Alexandra Henwood

Head of Learning and Participation

Alex has been a member of the DanceXchange team since 2015 and as Head of Learning and Participation, her role is to oversee the learning and participation programmes including the Centre for Advanced Dance Training (CAT), Generate Feeder Route, Class Programme, DX Summer School, Education Work, Community Projects and U.Dance West Midlands. Alex began dancing at the age of 3 at her grandmother’s dance school and her passion for dance has continued to grow ever since. Alex gained a BA (Hons) Dance Studies at Middlesex University, London and then joined DanceXchange on graduation for Birmingham International Dance Festival (BIDF) as a Performance Intern before progressing to her current role. Alex has also worked at a variety of other dance festivals including Dance Umbrella, More! Dance and MY Dance Festival. Alex is currently studying at the University of Wolverhampton and on completion in 2021, will receive an MBA, Senior Leaders MA Degree Apprenticeship and Chartered Management Institute Level 7 Extended Diploma in Strategic Management and Leadership.

Anuradha Chaturvedi Seth

CAT Principal Artist, Kathak

Anuradha Chaturvedi is a Reading based Dancemaker and teacher. She has studied Kathak under late Pundit Arjun Mishra in Lucknow India and is a recipient of Sringaarmani from Sur Sringaar Samsad, Mumbai, India. Anuradha has been a performing artist for nearly 15 years and she works as dancer, choreographer and teacher in Reading and surrounding areas. She has done Sangeet Praveen from Prayag Sangit Samiti and also holds ISTD’s level 6 Diploma in Dance Pedagogy. She is the founder and artistic director of Drishti Dance, performing arts organization known for its Vibrant Youth Dance wing, which has represented Southeast Region in National U Dance in 2018 and 2019.

Camilla Lloyd

Dance Practitioner / Yuva Gati Outreach Coordinator

Camilla has worked as a performer, choreographer and dance teacher for over 10 years. She has performed professionally for many Midlands-based companies at venues such as The Hippodrome, The MAC, Symphony Hall and more.   Alongside performing, Camilla has taught dance and gymnastics in primary, secondary, further education, higher education and private education. Camilla was a dance and gymnastics lecturer at The University of Worcester until she decided to go back to full-time work as a freelance dance artist.   Camilla has been commissioned to choreograph professional works such as the European Wheelchair Basketball opening and closing ceremonies and multiple Ballets funded by Arts Council England and Google Rise. Camilla worked on the Beyond Borders 2021 project which focussed on inclusive dance and she is currently working on Critical Mass 2022 as a dance artist. 

Divya Ravi

CAT Lead Artist, Bharatanatyam

Divya Ravi is a Bharatanatyam practitioner, performing artiste, choreographer and educator. Recognized among the most prominent young soloists in the South Asian Dance arena, Divya’s sensitive and immersive performances are marked by conviction and ownership of the movement vocabulary, finesse and fluidity in expressions, innate musicality, and a commanding stage presence. Divya’s artistic journey is driven by the quest to make indic ideologies relevant and accessible in a modern society. Her solo choreographic works for the stage - MANJARI, SARVASYA, POEMS OF LOVE, SAARINI and NARMADA, and for the digital medium – ‘Kanhopatra’, ‘The 12 names of Lord Ganesha’, ‘Kaapi with Krishna’, ‘Navadurga #NotJustAnIdol’, ‘Taaye Taalelo’, ‘Lal Vakh’, and ‘Tiranga’, have been lauded for their thought-provoking premise and path-breaking choreography. A graded artiste of Doordarshan and empaneled with the Ministry of Culture for Festivals of India Abroad, Divya is a recipient of many awards and accolades and has extensively performed at coveted dance festivals in India, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Kuwait, Hong Kong, UK and China. Divya's sound technique stems from rigorous formative training under Sri. Kiran Subramanyam & Smt. Sandhya Kiran, Dr. Soundarya Srivathsa, and Smt. Bragha Bessel. She continues to explore her artistic pursuits in the UK, training with Sri. Mavin Khoo.

