Mish Weaver

Michele (Mish) Weaver has many years experience in the aerial arts, from performing cloudswing and trapeze, teaching, choreography and design of equipment specifically for athletic performance skills. Her initial training in Sculpture enables her to apply practical and creative approaches to investigating new scenography and props. Having spent three years as Head of Aerial at Circus Space, London, her knowledge allows for invention and problem solving into technique and apparatus. Since leaving performing, she has worked aerially with, designed or choreographed for, Gravity and Levity, Upswing, Expressive Feat, Fidget Feet, Matilda Leyser… She has designed freestanding rigs for as far-flung places as a San Francisco theme park and lectures in choreography with props and Performance Studies.

Scott Smith

Scott Smith teaches, makes dances and music, performs, works in mixed ability groups, and collaborates. He has studied and performed with Steve Paxton via contact improvisation and material for the spine, and also Lisa Nelson with Image Lab, researching the realm of the senses and perception as foundation to form and composition.

His training and professional experience include traditional and classical dance forms as well as new dance and improvisational focuses. Scott has performed in companies in New York, London and Berlin. He is currently living in the UK, from where he teaches internationally, provides live music's and recordings for dance and video and presents his own Performance/Movement/Sound work.

Recently, Scott is performing two duet works, ‘Instructions for Survival’ made and performed in collaboration with Charlie Morrissey, and ‘GO’, devised with Lisa Nelson.

Kevin Finnan

Kevin Finnan, together with Louise Richards, founded Motionhouse in 1988. As Artistic Director of Motionhouse he has created, either alone or in collaboration with Louise, each of the Company's touring productions, numbering seventeen full-length works to date.

Kevin also undertakes commissions and projects for other companies and agencies. In 1998 he founded 'Fierce' performance company, and in 2000 created the critically acclaimed 'True' - a performance event for the Tramway, Glasgow, in collaboration with writer A. L. Kennedy and installation artist Rosa Sanchez.

In addition to Kevin's work with Motionhouse and Fierce, credits include: Mamu [1994] for Headlines Theatre Company, Vancouver; Transform [1996] for Copenhagen European City of Culture celebrations; Peter Pan [1997] for TAG Theatre Company, Glasgow; two commissions for Blue Eyed Soul in 1998 and 2000; and Taking Flight for Gravity and Levity for in 2005.

Committed to exploring and exploding traditional use of space in performance, Kevin has a history of extraordinary site based performance work including, The Edge, a large scale performance event on the beach at Watergate Bay in Cornwall in June 2004; Dancing Inside in July 2004 with the inmates at HMP Dovegate in Staffordshire; Dreams and Ruin at the ruins of Witley Court, Worcestershire in June 2005; and the spectacular Renaissance for Greenwich and Docklands Festival in July 2005. He also has an MA in Contemporary Performing Arts from University College Bretton Hall, and a PhD in Theatre from Warwick University.
motionhouse.co.uk

Charlotte Vincent

Charlotte formed Vincent Dance Theatre in 1994 and has choreographed and directed all of the company’s live work to date, including Test Run (2006), Fairy Tale (2006), Broken Chords (2005), Punch Drunk (2004), Let The Mountains Lead You To Love (2003), On The House (2000/03) and Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999). She performed with the company until 2002 and returned in 2006 to perform in Broken Chords.

She co-produced and devised Glasshouse (16mm film) with Forced Entertainment’s Richard Lowdon, and Body:Ink, an art publication commissioned by the Year of Photography and the Electronic Image, both in 1998. In 2005 Charlotte was awarded an ICA/Arts Council Capture4 commission to create the interactive installation Shifting Intimacies with digital artists Keith Armstrong and Guy Webster.

She has also performed with Volcano Theatre, Stan’s Café and Dance Republic. Charlotte has also choreographed new work for x-IDA Dance Company (Austria), Senza Tempo (Spain), Teeside Dance Initiative (UK), Taipei Crossover Dance (Tawian), Welsh Independent Dance (UK), Anjali Dance Company (UK) with TC Howard and Cloudgate 2 (Taiwan). Charlotte teaches extensively in universities, dance agencies, community settings and at professional level in the UK and abroad. Charlotte is Artistic Advisor on the Board of Directors for Danceworks UK and Anjali Dance Company. Charlotte is based in Sheffield.
vincentdt.com

Michael Mannion

Michael is a partner in the lighting consultancy Eye for Detail. He specialises in designing for dance. He has had numerous commissions throughout Britain, Europe and South Africa, and his work has spanned designs for touring companies, site-specifics and installations.

