Who we are

Millie is a freelance inclusive dance teacher and administrator based in Kent. She graduated from Canterbury Christ Church University with a degree in Dance Education in 2021 before starting her career in inclusive dance. Alongside her work with Parable Dance, she is a Dance Artist at DanceSyndrome as well as Founder and Artist Director of Tessellation Dance, a company which provides dance sessions for people with disabilities and older people. 

Abigail has a long history of working in the arts, education and heritage sectors, supporting organisations with communications, fundraising and development strategic planning and delivery.  She’s worked with a diverse range of commercial, public sector and charitable enterprises including Camden’s Jazz Café, the San Francisco Jazz Festival, Essex County Council and South East Dance, helping them to tell their stories, reach new audiences and develop income streams.  Based between Brighton and the Essex/Suffolk border, when not working she’s often to be found on a culinary adventure involving a fire pit or a foraged mushroom.

Annie graduated from the University of Surrey in 2009 with a BA Hons Dance and Culture Degree. During her time at university she discovered a strong interest for inclusive dance, and she has been working as a freelance dance practitioner since 2011.

Annie has worked with Magpie Dance since 2006 first as volunteer then a trainee, finally becoming a facilitator in 2012. With Magpie Dance, she has worked with a range of dance groups including the juniors, youth, adult, and community classes as well as in health care settings. She has taught contemporary, Zumba and creative dance classes and delivered sessions for Sainsbury’s Active Kids, as well as working on inclusive dance projects in Kent and Sussex where she lives.  

Since 2012, Annie’s main focus has been on teaching in the community and inclusive settings. Annie has delivered on numerous projects across the South East as a freelancer, facilitating weekly sessions for SEN students in a mainstream school that culminated in a performance for the rest of the school. She has also worked for Rounded Rhythm, where she assisted on delivering inclusive dance sessions. As well as delivering numerous sessions in the community,  she also choreographed a musical for a hospice in Brighton to raise much needed funds. 

In 2013 Annie completed a one year internship in Trinity Laban’s Learning and Participation department (Dance). Annie’s professional experience includes assisting, co-leading and leading inclusive dance sessions and CPD sessions as part of the department’s outreach work and classes at the Trinity Laban including children’s creative dance classes for children 4-8,  adult and youth contemporary classes. Annie was the Dance School Co-ordinator (Maternity cover) at The Royal Academy of Dance in 2014.

Annie strongly believes in the positive impact dance in the community can have on people’s lives. She believes that the arts should be for everyone and believes that dance at its core is inclusive. Her practice and delivery style is fun and playful, and she strongly believes in people’s ability to push themselves and move to the best of their ability. Annie has received both a Jack Petchy Leader Award (2016) and YEAUK Best Teacher (2019) for her teaching.

Annie is the Founder and Director of Latitude Dance

Kimberley is a freelance dancer, choreographer and teacher. As a dancer she has worked in a variety of settings and venues for stage, outdoor festivals and site-specific performance; predominately in contemporary dance, but also physical theatre. Kimberley is a Candoco Artist, which includes teaching for Candoco Dance Company on a national and international basis.

Kimberley has her own inclusive contemporary dance company, Subtle Kraft Co. The company's work centres around relationships in their various forms and from a variety of perspectives, in particular through live performance and film. https://subtlekraft.co/

Photo Credit: Roswitha Chesher

Katharine is a freelance dance artist and teaches a variety of contemporary and creative classes across Sussex and London. She graduated from Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in 2015, with a Postgraduate Diploma in Community Dance. Following this she completed a Specialist Diploma Choreological Studies from Laban and performed with TenOverSix Dance Company. Katharine specialises in inclusive practice and is a facilitator for Magpie Dance. She has also worked as a freelance dance teacher for Arts Odyssey, Trinity Laban and Rounded Rhythm. Prior to this she assisted with inclusive dance classes in Newcastle and London, including a placement with Candoco Dance Company. She was awarded the Jack Petchy Leader Award (2020). Katharine also has specialist training in Dance for Parkinson’s and is co-founder of Dance for Parkinson’s Brighton. She has been on the committee of Sussex Dance Network and has been involved with a variety of artistic projects in Sussex, including exploring the interface between dance and photography. www.katharineleroux.co.uk

Georgia holds a BA (Hons) in Ballet Education from the Royal Academy of Dance, where she studied to become a dance teacher. Georgia has always aspired to educate and make a difference in student’s lives, and is extremely passionate about doing so through her career in dance teaching. 

She encourages students to be themselves and aspires to educate generations of students to express their ideas and have freedom over their creative choices. As well as working as a freelance dance teacher amongst the community, Georgia is also a founder of her company ‘GPCreatives’ offering bespoke creative dance workshops in schools. She says “My aim is to help students realise their creative potential through the art of dance”. 

Georgia was nominated last year for a One Dance UK award for ‘Rising star teacher 2018’ and felt overwhelmingly proud to be surrounded by artists which have inspired her throughout her studies and continue to. Georgia aims to continue to develop her skills as a community dance artist and inspire students around the world, with aspirations of travelling to meet and learn from other dance artists. https://www.gpcreatives.com/

Holly is a community dance artist based in Brighton. Since graduating from London Contemporary Dance School in 2002, she has worked in a variety of educational and community settings in London and the South East. Holly has a PGCE (Post Graduate Certificate in Education, Secondary) as a Dance Specialist and has worked in Secondary schools delivering KS3, GCSE, BTEC and ALevel Dance in established dance departments, as well as delivering extensive extra curricular dance offerings and performance opportunities for Students. 

