Inclusive SEND Dance Workshops (10-25)
The Dance Space, Circus Street, Brighton
Organisation links
Location address: The Dance Space, Brighton
Chosen age group:
Ages: children 10 - 18 · adults 18 - 25 years
Available tickets:
1:5 Self-Funded £75·1:1 Own PA Self-Funded £75·1:5 Direct Payment Free +1 more
Next date: Monday 28th Jul,
Funded by Brighton and Hove SEND Short Breaks
Specialist SEND provision
What we'll do
Bookings open now for Easter 2025!
**We are launching bookings for the dates below soon so register your interest to be notified**
Summer 1 2025: 28th, 29th, 30th July
Summer 2 2025: 26th, 27th, 28th August
October half term 2025: 28th, 29th, 30th October
February half term 2026: 16th, 17th, 18th February
Our dance workshops are taught with an emphasis on the ability of each individual. Participants are encouraged to share their creative ideas working together as a supportive group encouraging; self-awareness, cooperation, confidence and communication skills.
We have a team of trained dance teachers with an inclusive dance specialism, who deliver our workshops and we also have several dance artists with learning disabilities who work for us to team teach/support classes where possible. Two of our dance teachers will be leading these workshops.
In terms of content, we deliver sessions which are participant led, guided by our team. All ideas come from the young people we work with so that they feel ownership in the session. It’s very much a person centred approach. We sometimes use a theme as a way of accessing dance and sometimes we just dance for fun!
We will work on dance ideas from 10am-12pm and 1pm-3pm each day with a sociable lunch break between. If the length of the day is a barrier, please feel free to book and just attend half days (but please let us know so that we have an awareness of numbers). If you look at our photo gallery, you will see an example of a schedule. When you book, you will receive a social story to support your young person.
You are welcome to drop participants for the duration of the day if you feel they will cope with this. We also welcome you to stay in the room with us and gradually remove yourself...whatever your young person needs. We can work together to make it the right fit.
We ask that if your young person requires individual support, that you/their support staff attend and join in too, as we do not have the capacity to provide one to one support. We also cannot provide any personal care or administer any medication. We ask that you carefully consider whether your young person will cope with the length of the day and whether they need someone to stay with them. Please note that if your young person is attending without support, but we feel they need it, we will tell you, and this will need to be put in place. Please also note that if the behaviour of your young person escalates to a level where we feel they may cause harm to themselves or others, we will ask you to take them home and try to attend again the next day. We hope that you appreciate these measures need to be in place to ensure the best possible experience for everyone attending.
When applying, please provide us with as much information about your young person's needs as possible so that we can do our best to support them.
We like to show friends and family what we have been up to and invite you to come along to collect 20 minutes early on the last day to watch!
**For our August course, we are excited to welcome a guest teacher who we have been working with at National Youth Ballet. There will be lots of the usual activities and tasks our young dancers have come to expect from a Parable Dance club, but with a ballet twist! We’ll be drawing on the story telling used in ballet and exploring ballet movements to inspire the dance we create together. Claire has a wonderfully inclusive teaching style and will be supported by our Parable team. Join us for this fantastic one off opportunity!**
send accessibility checklist
1:1 care
2:1 care
Qualified to administer medication
Epilepsy trained
Accessible toilet
Assist with personal care and toileting
Hoist and changing bench
Makaton and PECS trained
Sensory break area
Quiet spaces
Secure environment
Disability communication skills
More information available on request
Contact the Mentor to discuss your specific needs regarding this list item.
Please note:
It is the responsibility of the booker to satisfy themselves about the adequacy of the the measures provided above. This platform is merely an introducer and does not verify the items listed.
About your mentors
Parable Dance
Inclusive dance for people with disabilities
At Parable Dance, we want everyone to have access to art and to work inclusively. We believe that dance has the ability to unite communities, develop confidence, and maximise mental and physical health and wellbeing. People of all ages with disabilities and neurodiversity engaging in our dance workshops have the opportunity to be creative, active, and social. Everyone has a unique ability. We hold the following values:
ACCESSIBILITY
To make dance available for people with disabilities who may have limited –if any– access to dance, art, and community.
INCLUSIVITY
Leaders facilitate and guide classes rather than teach in order to enable a focus on ability rather than disability. All participants’ ideas are respected and everyone contributes to create a dance piece. Movements are therefore suitable for every 'body'.
PROGRESSION
Guided by our facilitators, participants learn dance technique, performance skills and create choreography.
DEVELOPMENT
Training schemes and consultations to enable other artists and teachers to develop their skills in inclusive practice.
ENJOYMENT
To offer enriching social experiences through fun and engaging dance workshops.