He has created designs for: Phoenix Dance Company; Rambert Dance Company; The Royal Ballet; Javier De Frutos; Ashley Page; Athina Vahla; Protein Dance Company; Charles Linehan; CandoCo Carol Brown. The Rotterdam Dance Company and many others.
Michael also conducts courses in lighting design at Tertiary, BA and MA level, in London, Denmark and South Africa. He has taught lighting master classes for the British Council in Kazakhstan and has been approached to teach in The Ukraine, and other locations in the near future.

Charles Linehan

Charles Linehan trained at the Rambert Academy before going on to work with various contemporary companies throughout Europe, returning to the UK in 1994 to set up his own company.

Following on from Linehan’s position as Resident Choreographer at The Place Theatre (1996-1998), Charles Linehan Company has received commissions from The Royal Festival Hall, Dance Umbrella and The Place Theatre, along with international commissions supported by The British Council.

Linehan has received awards from The Robin Howard Foundation and was the winner of The Jerwood Choreography Award in 1998.
He was awarded a scholarship from The Wingate Foundation in 2003. In 2004 he was short-listed for a Dora Award in Toronto for Outstanding Choreography for the season 2003/2004.

The company’s most recent programme of work was commissioned by Dance Umbrella, London; Joint Adventures, Munich; DanSpace New York; Danceworks, Toronto and PACT Zollverein, Essen. After premiering at The Muffathalle, Munich in May 2005 the production has been presented during Dance Umbrella, London, International Dance Festival Ireland and The Corn Exchange, Brighton Dome.

Charles Linehan Company has toured extensively in Europe and North America and in 2006/07 toured in the UK, USA and Canada. Venues and festivals the company has performed at include: Brussels (Kaai Theatre), Paris (Rencontres Choregraphiques Internationales de Saint-Denis), Venice (Biennale di Venezia), Munich (Joint Adventures, Muffathalle), Thessaloniki, St. Petersburg (Hermitage) and London (The Place, and South Bank Centre).

In 2006 Charles Linehan created a new work for ex Royal Ballet Soloists George Piper Dances, this will premiere at Sadler’s Wells, London in September 2006 and he is also reworking the duet Grand Junction originally created for his own company, for Dance Theatre of Ireland.

Luke Cresswell

Luke is a self-taught percussionist from Brighton. His session work as a drummer and rhythm programmer includes Beats International, Bette Midler, Elvis Costello and Bryan Ferry. After working for several years as a street musician and performer, he first created STOMP in 1991. He has directed, with Steve McNicholas, several award-winning commercials and short films. He received an Oscar nomination for the film BROOMS, an Emmy nomination for STOMP OUT LOUD and co-directed the award winning Imax movie, PULSE. He has also received a special achievement award from the Chicago Human Rhythm Project. More recently he and Steve McNicholas have created the Lost and Found Orchestra, which explores found sound on an orchestral level. Luke occasionally performs with STOMP, and is currently conductor of the LFO.
stomp.co.uk

Steve McNicholas

Steve is from Yorkshire, has worked as an actor/singer/
musician/writer with various theatrical and musical groups, starting out with the Bradford Theatre Group in 1973. Through the eighties he worked with Cliff Hanger, Covent Garden Community Theatre and Pookiesnackenburger. Despite also being an original member of the accapella group, the Flying Pickets and a final appearance in Mr Bean, Steve no longer performs. He shares directorial credits with Luke Cresswell on STOMP-based films and commercials and their new show, the Lost and Found Orchestra. With Luke, he composed the soundtrack to the Showtime movie, RIOT, and shares the Oscar and Emmy nominations for his work on BROOMS and STOMP OUT LOUD and co directed the award winning IMAX movie, PULSE.
stomp.co.uk

Jonothan Campbell

Jonothan Campbell studied at Fool Time, The National Centre for Circus Skills and the Performing Arts and trained at L'ecole de Trapeze Volant Jean Palacy. He is the Artistic Director of Aye! Productions, a physical theatre company which has produced two shows to date. 'Sealskin Trousers' and 'The Ballad'. He was a founder member of Shiftwork Physical Theatre Company and Scaramouch New Circus. He was Aerial Designer for V.amp Production's 'Burning Bright' and Communicado's 'Brave' both of which he performed in, Boilerhouse's 'The Bridge' where he was also the Aerial Choreographer.

