ResDance

ResDance Series 10: Episode 11: Between Borders andBodies with Sivan Rubinstein
In this episode, Sivan reflects on her practice as anartist-researcher and the role of collaboration with academics, practitioners, and researchers in shaping her work. She explores how her choreographic practice engages with ideas larger than the self, using movement to investigatebelonging, identity, and what it means to feel at home.
Together, we discuss the creative process behind Novo,a work shaped by questions of embodiment, home, and transformation. We explore how dance can act as a tool for research and reflection, as well as creating during motherhood and the importance of holding space for both performers and audiences. Sivan also reflects on the influence of visual arts and interdisciplinary practice, the relationship between ideas and making, and how audiences are invited into a journey of reflection and connection. This episodeinvites listeners to consider where and how we find home—in our bodies, our communities, and the spaces we create together.
Biography
Sivan Rubinstein is a London-based choreographer,director, researcher, and movement director whose interdisciplinary practice combines dance, visual arts, and academic research. Her work explores migration, belonging, climate futures, and embodied activism through highlyvisual performances, installations, and collaborative projects. A Work Place Artist at The Place, Artist in Residence at the University of Cambridge, and Associate Artist at Pavilion Dance, she has presented work nationally andinternationally. As a neurodiverse artist, she is developing Beat Space Beat, an evolving methodology that explores creative practice and learning through a neurodivergent lens.
Biography Link
Photo credit: Nefeli Kentoni 
Contact details
Email: junemoonarts@gmail.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sivan.rubinstein/
Other Social Media
Website: https://www.sivanrubinstein.com
Vimeo : https://vimeo.com/sivanrubinstein
Relevant Resources:
Link for videos
Credit : Film by Upright Fools
DOP Kaasam Aziz
Commissioned by The Place 
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ResDance Series 10: Episode 10: Experiences and Reflections on South Asian Dance for Autistic Children: A Research Collaboration with Akademi 
This episode explores a collaborative research projectbringing together researchers, South Asian dance artists, educators, and families to investigate the emerging field of South Asian dance and autism. Following an introduction from Subathra (Artistic Director and Joint-CEO) on the work of Akademi, we situate the conversation within the project itself. Ashley and Claire reflect on its planning, delivery, and documentation, exploring how the experiences ofparticipants, families, and practitioners were captured throughout the research process. The episode explores how movement, rhythm, storytelling, and embodiedcommunication within South Asian dance can support autistic children’s engagement, learning, self-expression, and connection. Reflecting on their experiences of the project, Ashley and Claire highlight the value of combiningevidence-based research with the creative expertise of dance practitioners, emphasising a co-created, child-centred approach that places young people’s needs at the heart of the work.
Akademi
Website:https://www.akademi.co.uk/ 
Instagram: @akademidance
Resources:
https://www.akademi.co.uk/akademi-resources/send-digital-resources/ 
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41287245/ 
Biography: Ashley Brain
Ashley holds a BA (hons) degree in Dance with a major in Ballet from the University of Calgary, Canada, an MSc in Dance Science from Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music andDance, and a PhD from University of Roehampton. She continues to teach at Roehampton and Pilates conditioning for dancers at London Contemporary Dance School in the UK. Her teaching in higher education has focused primarily onballet and topics under the dance science umbrella including anatomy, biomechanics, conditioning, psychology and somatic education. Ashley has presented her research at a variety of international conferences, and she continues to publish research in the area and is interested in developing new methodologies and approaches to research in the dance for health sector.
www.ashbraindanceandhealth.com 
Contact details:
Email: ashbrain1@gmail.com
Linked In: Dr Ashley Brain (nee McGill)
Instagram: ash_brain1 
Biography: Claire Farmer
Claire Farmer is a dance educator and researcher with 15+ years’ experience in the performing arts. Her work bringstogether anatomy, dance science, somatic practice, community engagement, strength and conditioning, female health and dance for health. She has taught and collaborated with leading organisations across the UK, including All orNothing Aerial Dance Theatre, Gravity & Levity, London Studio Centre, Pagrav Dance Company, Sujata Banerjee Dance Company, Akademi, DanceEast CAT and The Circus Doc. Claire is co‑editor of The ‘Female’ Dancer, co‑host of itsaccompanying podcast, and a regular contributor to journals, magazines and sector publications. She also chairs the Strength and Conditioning Special Interest Group for the International Association for Dance Medicine andScience.
