Michelle Mahoney – Everyone Can Dance! The Transformative Power of Dance
About the Session
No really, it’s true, everyone can dance! Some may need a little more coaching, more encouragement, more time, space to find their movement, but as humans we can all dance as we all use and move our bodies. Dance, or movement (as I often to refer to dance to so as to take away any ‘dance stigma’) in inherent in our bodies. The famous ABBA song ‘Thank You for the Music’ quotes that ‘I was a dancer before I could walk’, how many times have you heard a parent say this about their child? Babies have an innate reaction to music, they ‘dance’, yet just a few years later some children have already started to lose this, but why?
Sadly as we gain a sense of self we also gain the self-awareness that comes with this. This can lead to shyness, self-consciousness and sadly for many, body image issues. As a Community Dance Practitioner and teacher for 20 years I have developed methods to help people of all ages overcome the factors that prevent them from dancing/moving and find a freedom and voice through movement they didn’t know existed. This presentation uses a combination of case studies and session plans to help you utilise dance and movement within education.
About Michelle
Michelle Mahoney (nee Kettle) is a Community Dance Practitioner, Lecturer of Dance and Performing Arts and Dance Film Artist based in Wigan, Gtr. Manchester. Her life has been devoted to sharing her passion, knowledge and expertise in dance and creativity to others, using dance as a mode of communication, expression and intrigue. Michelle began her career in dance as an Irish Dancer, finding Contemporary Dance aged 16 whilst studying her A-Levels. This led her to study her degree in Dance at Chester University followed by a PGDip and Master of the Arts in Contemporary Dance at London Contemporary Dance School.
Michelle worked extensively as a professional Dance Filmmaker whilst living in London, working alongside world renowned companies. Alongside this Michelle continued to teach dance, film and performance across the UK. Her freelance teaching work saw her cover the breadth of the UK, working with a huge range of people, from pre-school private ballet to young offenders. Michelle honed her teaching skills qualifying in a London comprehensive and today works at a Greater Manchester Sixth Form College and with Leigh Community Trust – working with people of all ages and backgrounds, from babies to her eldest dancer who is 104 years young.
https://www.leighcommunitytrust.co.uk
Insta: @mamma_mindfulness and @leighcommunity
FB: @daducaLCT @mammamindfulness @leighcommunitytrust
Twitter: @LeighCommTrust
Tell us what you'd like to see
Keep up to date with us on Twitter
Thank you to these organisations for their generous support