Jonothan has also worked as Aerial Designer/Technician for Company Chordelia, Gravity and Levity, Fidget Feet, The Flying Splinter Group and Hang Aerial Dance Company and Spinal Chord Projects. He was stunt co-ordinator for Grid Iron's Edinburgh Fringe First winning 'Decky Does a Bronco'. He performed in The National Theatre's production of 'Jumpers' and in his time off directed Leo Kay and the London Philharmonic Orchestra in a homage to Charles Chaplin at the Royal Festival Hall.
ayeproductions.co.uk

Daniel Weaver

Daniel has composed over thirty scores for professional productions in major European theatres and bizarre locations, sometimes using groups assembled from a wide pool of acclaimed international musicians.

Daniel has a long running involvement in theatre, improvisation and functional music so he works as performer and deviser, both making/performing music and helping productions to reach the stage.

His solo concerts have explored interactive computer technology in conjunction with the cello, found sound, spycams and household objects. Sometimes he prefers to play guitar and sing. It has been remarked that whilst being uncompromising they are surprisingly accessible. He aims to be entertaining and adventurous, to take the audience somewhere they haven't been yet.

His teaching work is currently focused on improvisation classes for musicians and performers working with the body (actors, dancers etc.), exploring collaborative approaches and using a musical approach.

Vanessa Cook

Vanessa completed an English/Philosophy degree at Leeds University and travelled the world before she decided to pursue contemporary dance. She trained for a year at the Northern School of Contemporary Dance then freelanced with a number of companies including Phoenix Dance Company. Her next five years were spent touring and teaching in the UK and Europe with Motionhouse Dance Theatre. Returning to freelance status, she has enjoyed making work and touring with Collision and Wired Aerial Theatre, a bungee-assisted dance company. She has also created her own work with All Play which is currently being performed in festivals.

Vanessa has a keen interest in developing her skills when travelling abroad. She has taught dance and literacy in South Africa, trained in Vienna at Impulstanz and with Damian Munoz in Barcelona. She has recently returned from Israel, where she attended an international contact festival, which was supported by the Lisa Ullman Travelling Scholarship Fund.

Guy Adams

Since graduating from the University of Chichester and York University Toronto with the Lea Anderson award for choreographic innovation, Guy has taught and choreographed as a freelance dancer across the south of England. Working under the direction of Helen Parker (MotionHouse), Guy was a principal dancer for the all-male company Full Force, specializing in contact improvisation and physical theatre.

Guy is a founding member of the Lila Dance Company, who in 2006 became an associate company of ‘The Point’ in Eastleigh, mentored by resident artist Hofesh Shechter. Presently Guy is a member of the AQA teaching team and is delivering the 2007/08 GCSE set study across the country. Recently he has been an assistant Choreographer to Charlie Morrissey working on both ‘Where the Land Meets the sea’ & ‘Waterborn’. As a dancer Guy has worked with Sarah Rubidge, Wired Aerial Theatre and Kerry Nicholls and also teaches contemporary dance technique and creative workshops on the CAT program at Laban.

Jennifer Paterson

Jennifer Paterson trained at London Contemporary Dance School and has gone on to perform internationally in dance,aerial, theatre and film including award winning productions with Leah Stein (USA) and Katrina McPherson (Scotland).

Jennifer has performed with several dance & theatre co's including Boilerhouse Theatre Company, Company Chordelia, Curious Seed, Expressive Feat, Fidget Feet, Paragon Ensemble, Plan B Collaborative Theatre & Tartan Chameleon. Part of her work encompasses large scale outdoor spectacle including hanging from boats, buildings & bursting through glass ceilings for Scarabeus Theatre, and flying from cranes for Fidget Feet & Iron Oxide Performance Companies.

Based in Scotland where she has been developing her own company, All or Nothing, Jennifer recently performed its debut production '123 here we go.... ', a solo aerial dance work. She is currently receiving support through the Dance UK mentoring scheme.