Black and white headshot of Louise Kelsey. White female with long hair smiling at the camera

Name: Louise Kelsey

Company:

Dance Level: Emerging

Bio

Independent Dance Artist: Performer, Choreographer, Lecturer, Researcher

Louise holds a BA in Dance Performance with first class honours, a Masters in Choreography, and Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education: Teaching and Supporting Learning. Louise worked at Middlesex University for 9 years fulfilling roles as Programme Leader for BA Dance Performance and as a Senior Lecturer in Dance Technique and Choreography. As a choreographer her work spans from creating for children, to undergraduate dancers, to professionals. Louise has experience working creatively for numerous institutions (including The Place, English National Ballet, Arts Depot) and she has staged collaborative productions with Delve Dance and Kansaze Dance. A notable highlight is her dance work for Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas staged for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, which was performed with BBC singers and Dame Emma Kirkby (2012). Working under the direction of Lesley Main she has performed in repertory by Doris Humphrey (Water Study, With My Red Fires). Together, they also re-staged Humphrey’s solo Two Ecstatic Themes which was presented at ‘Transmission: A Performance Symposium’, London (2014) and ‘Framing Justice Symposium’, Chicago (2016). Louise was a researcher for The Cohan Collective 2016 (a residency for choreographers and composers created by Robert Cohan and led by Yorke Dance Project), and created a short documentary film with David McCormick. Louise’s research with Dr Lise Uytterhoeven (LSC) about creative tools to enhance choreography in the HE curriculum is published in the Research in Dance Education Journal (2016). In 2017, Louise was selected to be part of One Dance UKs ‘Dance Teaching Mentoring Programme’. She is currently under the mentorship of Lauren Baldock (JV2) and Jasmine Wilson (Studio Wayne McGregor).

Dance Style:  Contemporary, Dance for Film, Digital Dance, Improvisation, Movement Direction

Work Context: community,dance theatre,digital internet,documentary,film,installations,live music,opera,outdoor events,own company,pure dance,training,video

Personal Contact

Email: lou_kelsey@hotmail.co.uk

Credits

2022

WHATEVER

'WHATEVER' choreographed in collaboration with Box Contemporary, an audition company at Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School established in partnership with Hot House Dance in September 2021. Performed at the U.Dance Regionals, University of Bedfordshire; U.Dance Finals, Birmingham, and Waterside Theatre, Aylesbury.


2022

Fractures in Motion

'Fractures in Motion' a youth dance piece developed in collaboration with the performers from Box Contemporary, an audition company at Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School. The dancers performed at the Waterside Theatre, Aylesbury, Great Big Dance Off in Oxford, where they won second place in their category, and at International Dance Day performance with MOTUS at MK Rose.


2021

Get Right, Mr Jones

Created for and performed by BA1 Middlesex University Dance students.


2021

In Good Company

Dance film created with BA1 Middlesex University Dance students during pandemic lockdowns. Footage filmed by dancers across three European countries.


2019

Frames & Shapes

Created in partnership with Unfold Motion and Noi Re-Cream for Timisoara, European Capital of Culture 2021.


2018

Ludo

Created for and performed by BA3 Middlesex University Dance students at Artsdepot Theatre.


2017

Shoes and Satire

Created for and performed by BA3 Middlesex University Dance students at Artsdepot Theatre.


2016

The Unsaid

Created for and performed by BA3 Middlesex University Dance students at Artsdepot Theatre. Accompanied by the London Firebird Orchestra.


2014

Untitled

Collaborative video installation, Falmouth: Tall Ships Festival. In collaboration with Dominique Rivoal.


2012

'Curves Enclosed' in ‘Stereotypic Underperformance’

A collaborative project with Kansaze Dance, performed in, London: Lakeview Dance Theatre & Chisenhale Dance Space. In partnership with Rachael Nanyonjo.


2012

Opera 'Dido and Aeneas'

Performed by Middlesex Dance Ensemble alongside Soprano Dame Emma Kirkby, the Baroque Collective and BBC Singers, Diamond Jubilee Concert, London: Middlesex University.


2011

Gazing At Fractured Parallels

Performed by Delve Dance Company with The Spires Quartet, Oxford: MBIAJ Auditorium, Corpus Christi College & London: Chisenhale Dance Space.


2011

Changes to Context

Originally created for Louise’s MA Choreography project and later reworked in 2015 for a short dance on screen, exploring solely the element of falling that was paramount within the original choreography.


2011

Beauty of Abandonment

Created in collaboration with BA1 Middlesex University Dance students.