Megan Harris
Associate Artist
Megan is an associate artist who is new to Brighton and the Parable Dance team. Megan who recently moved from Birmingham, was an assistant and dance lead for ‘The Future Shift youth dance company’, a dance company for young people identifying as disabled, who have a passion and talent for dance. She balanced this with an administration role at Argent College, Ruskin Mill Trust; a specialist educational provision focusing on practical therapeutic education. Where she delivered work experience to students focusing on practical skills to aid their future employment.
Megan has been dancing from a young age and has a strong interest in how movement can unite people of all backgrounds. She graduated from Rambert School in 2018 with 2:1 BA (Hons) and went on to study with Biennale Di Venezia College Danza in Venice, directed by Marie Chouinard; performing in a reworked version of ‘Set and Reset’ by Trisha Brown and ‘Dance Me to the End of Love’ by Alessandro Sciarroni.
Since then, Megan has worked across many facilitator and teaching roles, working with disabled and non-disabled dance artists. In 2021, she gained her Associate teaching qualification with the Associate Board of Dance (ABD) devising creative and choreographic tools to be used within the ABD graded syllabus’. From 2021-2023 she was dance lead and assistant for the Critical Mass Dance Collective; a dance collective with an integrated cast of people identifying as d/Deaf, Disabled and non-disabled performing at mega events including Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony and Birmingham International Dance Festival 2022 & 2023. Megan has also delivered for Shropshire Inclusive Dance (SiD) for the Darwin Dancers, an inclusive dance collective, to create a performance piece championing co-creation for SiD’s 2023 summer showcase.
Megan is excited to be joining the Parable Dance team, continuing to create inclusive, welcoming and safe environments for young people to engage with and explore their love of dance.
Josie Sovegiarto
Associate Artist
Josie is a community dance artist and yoga teacher based in Worthing, West Sussex. Since graduating from the University of Roehampton fifteen years ago, Josie has expanded on her work in community arts and wellbeing teaching across Sussex, Surrey and London.
Josie spent many exciting years in the Dance department at The BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology in Croydon, before running the Community Arts department at the college. This work brought around many exciting community projects, from directing workshops and shows for families at Camp Bestival, to facilitating dance and theatre education work in Pondicherry, South India. Other projects included work with the charity MIND, Chickenshed Theatre and SLiDE Dance.
Upon leaving the BRIT school, Josie worked for Rambert as an animateur, facilitating for them on their education programmes. As a freelance teacher, Josie has also worked with Dance Umbrella and the Learning and Participation department at Laban, as well as teaching adult groups in her local community.
When not in a dance studio, Josie teaches yoga, with a real interest in how yoga can be made to feel more accessible. She teaches a wide range of participants of all ages and blends her knowledge of inclusive practices in dance with her passion for yoga, meditation and breathwork. Alongside several qualifications in yoga teaching, Josie also has a PGCE in secondary dance from the University of Brighton and a postgraduate certificate in Dance Movement Psychotherapy from the University of Roehampton.
Natasha Britton
Co Founder & Artistic Director
Natasha has been working as a freelance inclusive dance Practitioner, Project Manager and Education Consultant since 2000.
Natasha is Co-Founder of Parable Dance and Artistic Director of Parable Dance UK, a community interest company providing inclusive dance workshops in the South East of England and training worldwide. Forming in 2019, Natasha and Co-Founder Erica Moshman created an award-winning film resource about inclusive dance teaching. Following on from this they developed bespoke training programmes including a tour of UK universities and a mentoring programme for early career inclusive dancers. Natasha also runs Parable’s weekly classes, outreach workshops and monthly networks.
Natasha specialises in delivering high quality dance classes to people with and without disabilities and in designing and delivering training and mentoring to enable others to develop their skills of inclusion. She was honoured with a British Citizen Award in 2022 for her contribution to the arts.
Natasha won the National Lifetime Achievement Award at The She Inspires Awards in November 2022. In 2023, she was also shortlisted for the Lifetime Achievement Award at The Autism Hero Awards and the Outstanding Contribution Award at The National Learning Disability and Autism Awards. Natasha received a Jack Petchey Leader Award (2015) and the YEAUK Visionary Director Award (2018).
Natasha is passionate about provision of arts education for all and has dedicated most of her work to the development of inclusive dance.
Annie Waller
Lead Artist
Annie graduated from the University of Surrey in 2009 with a BA Hons Dance and Culture Degree. During her time at university she discovered a strong interest for inclusive dance, and she has been working as a freelance dance practitioner since 2011.