Contact details:
Website: Instagram: www.clairefarmer.co.uk
Instagram: @dancesci_claire
Email claire@clairefarmer.co.uk
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ResDance Series 10: Episode 9: Moving Beyond the Studio: Improvisation, Storytelling and the Practice of Being Human with Helen Kindred
In this episode, Helen shares insights from her experiences across a range of dance practices, with a particular focus onimprovisation as both a performance practice and a life skill. Drawing on the ways her artistic and teaching practices are informed by Bartenieff Fundamentals, Helen reflects on how movement has been a source of both physical and emotional safety throughout her life. She speaks about the value of slowing down, doing less, and creating space for imagination, play, and discovery. We also discuss how her approach to movement fosters a more sensory relationship with the body—one rooted in awareness, connection, and the wider role movement plays in everyday life. Throughout the conversation, Helen reflects on how movement can deepen our relationship with ourselves and others.
Biography
Helen is a dance-artist and scholar whose work over the past 30yrs has moved in layers of, community engagement, choreographic practice-as-research, and pedagogies of dance, and somatic practices. Helen’s teaching philosophy centres on relational and inclusive ways of being in theworld. Helen’s research practice builds on her long-standing practice of Bartenieff Fundamentals; using LBMS as a framework for engaging with people and places, nurturing environments of imaginative explorations and play throughimprovisation. Publications include ‘In-the-Between-ness: Decolonising and re-inhabiting our dancing’, co-authored chapter with Dr Adesola Akinleye in Narratives in Black British Dance Embodied Perspectives (Akinleye, A. (ed. 2018), ‘Improvisation and Change’ article in Animated (Summer2020), ‘Moving Meditations: embodying Bartenieff Fundamentals through sensorial awareness of breath, bones, and gravity’, Journal of Dance, Movement andSpiritualities (2022). The ‘Female’ Dancer: a soma-scientific approach (Eds with Claire Farmer, 2024), Dancing Place: scores of the city, scores of the shore, co-authored with Dr Adesola Akinleye (2026). Helen is Director ofStudies at Northern School of Contemporary Dance https://www.nscd.ac.uk, co-Artistic Director of DancingStrong Movement Lab https://dancingstrongmovementlab.com and a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Dance, Movement and Spiritualities https://www.intellectbooks.com/dance-movement-spiritualities.
Contact details/Social media channels
Email: Helen.kindred@nscd.ac.uk
Social Media: Facebook: HelenKindred / Instagram: @helenkindred
Other social media handles
@northern_school
@dancingstrong_movementlab
Other links of relevance
https://dancingstrongmovementlab.com, https://www.nscd.ac.uk  
https://www.intellectbooks.com/dancing-place 
https://www.routledge.com/The-Female-Dancer-a-soma-scientific-approach/Farmer-Kindred/p/book/9781032466897
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ResDance Series 10: Episode 8: Co-production in participatory arts and dementia research with Olivia Turner and Katey Warran
In this episode, Olivia and Katey explore the intersections of arts and health, reflecting on how these connections shape their respective practices and research. They discuss the importance of centering diverse ways of knowing and being, grounded in relationships and lived experience. Drawing on their work in participatory arts and dementia research, they examine how co-production informs every stage of their projects—from design and delivery to evaluation. The conversation highlights their approaches to meaning-making and collaboration with people living with dementia, as well as those involved in delivering the work. They also consider the value of capturing lived experience as a way to inform research and influence policy, alongside the role of evaluation and multi-voice storytelling in empowering both participants and practitioners. Throughout the episode, they reflect on their individual journeys and emphasise the central role of relationships in shaping their evolving practice.
