Towards a Future that is Accessible

Luke Pell

Often a companion in practice to other artists and arts organisations, Luke Pell (they/he) has worked at the intersections of where dance, choreography and contemporary performance meets with other worlds for over twenty-years. With a particular focus upon ‘thinking through practice’ they collaborate on projects that attend to alterity, in hope of effecting embodied change in the ways people encounter, engage with and reconsider notions of identity and difference; death, dying and loss; interdependence, community, and care.

At the heart of Luke’s practice has been making space for careful conversation, working with words &/as movement they've created a range of poetic-choreographic works online, in print and in person. They primarily work alongside other choreographers/artists whose practices question dominant norms - including Caroline Bowditch, Lucy Cash, Emilyn Claid; Nigel Charnock; Kitty Fedorec, Cruising for Art, Catherine Long; Kate Marsh; Queer by Extension, Farah Saleh and Jo Verrent. Luke has been a practice/production dramaturg for Claire Cunningham since 2014.

Trained in contemporary performance at the University of Winchester and Queen Mary University of London, Luke has held and supported programmes of change with artists and institutions throughout the UK, including time as Head of Learning & Research for Candoco Dance Company convening Masters-in-Teaching modules with the Royal Academy of Dance. Working with artists in the myriad ways they might reveal wisdoms for living, Luke has designed processes for research and the deepening of practice with peers as part of dance, disability, LGBTQIA+ children’s and older people’s movements internationally and been an adviser to funders/researchers such as Invisible Difference: Coventry University, Jerwood Arts, Wellcome Trust and Paul Hamlyn Foundation. They were a chair of the board for Chisenhale Dance Space and are now a trustee of Siobhan Davies Studios.

An Associate Artist of Janice Parker Projects and Fevered Sleep, since Octpber 2023 Luke is a part-time member of the  "Choreography, Dance and Disability Arts" team by Claire Cunningham.

Nadja Dias (UK & Germany) is a freelance producer and consultant with almost 20 years of international professional experience. She has worked as a producer with organizations, groups and artists such as Candoco Dance Company, Sadler's Wells, Nigel Charnock, Liverpool Biennale, Scottish Dance Theatre and most recently Tanz! Heilbronn and the Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele.

She is a jury member (dance) of the National Performance Network (NPN Deutschland), mentor for the Migros Culture Percentage Double Artist Mentoring Program (2023/2024) and holds a teaching position at SUPSI (University of Applied Sciences & Arts Southern Switzerland) in the program 'Diversity & Inclusive Practice in Performing Arts'.

Since 2014 she is Executive Producer for Scottish multi-disciplinary disabled artist Claire Cunningham, whose works have been co-produced with and toured to leading international partners including Manchester International Festival, Perth Festival, Dance Umbrella, Sadler’s Wells, The Place, Tanzhaus NRW amongst others.

As consultant, she supports organizations in the areas of disability, inclusive & accessible producing as well as on developing distribution & co-producing partnerships (e.g. Dachverband Tanz, Kulturamt Stuttgart, Akademie f. Darstellende Kunst BW, British Council).

Nadja has studied Theatre and Cultural Studies (University of Leipzig) and Performing Arts Management (Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts).

Since October 2023 Nadja joined as Artistic Associate the project team for Claire Cunningham’s Einstein Profile Professorship for ‘Choreography, Dance and Disability Arts’ at the HZT leading on areas such as Accessible Producing Practices & Artistic Development within the focus areas of Choreography of Care & Aesthetics of Access.