Leeds Beckett University - City Campus,
Woodhouse Lane,
LS1 3HE
Dance is a vehicle for class mobility within the UK. This research interviews dance professionals, whose journeys began at different points within a 40 year period (1980s-2010s), to explore experiences within their dance education and subsequent careers. Dr Laura Griffiths and Dr Rachel Krische will collect anecdotal stories and reflection through open-ended conversation with dance professionals, whose journeys began at different points within a 40 year period (1980s-2010s).
A key aim is to advocate for dance through the mode of podcasts, video documentation and innovative uses of bi-neural sound. Dance is often marginalised within education and cultural sectors, rather than foregrounded as a result of its potential to transcend and work across class distinctions. The research will explore participants’ experience of social mobility and understanding of cultural capital. This research will evaluate the impacts of changes in the political landscape through first-person accounts of dance as a catalyst for social and economic progress whilst contributing to ‘levelling up’ discourses.
Throughout 2024 - 2026 this project will contribute new dialogue to support investigation into how engagement with dance through education and career activity evidences a shift in how class is navigated and surpassed. The recorded material will form the basis of an archival collection of digital material, initially held at Leeds Beckett University. Further outcomes of the research will be disseminated via publication and key dance stakeholders including People Dancing and One Dance UK.