Mira Balchandran Gokul

CAT Principal Artist, Bharatanatyam

Mira Balchandran Gokul had a rigorous full time training at the Kalakshetra College of Fine Arts participating in their world renowned dance dramas, festivals and lecture demonstrations. As a child she trained in Kathakali and Mohiniattam and have been exposed to a wide variety of dance and theatre forms of Kerala. These combined experiences have laid a strong foundation and appreciation of all art forms of performance and a passion to share her knowledge and experience with young people. Mira has worked with pioneering tutors and choreographers in India and England. She is Co-Founder and CoArtistic Director of SANKALPAM, an international touring dance company that has created and toured over 14 new works and presented an annual programme of classical work with accompanying education and training programmes. In the UK she has collaborated, as well as attended residencies, with a wide range of artists such as choreographers Luca Silvestrini, Lea Anderson, Stephanie Schober, jazz saxophonist Iain Ballamy, Yoruban Dancer Peter Badejo, lighting designer Lee Curran and Theatre Director and scholar Philip Zarrilli amongst many others. She brings to this role a wide network of contacts both in India and England, as well as a wide understanding. In addition, Mira has worked with MDI, a leading national dance agency in Liverpool, as Youth Dance Development Officer to roll out the national programme for Children and Young People in Merseyside and as Big Dance 2012 Coordinator to lead on developing the dance programme in the North West, as part of the London Olympics Festival 2012. The flagship project brought together over 1000 participants aged 8 – 86 years from across the North West to create the largest dance performance in the country. Mira was part of Kaleidoscope Arts, a combined-arts collective in Sefton that was nominated in 2008 and 2009 for the Cultural Champions of Merseyside award. Through a recent master’s programme from University of Manchester she has focused on the role of the dance artist in conflict situations. She has continued this research and in 2016, along with dance researcher Debbie Fionn Barr, presented work at conferences in Stockholm, Lincoln, Leeds and Oxford University. She was selected for the Dance UK mentoring programme 2015/2016. She has performed and taught extensively and has been a dance research consultant, mentor and judge on youth dance panels in India and England. Mira was a Judge for the category finals of BBC Young Dancer 2015 and Mentor for the BBC Young Dancer 2017.

Parbati Chaudhury

CAT Lead Artist, Kathak

CAT Lead Artist, Kathak Parbati Chaudhury is a London-based performer, maker, and teacher, working for a number of companies and choreographers, including Pagrav Dance Company (PDC), ReRooted Dance Collective, Akademi, Kadam Dance, and Amina Khayyam Dance Company. Her training in kathak began in 1998 at the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, and it continues with Urja Desai Thakore. In the making of her own work, Parbati echoes the narratives she encounters through abstraction, dramatization, and subversion, using dance rooted in kathak, live music, and theatre, with collaboration at its heart. As one of DanceXChange’s 2020 Choreography Awardees, she is further developing her work-in-progress, Goodgirl. As a teacher, Parbati leads kathak classes for PDC, as well as independently.

Sandrine Monin

Interim CAT Artistic Associate, Contemporary

Sandrine Monin is a freelance dance artist and choreographer based in Leeds, whose mission is to connect and empower people through dance and storytelling.

www.sandrinemonin.com

Shane Shambhu

CAT Artistic Associate, Bharatanatyam

Actor, Director and Choreographer, Shane Shambhu is an award-winning artist and the Creative Director of ALTERED SKIN.  Shane is a Complicite Associate and an Associate Lecturer at East 15 Acting School. Shane has an extensive performance career spanning different artistic genre’s and includes work with: Short Films Letters From Afar (Omni-kizzy Productions) and Boat (Just So Films), Complicite’s award-winning A Disappearing Number (National Theatre Live and BBC Radio 3), Icon Theatre’s award-winning Release, Theatre Ad Infinitum, Shobana Jeyasingh Dance Company, Royal Opera House, inDance (Canada), Nina Rajarani’s Quick! (Place Prize Winner 2006), New Art Club and Menagerie Theatre to name just a few. Shane’s recent work has involved working as Movement Director for Tara Arts’ Game Of Love and Chai with Writer, Nigel Planer and Director, Jatinder Verma and Crying in The Wilderness Productions’ Conundrum opening at Young Vic, London in 2019.  He is currently touring Altered Skin’s Confessions Of A Cockney Temple Dancer with dates set for 2018/2019 and 2020. Beyond creative works Shane Shambhu is a speaker presenting at conferences nationally and internationally and also co-project lead on Ensemble Mathematics, a curriculum and professional development project, which explores the impacts of using drama in the teaching of primary mathematics, and The Natya Project,  a project aimed at discovering career progression routes for young bharatanatyam professionals.

Sara Macqueen

CAT Lead Artist, Contemporary

Sara Macqueen studied a foundation degree in dance and theatre at Liberatus School of Performing Arts achieving Distinction and then proceeded to the reputable Northern School of Contemporary Dance, where she gained a first-class BPA(Hons) degree in Contemporary Dance in 2014. Sara has danced professionally around the UK and Europe as a freelance artist with companies such as Earthfall (Cardiff), M Dance Company (Belgium) and, with collaborator Christopher Radford. She has choreographed and performed in Birmingham and Barcelona, and recently in Birmingham’s two largest festivals Birmingham Weekender and Birmingham International Dance Festival. Sara has substantial experience in delivering dance in educational settings including primary, secondary and special needs schools, as well as a community outreach with vulnerable participants with Create Arts Ltd charity. She coordinates and teaches on DanceXchange’s own Centre for Advanced Training programme and has been the Lead Artist on Generate, a youth excellence training programme, since its inception in January 2018. She teaches as a freelance artist for other local Birmingham dance companies, such as ACE dance&music, and is passionate about providing excellent artistic experiences for all young people.