Responding to the sector
PMLD Network Group
Across the UK, weekly dance sessions are held for adults with PMLD by dance artists - many of whom acknowledge they have little or no formal training within this context and as a result are left with fundamental questions around practice. The Dance and PMLD Network Group established in October 2018 by Cheshire Dance responded to a call from community-based dance artists for more support, training and dialogue around dance practice in the context of PMLD. The network has expanded from 5 to 25 members in a two-year period by word of mouth and meets bi-annually.
From these network meetings and our own experiences, we have recognised that we have often felt uncomfortable. We have found ourselves in workshop situations within day care settings where participants have been ‘wheeled into the space’, with us having little knowledge or information about whether they have consented to being with us.
As such, over the last six years we have embarked on a journey to see if we can examine our ways of working and in doing so, we have addressed some of unanswered questions. For example, how do we know if a person is consenting? What is our role as dance artists in ensuring that participants in our session are consenting to be there? And …What implications might this have on our practice?
In seeking answers to questions such as these above, our practice has expanded to draw in new areas of knowledge alongside examining that which we already had. Today, we continue to come together to examine questions such as these and continue to make shifts in our dance practice and procedures to improve the dance experience of our participants with PMLD.
Join Us
To join our bi-annual PMLD Dance Networking meetings and to share knowledge, experience, questions and concerns with other artists, please get in touch.
responding to practitioners
Bringing Together Dance Artists
The PMLD Network Group has been meeting since 2018. Initially made up of dance artists from Cheshire, it is now made up of artists, practitioners and other professionals from the wider north of England and Midlands. As a group, we come together to explore, question and develop our dance practice with people with PMLD. We share a joint desire to develop our work, and look for inspiration and expertise to do so.
The PMLD Network Group is coordinated by Jane McLean (Cheshire Dance) and Ruth Spencer (UClan Dance). As dance practitioners working in education and community settings, they share person-centred approaches which are deeply embedded in their practice methods with improvisation at their core. As movers, performers, facilitators and creators, their improvisation skills enable them to meet each person in the moment, responding to the unique movement possibilities that they each bring.
Jane and Ruth are joined by artists from across the UK and the sector and warmly invite new practitioners to join the group to share knowledge, practice, questions and challenges of dancing with people with PMLD.
Network Facilitators
Jane McLean
Ruth Spencer
Ruth Spencer
Creative Director at Cheshire Dance, Jane McLean leads the artistic provision and support of dance across Cheshire and is passionate about exploring and creating multi-sensory, immersive experiences of the highest artistic quality for people living with profound disabilities.
Ruth Spencer
Ruth Spencer
Ruth Spencer
Independent Dance Artist and Lecturer at University of Central Lancashire, Ruth Spencer believes in questioning and reframing her own dance practice to ensure her dancing partners can gain the most from their creative experience.
The network explores a combined interest and inquiry into dance practice with people with profound and multiple learning/intellectual difficulties. We welcome anyone working within this sphere to join us.
Ruth Spencer
Our Partners
