Month: May 2017

Janet Jowett has been involved with FRONTLINEdance for the last 12 years as a parent of a Breakthrou’dancer, a board member and a director. She retired as a fulltime teacher in 2012 after 30 years’ service in primary and secondary education, where she was also departmental and key stage leader, specialising in music within the schools (linking to her own music skills).

Janet enjoys playing the piano and now conducts and leads the Daleian Ladies Choir in Silverdale. Janet has always been interested in music and drama, having been a member of several musical societies and choirs in the past.  Janet now works part time for a supply teaching agency and leads the activities group at her local church’s and enjoys their ‘Messy Church Events’.

Janet’s initial involvement with FRONTLINEdance came via her son David, now 30 year’s old, who has Down’s Syndrome. He was really keen to join Breakthrou’ after FRONTLINEdance performed at Blackfriars FE college over 10 years ago. Since then Janet has watched his confidence grow from strength to strength and his dancing skills progress far beyond her expectations. Janet has taken great pleasure knowing that David enjoys regularly attending Breakthrou’dance and that he toured with the professional company during its 5th Anniversary Tour. David has enjoyed helping out the Artistic Team as a workshop assistant, making his own work (solos), and supporting with administration.

Sadly, Dave passed away in October 2020. He was a dance legend, and FRONTLINEdance were incredibly lucky to have worked with him over the last twenty years. Dave supported the making of the first work Rachael and Mike made in 2000, co-lead workshops with Rachael, supported Rachael as she auditioned company dancers, and created and performed in our works; Ignite! and Happenchance 2014 & 2016. The team miss him very much.

We have decided to leave his biography up on our website in remembrance of the wonderful and very talented, celebrated and International performer he was.

Dave began dancing over twenty years ago after attending a dance workshop being held by CandoCo Dance Company. After a follow up residency he joined the company and toured with them for seven years. After leaving in 1999 he went on to work with companies such as DV8 (Cost Of Living), Royal Shakespeare Company (I’ll Be the Devil), Graeae Theatre Company (Blasted), SlungLow (They Only Come at Night- Resurrection) and is currently working with Stop Gap along with others.

He also appeared on screen and TV in films The Tango Lesson and Amazing Grace and in TV shows Rome and I’m Spazticus a hidden camera show performed by disabled performers.

He was a soloist as part of the Opening Ceremony for the 2012 Paralympics, something he is very proud of and was a guest on local BBC news and the Alan Titchmarsh show as a result. Also for 2012, Dave collaborated with a team of UK and South African artists, both non-disabled and disabled, on a world première production for IDFB 2012,’ The Impending Storm’, which was produced with the support of DanceXchange. The Impending Storm was awarded one of the thirteen commissions in the second round of awards for Unlimited.

Dave acted as a mentor for Rachael and Mike during the creation of their first duet ‘Essence’ in 2000, later joining the company as a performer for IGNITE! He returned to FRONTLINEdance to perform Happenchance 2014 (our hospital dance project).

Mary’s professional dance career has spanned 5 decades. Originally an Olympic gymnast in the 1960’s, her first dance work was with Ballet Rambert. (1969-1974). In the mid 70’s after a year in New York in the thrall of the post modern dance and theatre scene, Mary joined forces with Jacky Lansley, Emilyn Claid, Fergus Early and Maedee Dupres and co-founded X6 Dance Space and its successor Chisenhale Dance Space, in London. These organisations provided an important context for the research and development of new dance forms and new ways of presenting work. Mary’s interest in improvisation and modes of improvisational performance began at this time and she brought these new approaches and aesthetics of dance and performance to a growing independent dance scene.

Based in Liverpool since 1995 Mary was key in the development of a dance programme at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA), until 2008. With the Liverpool Improvisation Collective (LIC) artists and others, she continues to develop strategies and contexts for performance and artist exchange within the region, nationally and internationally.

Mary danced for FRONTLINEdance’s hospital dance project ‘Forget Me Knot’ in 2015 and 2016 – inspired by the hospitals dementia care programme.

Working in Integrated dance for over 17 years, Welly has performed and taught both Nationally and Internationally, travelling all over the world. She has worked with Candoco dance company, Caroline Bowditch, Graeae Theatre Company, La fura Dels Baus, Underground7, Scarabeus, and others.

In 2012 she performed in Parallel Lines by Marc Brew and 12 by Clare Cunningham, which were specially commissioned for the Unlimited Festival in celebration of the Cultural Olympiad.

She has performed in Trisha Brown’s floor of the forest, Scarabeus’ Heartland, the closing ceremony of the Paralympic Games.These recent works have led her into more site specific work, which she enjoys every aspect of.

Welly is currently touring her own work with co-creator and performer, Kate Marsh and is an associate CandoCo artist. Welly danced for FRONTLINEdance’s ‘Happenchance’ Tour (our hospital dance project) 2014 and 2016.

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