Holly is the founder and Artistic Director of Creative Dance Club, Brighton. Offering creative dance and contemporary classes, themed school workshops, after School and Holiday Clubs to children aged 4-11 years, to find their inner creativity through a holistic and inclusive approach. As well as this, Holly co leads Head-Strong and Spot:Light youth dance groups as well as the junior and senior contemporary dance technique and pre-school dance classes in Ringmer.

Holly offers inclusive dance workshops within the community and currently works with Grace Eyre in Brighton on their weekly active lives sessions.

Josie is a community dance artist and yoga teacher based in Worthing, West Sussex. Since graduating from the University of Roehampton fifteen years ago, Josie has expanded on her work in community arts and wellbeing teaching across Sussex, Surrey and London.

Josie spent many exciting years in the Dance department at The BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology in Croydon, before running the Community Arts department at the college. This work brought around many exciting community projects, from directing workshops and shows for families at Camp Bestival, to facilitating dance and theatre education work in Pondicherry, South India. Other projects included work with the charity MIND, Chickenshed Theatre and SLiDE Dance.

Upon leaving the BRIT school, Josie worked for Rambert as an animateur, facilitating for them on their education programmes. As a freelance teacher, Josie has also worked with Dance Umbrella and the Learning and Participation department at Laban, as well as teaching adult groups in her local community.

When not in a dance studio, Josie teaches yoga, with a real interest in how yoga can be made to feel more accessible. She teaches a wide range of participants of all ages and blends her knowledge of inclusive practices in dance with her passion for yoga, meditation and breathwork. Alongside several qualifications in yoga teaching, Josie also has a PGCE in secondary dance from the University of Brighton and a postgraduate certificate in Dance Movement Psychotherapy from the University of Roehampton.

Anna works in movement, as a performer, choreographer and teacher. She is fascinated by humans and the moving body, and constantly curious about the connections that are to be found between movement and all aspects of life. Anna has worked extensively within inclusive arts, predominantly for Stopgap Dance Company; leading workshops and choreographing in collaboration with the British Council in Albania, Algeria, Cairo, and for Granada International Festival. Anna is a central collaborator in multi-sensory performance company BitterSuite, with recent performances at The Royal Opera House, The Roundhouse and RichMix in London, at Wilderness Festival, and in leading workshops for SENSE UK’s inclusive sensory exploration projects for deaf-blind artists

Andrea is a community Dance Artist, Producer and with a BA honours in Dance Studies from Middlesex University. She is also the Engagement and Outreach Manager for Corali Dance Company, managing a range of engagement, training, mentoring projects. She has also facilitated a number of community dance projects in Sri Lanka, Thailand, China and Nepal and most recently went on a cultural exchange impact project in Ghana with Awareness Through Dance.  Andrea founded her own dance company, which she ran for over 10 year working in relationships with local charities. Andrea has worked as a Dance Artists for organisations SLiDE, Royal Academy of Dance, B.Supreme, Lyra and Oval House Theatre on various participatory and professional work. 

Harriet has been dancing since she was 5 and still has her first pair of tap shoes in the cupboard! After dancing with Parable for 6 months, she now works as a Dance Artist, supporting dancers in both the youth and adult classes and in outreach workshops. Outside of Parable Dance, Harriet is a medical student at Brighton and Sussex Medical School and is a recent national trustee of Make a Smile charity. She also has an MSc in Public Health. In the future she hopes to become a community paediatrician supporting children and young adults with complex disabilities.

Hello, my name is Lily.

I have always liked acting and dancing. When I was at school, I was in the school plays. My favourite was the King and I. I was also Hero in Much ado about nothing for the Shakespeare in schools’ events.

I love going to Parable Dance and am very excited about being a Trainee Dance Artist.

Max has loved music and dance for a long time. He loves learning for new shows and performing on the stage. Max has been taking part in the Parable and National Youth Ballet (NYB) collaborative project and as a result has become a member of the NYB steering committee. Max is excited to be a Trainee Dance Artist.

Andrew has always loved music and dance and is pleased to have found himself in Parable Dance. He is very excited to be a trainee dance artist, a role he will very much enjoy as he wants everyone to be able to join in and be able to express themselves through dance.

Alongside dance, Andrew plays table tennis for the Great Britain Down Syndrome Team with great success. 

Kay Ashton MBE, is a podcast, vlog creator talking about all things disability. Her passion is showing how living with disabilities does not necessarily stop us living our lives to the full and reaching our potential and dreams. Kay, is currently going through IVF as a single mum by choice and also works day today for a large media organisations consulting on disability. Kay met Parable Dance after seeing an interview on the news and was keen to support and showcase the work we do. After being through dance school herself, she understands how important it is to have inclusive dance for all. 'I am honoured to be asked to be a patron for Parable Dance, I love what they do and how dance can be an expression of emotion, whatever your ability is, dance can be adapted and made inclusive for you and I love this'

www.kayashton.com
www.youtube.com/kirstysstory

Sofia Oxenham graduated from RADA in 2017 and has since acted in a variety of roles for film and TV, including Poldark, Cursed and Extraordinary.

She is passionate in her enthusiasm for inclusivity in the Arts and so was delighted to be asked to be a patron of Parable Dance.

“This company truly inspire me. Watching the way they use such incredibly creative solutions in their choreography to celebrate disability and difference is a shining example to all performers. I can’t wait to follow their progress and enjoy seeing many more performances.”