Since 2012, Annie’s main focus has been on teaching in the community and inclusive settings. Annie has delivered on numerous projects across the South East as a freelancer, facilitating weekly sessions for SEN students in a mainstream school that culminated in a performance for the rest of the school. She has also worked for Rounded Rhythm, where she assisted on delivering inclusive dance sessions. As well as delivering numerous sessions in the community, she also choreographed a musical for a hospice in Brighton to raise much needed funds.
Annie strongly believes in the positive impact dance in the community can have on people’s lives. She believes that the arts should be for everyone and believes that dance at its core is inclusive. Her practice and delivery style is fun and playful, and she strongly believes in people’s ability to push themselves and move to the best of their ability. Annie has received both a Jack Petchy Leader Award (2016) and YEAUK Best Teacher (2019) for her teaching.
Holly Warren
Associate Artist
Holly is a community dance artist based in Brighton. Since graduating from London Contemporary Dance School in 2002, she has worked in a variety of educational and community settings in London and the South East. Holly has a PGCE (Post Graduate Certificate in Education, Secondary) as a Dance Specialist and has worked in Secondary schools delivering KS3, GCSE, BTEC and ALevel Dance in established dance departments, as well as delivering extensive extra curricular dance offerings and performance opportunities for Students.
Holly is the founder and Artistic Director of Creative Dance Club, Brighton. Offering creative dance and contemporary classes, themed school workshops, after School and Holiday Clubs to children aged 4-11 years, to find their inner creativity through a holistic and inclusive approach. As well as this, Holly co leads Head-Strong and Spot:Light youth dance groups as well as the junior and senior contemporary dance technique and pre-school dance classes in Ringmer.
Holly offers inclusive dance workshops within the community and currently works with Grace Eyre in Brighton on their weekly active lives sessions.
Katharine Le Roux
Associate Artist
Katharine is a freelance dance artist and teaches a variety of contemporary and creative classes across Sussex and London. She graduated from Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in 2015, with a Postgraduate Diploma in Community Dance. Following this she completed a Specialist Diploma Choreological Studies from Laban and performed with TenOverSix Dance Company. Katharine specialises in inclusive practice and is a facilitator for Magpie Dance. She has also worked as a freelance dance teacher for Arts Odyssey, Trinity Laban and Rounded Rhythm.
Prior to this she assisted with inclusive dance classes in Newcastle and London, including a placement with Candoco Dance Company. She was awarded the Jack Petchy Leader Award (2020). Katharine also has specialist training in Dance for Parkinson’s and is co-founder of Dance for Parkinson’s Brighton. She has been on the committee of Sussex Dance Network and has been involved with a variety of artistic projects in Sussex, including exploring the interface between dance and photography.
Nikki Webb
Associate Artist
Nikki graduated from Greenwich University with a BA hons in Primary Education in 2011. Her love of working with young people with disabilities drew her into education, with a particular interest in movement due to the joy that it evoked in children and young people, so she decided to make PE her specialism within her degree.
During this time, Nikki found Magpie Dance which combined her passion for dance and inclusivity together and she started volunteering for them in their youth sessions. She then completed their Inclusive Dance Professional Training course.
Nikki gained her Qualified Teacher Status in a local mainstream Primary school where she taught for 5 years, and has also worked as a freelance facilitator with Magpie Dance since 2011. Nikki’s work at Magpie Dance has covered all age groups that the charity works with (ages 3-70+), delivering sessions within their regular community classes, holiday schools, education settings, health sector and performance opportunities.
Charlotte Jones
Associate Artist
Charlotte is a community dance artist and yoga teacher based in Worthing, passionate about movement conversations, creativity, and connection. Since graduating from the Northern School of Contemporary Dance in 2017, she has led person-centred projects across arts, health, and education with an inclusive and thoughtful approach. Dance, Improvisation, Somatic Movement, and Play are at the heart of her practice, creating space for co-creation, self-expression, and shared moments beyond words. She has worked with organisations including Yorkshire Dance, Leeds Playhouse, and The Northern School of Contemporary Dance and was recently awarded an ACE project grant to co-produce an installation amplifying young people's voices in specialist education.
Alongside dance, Charlotte shares Meditation, Ashtanga, Vinyasa, Yin, and Restorative Yoga, working with students of all ages in studios, community spaces, schools, and her online membership.
Molly Spence
Access Support
Based in Ashford/Kent, Molly works in SEND education as an LSA, helping those with special needs, access and utilise learning crafted specifically for them. She has had a particular passion for dance since she was very young and is always looking for new ways to get involved in movement. As well as her career in Education Molly is heavily involved in local dramatics and serves as a Dance Captain and principal character in annual Pantomimes and has also participated in many charity concerts.
In the future she aspires to start up a dance group for those with SEND in Ashford as a full time career, with Parable giving her the most amazing experience and guidance along the way.
