their artistic journeys, Clarisse is dedicated to evolving contemporary dance education in ways that empower dancers to develop both technical proficiency and a deeply authentic personal voice. Her approach is grounded in humanistic, critical, activist, and feminist pedagogical principles, fostering environments in which dancers grow into articulate and confident movers—aware of their strengths, responsive to their sensations, and capable of making artistic choices with intention and clarity.Clarisse strongly advocates for consent-based, holistic approaches that honour and respond to individual needs. Her pioneering research, co-authored with Dr Nicky Keay and Kim Hutt, into menstrual cycle-aware dance practices was presented at the prestigious 35th IADMS Annual Conference, with publication forthcoming.Contact detailsWebsite https://www.clarisseroud.com  Emails: [email protected] share this episode with students, educators, practitioners, performers, and interdisciplinary researchers curious to learn more about dance research in action. 

ResDance Series 9: Episode 7: Gemma Harman in Conversation with Kate Prince (Recorded Live at The Nest, Chichester Festival Theatre)In this episode, Kate reflects on her journey through dance, theatre, film, and music, sharing how her early dream of becoming a choreographer shaped her career. We talk about the founding of ZooNation, her mission to championartists, and the company’s role in bringing hip hop to the main stage while challenging perceptions of the art form. Kate discusses her choreographic process, the role of storytelling in her work, and how hip hop helps her address real-world themes. We also explore the importance of nurturing young talent, and the need for greater visibility and opportunities for older practitioners in dance. Throughout the conversation, Kate speaks about the value of embracing uncertainty, being brave, learning from mistakes, and surrounding yourself with supportive, like-minded people. Her message is uplifting and clear: keep dancing and keep finding joy—however it evolves throughout your life.BiographyKate’s work with ZooNation includes creating ground-breaking productionssuch as Into the Hoods (Novello Theatre,West End), Some Like it Hip Hop (Peacock Theatre & UK Tour), Groove on Down the Road (Southbank Centre), The Mad Hatter’s Tea Party (Royal Opera House & The Roundhouse), Message in a Bottle (Peacock Theatre; UK, European, Australian & North American Tour), and SYLVIA (Old VicTheatre). The company has also delivered special performances for the 2012 London Olympics IOC Opening Ceremony, the 2011 and 2023 Laurence Olivier Awards, the 2008 Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Handover Ceremonies, and Nelson Mandela’s 90th-birthday celebrations in Hyde Park. Beyond ZooNation, Kate’s theatre credits include Everybody’s Talking About Jamie (Sheffield, West End & UK Tour), Bacchae (National Theatre), Dream Ballets (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre), Ballyturk (National Theatre), Shoes (Sadler’s Wells), I Can’t Sing: The X-Factor Musical (Palladium), and It’s a Mad World My Masters (RSC).Her film work includes choreography for Everybody’sTalking About Jamie (Warp, Film4, New Regency & Amazon), Message in a Bottle (PBS America), StreetDance 3D (BBC Films & Vertigo), as well as The Holloway Launderette, whichshe wrote and directed for BAFTA/Channel 4. For television, her credits include Strictly Come Dancing, So You Think You Can Dance, The Royal Variety Show, Top of the Pops, Ant &Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway, CD:UK, Blue Peter, Sport Relief, The Album Chart Show, and Popworld.Kate’s personal achievements include an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Winchester, an MA from the University of Edinburgh, and an MBE (2019) for services to dance. In 2020, Kate was the subject of the BBC’s Imagine documentary series, Kate Prince: Every Move She Makes, presentedby Alan Yentob. She has been nominated for five Olivier Awards, a South Bank Sky Arts Award, a WhatsOnStage Award, and two Critics’ Circle National Dance Awards. In 2024, ZooNation: The Kate Prince Company won the Critics’ CircleNational Dance Award for Best Midscale Company.Website and Social media channelshttps://zoonation.co.uk/@zoonationuk Linktr.ee/ZooNews Please share this episode with students, educators, practitioners, performers, and interdisciplinary researchers curious to learn more about dance research in action. 