Biography: Olivia Turner
Dr Olivia Turner is an artist and researcher at the University of Edinburgh. Her work is at the interstices of creative practice-led research, medical humanities and arts & health. She is currently undertaking postdoctoral research at the University of Edinburgh. This work focuses on participatory arts, co-production and social justice, meaning-making, and evaluation. She is Deputy Director of the Edinburgh Centre for Research on the Experience of Dementia and the PATHS (Public Health, Arts, Theory and Social Science) Research Group. She is also Associate Lecturer in Fine Art at Newcastle University.
Contact details:
Email: olivia.turner@ed.ac.uk
Personal Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/oliviaturner-art/
Other social media handles:
@oliv.turner
Biography: Katey Warran
Dr Katey Warran is Head of the PATHS (Public Health, Arts, Theory, Sociology) Research Group and Director of the Edinburgh Centre for Research on the Experience of Dementia (ECRED), both based in the School of Health in Social Science at the University of Edinburgh. She is the recipient of a Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship exploring how to co-construct a Sociology of Arts and Health. She is also Honorary Fellow in the Social Biobehavioural Research Group at University College London, where she was previously Deputy Director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Arts and Health. Katey’s research explores the complex relationship between the arts and health, and she is currently co-authoring a book with Professor Norma Daykin on the Sociology of Arts and Health (Routledge, forthcoming).
Staff Profile: https://edwebprofiles.ed.ac.uk/profile/dr-katey-warran
Contact details:
Email: kwarran@ed.ac.uk
Personal Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kateywarran/
Fellowship:https://linktr.ee/socarthealth  
Published sources and recommendations:
https://linktr.ee/IMAGINED
https://www.pathsresearchgroup.org/research
Please share this episode with students, educators, practitioners, performers, and interdisciplinary researchers curious to learn more about dance research in action.

ResDance Series 10: Episode 7: Participation and Person-Centred Practice at English National Ballet with Laura Harvey
In this episode, Laura reflects on her journey throughdance, sharing how her background and experiences continue to shape her artistic practice today. Exploring themes of connection, community, and collaboration, we situate our conversation within English National Ballet’s engagement programmes, highlighting the power of participation to enrich both individuals and the art form itself. Laura discusses the importance of creating opportunities for people to experience dance in a meaningful, embodied way,emphasising a person-centred approach that values every voice in the room.
Through exploring her approach to curating meaningfulexperiences, Laura shares insight into her role in curating spaces where individuals feel supported to explore and express their own artistic voices. She reflects on how the sector continues to evolve and how her practice responds tothese changes.  At its core, this episode centres on nurturing creativity, championing inclusivity, and making space foreveryone to connect with dance.
Biography
Laura is Head of Creative Programmes at EnglishNational Ballet, responsible for the management of high-quality, artistic, engagement programmes including ENB’s Dance for Health strand, artist development and several flagship performance projects. She has worked extensively in the sector with world-class dance organisations including Rambert, Ballet Boyz, Richard Alston Dance Company and Sadler’s Wells amongst others. In addition to her role atENB, Laura is a qualified Personal Performance Coach, Lead Dance Artist for Dance Mama and is Co-Chair of Parents in Performing Arts (PiPA). Laura is a proactive leader with a deep-rooted commitment to engage people in the arts,championing inclusivity and opportunity for all, through high-quality artistic practice.
Image Credit: Matt Nalton Photography
Contact details
Email:  info@ballet.org.uk and Engagement@ballet.org.uk
Instagram: @lauharveytodd / @englishnationalballet
LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauraharveydance/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/english-national-ballet/
Please share this episode with students,educators, practitioners, performers, and interdisciplinary researchers curious to learn more about dance research in action.