Amy Mulligan
Access Support
As a dancer for over two decades, Amy has experienced the positive effects of participating in dance classes. From helping her find an activity to look forward to at the end of the school/work day to improving skills and enjoying movement in various ways, dance has always been there. Combining her other passions for inclusivity and her recent job roles in SEN education and as a Support Worker, she began dance instructing in schools and in community spaces for children with additional needs.
Andrew Tonkin
Trainee Dance Artist
Andrew has always loved music and dance and is pleased to have found himself in Parable Dance. He is very excited to be a trainee dance artist, a role he will very much enjoy as he wants everyone to be able to join in and be able to express themselves through dance.
Alongside dance, Andrew plays table tennis for the Great Britain Down Syndrome Team with great success.
Lily Taylor
Trainee Dance Artist
Hello, my name is Lily.
I have always liked acting and dancing. When I was at school, I was in the school plays. My favourite was the King and I. I was also Hero in Much ado about nothing for the Shakespeare in schools’ events.
I love going to Parable Dance and am very excited about being a Trainee Dance Artist.
Max Arnold
Trainee Dance Artist
Max has loved music and dance for a long time. He loves learning for new shows and performing on the stage. Max has been taking part in the Parable and National Youth Ballet (NYB) collaborative project and as a result has become a member of the NYB steering committee. Max is excited to be a Trainee Dance Artist.
Do you have any reservations?
"She has come home everyday looking taller and more grown up. Excited to get up in the morning and come. I have been blown away by seeing the performance. I'm just so proud seeing all the dancers and to see my daughter lead and dance a long routine so well. Just amazing." - Parent of Participant
Our trained associate artists are specialists in their field and have decades of experience between them. They are used to meeting a range of needs including neurodiversity, learning disabilities and physical disabilities. We have been running weekly youth and adult dance classes for several years and have been recognised for these across many local and national awards, newspapers, organisations and funding bodies.
You may be worried about whether your young person will join in. Don’t worry! We’re used to finding ways of engaging the young people we work with that suit them and ensuring they feel welcome and valued in the space. All the dance ideas we use come from them and are celebrated!
Still not sure? Want it try it out? Join us for our weekly classes for free on Thursday evenings in Brighton. Send us an email to book.
We are here to help and support our participants to get the most out of the sessions, so if you have any questions or queries, please don't hesitate to ask! Just email us at info@parabledance.co.uk
Learning aims
Aim 1
Sessions will be structured similarly to ensure familiarity. The sessions will include other creative tasks such as arts and crafts linked to their dance ideas.Aim 2
Our dance sessions have obvious physical benefits. We see the power in offering a rich experience which improves confidence, friendships, independence and leadership skills.Aim 3
Through the way we deliver the classes with participant led activities and by building in social breaks, we aim to improve communication and social skills of our participants.Premises and facilities
The Dance Space is a secure building, always staffed with a very friendly reception team. We have exclusive use of the workshop space on the first floor which is accessible by lift or stairs. The first floor will only be used by Parable Dance and limited members of the dance community. There are multiple barriers that prevent participants from leaving the studio, the first floor and the building as a whole without assistance. There are accessible toilets next to the workshop space. Risk assessments are carried out by Parable Dance and Personal Evacuation Plans are carried out by South East Dance if applicable.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding safety and accessibility, email us at info@parabledance.co.uk or visit the link below:
https://southeastdance.org.uk/the-dance-space/your-visit/access/
Pricing information
Ticket namePriceInformation
Ticket name1:5 Self-Funded
Price£75
InformationThis ticket is for all 3 days.
Ticket name1:1 Own PA Self-Funded
Price£75
InformationThis ticket is for all 3 days. Please provide your own PA
Ticket name1:5 Direct Payment
Price£0
Information£75 Invoice will be sent to you for Direct Payment. Booking is for all 3 days.
Ticket name1:1 Own PA DirectPayment
Price£0
Information£75 Invoice will be sent for Direct Payment. Booking is for all 3 days. Please provide your own PA.
LEARNER REFLECTIONS0 reflections
Where we'll be
The Dance Space, 2 Market Sqaure, Circus Street, Brighton , Brighton and Hove, BN29AS
Safety
Enhanced DBS
Basic DBS
Risk Assessment
Public Liability Insurance
Safeguarding Training
First Aid Training
First Aid Kit
Smoke Detector
Please note
Please note, it is the responsibility of the booker to satisfy themselves about the adequacy of the safety measures. This platform is merely an introducer and does not verify the items listed here.
Cancellation Policy
No refunds are given except in the case of a cancellation by the Mentor.
My experience consists of a leisure activity, on a specific date(s), and therefore the 14-day ‘cooling off period’ under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 does not apply.
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