ResDance Series 9: Episode 6: Light That Moves: Lighting as a Choreographic Tool with Natalie RowlandIn this episode, Natalie shares insights into her background and experiences as a lighting designer, aerialist, and artist-practitioner. Our conversation centres on her work as an interdisciplinary practitioner, exploring her practices across lighting, scenography, moved based practices. Natalie discusses her understanding of light as a moving entity that interacts with bodies, and space and reflects on the wider role of lighting within performative work. Her love of storytelling runs throughout the conversation, particularly in relation to her aerial practice and PhD research, where through the use of a choreographic approach she develops a series of approaches and lighting scores. She also emphasises the importance of mess, play, and curiosity in her practice, alongside a desire to challenge conventional ways of working. Throughout, Natalie reflects on her comfort in uncertainty and her embodied knowledge of being “in the air.”BiographyDr Natalie Rowland is based at the University of Chichester lecturing in scenography, choreographing with technology and aerial dance. Her research interest is located in the intersection and discussions between the scenographic and the choreographic, drawing on her practice both as a lighting designer and an aerial artist.  Staff Profile: https://www.chi.ac.uk/people/natalie-rowland/Contact details:Email: [email protected]. Instagram: @talirowland                    @knotted_aerial Other related links:Seeing Anew: the role of lighting in creation of place in site-generic/specific performance: https://eprints.chi.ac.uk/id/eprint/5554/Please share this episode with students, educators, practitioners, performers, and interdisciplinary researchers curious to learn more about dance research in action. 

ResDance Series 9: Episode 5: Being stubbornly curious with Dam Van Huynh In this episode, Dam reflects on his background and experiences as a dancer and choreographer, grounding our conversation in his life journey as a child refugee who fled Vietnam with his family. He shares how these lived experiences continue to shape him both personally and artistically.  We explore the choreographic methods heemploys to create work—his use of collage-like approaches, provocations, and the articulation of voice, alongside themes of displacement and what it means to be a displaced person. In his choreographic practice, he invites his dancers, collaborators, and audiences to explore and navigate these ideas alongside him. Through his work with his company, Van Huynh Company, and Centre 151—a hub for culture, arts, and community, he highlights the importance of visibility and representation for young artists. Lastly, he expresses hope that the next generation of artists will continue to see thebroader potential and purpose of the art form for themselves.BiographyOriginally from Southern Vietnam, Dam Van Huynh is a UK based dancer/choreographer. As a child refugee, his family and he fled Vietnam after the war and settled in the USA where Dam was raised. He founded his own company in 2008, Van Huynh Company. Dam was appointed Director of Centre 151 - a hub for culture, arts and community in 2016.  His work is an implicit and ongoing attempt to synthesize the most dynamic and revolutionary aspects of the dual dynamic of his Vietnamese heritage and Western influences. In his latest touring productions, Dam redefines ownership of his story, calling out inequalities within society: Moving Eastman (2025), Exquisite Noise (2024), Re:birth (2022), In Realness (2022). He graduated from The Boston Conservatory at Berklee andhas worked as a performer with various companies and choreographers including The Nevada Ballet, Merce Cunningham, Portugal’s Companhia de Dança Contemporânea, Richard Alston, Phoenix Dance Theatre. His works are performed internationally and include commissions from CEPRODAC (Mexico), Unlock Dancing Plaza (Hong Kong), British Museum, Fóramen M. Ballet (Mexico). Developing a deep artistic connection with composer,vocalist and movement artist Elaine Mitchener since 2009, they have together expanded the possibilities of performance through the use of sound and body. Dam is a Rauschenberg Residency Fellow (USA), he was Artist-in-Residence at TheHong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA 2010-12), Associate Artist with Dance United (2012-14), Head of Contemporary Dance at HKAPA (2019-23) and Associate Director of Dance Bridges Festival – Kolkata, India (2015-25). Photo credit: Thuan Lam HieuWebsite and Social media channelsWebsite: www.damvanhuynh.com www.instagram.com/vanhuynhcompanywww.facebook.com/VanHuynhCompanyOther social media handles Centre 151www.instagram.com/centre151https://www.facebook.com/Centre151Website: www.centre151.comCollaborator Elaine Mitchenerwww.elainemitchener.comPlease share this episode with students, educators, practitioners, performers, and interdisciplinary researchers curious to learn more about dance research in action.