Education, development and collaboration

Signdance Collective go beyond the boundaries of language within their education and laboratory/experimental work, which is then taken into signdance performance and signdance -miusic performances. The use of sign is neither narrative nor presentational, but in and within the essence of the work, so that it is the stimulus for the innovation, creation, signdance improvisation, and, eventually, production of the dance work. The company employ and work within their education projects with both Deaf and physically disabled performers and directors.

SDC’s education programme is 90% production/project-related, the other 10% being one-off workshops. Students and professional artists of dance, physical theatre and music, and groups of young people join the company and the company’s mentees to create a piece of signdance over a period of time.

The central art form is dance. The company’s emphasis on utilising improvisation and emphasis on a non-linear narrative structure in the dance work, invites creation, freedom of expression, and exploration in a professional and enjoyable atmosphere.

Workshops are led by the company, who are both physically disabled and Deaf professional artists with many years of experience in performances and leading workshops in signdance, new music theatre, and disability arts.

“They (the children) all gained a lot from it personally and took part in something that they would never had had the chance to be in, in any other situation. Three of the children had solo parts and showed significant increases in confidence as the week continued.” Residency at Penn School, Arts Council South East, 2005 (Art Pepper research)

"The best day of my life", Student at SDC's Jump Start Project, Isle of Wight

"I would like to say more about the work they did with the deaf people in Slovenia. Since this kind of workshop was something completely new for the Slovene deaf community, the Sign Dance Collective’s professional and personal approach soon overcame the gap and the results were fascinating. Attendants, whose previous contact with artistic work was purely amateur, entered the world of movement and dramatic expression with such easiness and serenity that final presentation was extremely well", Goro Osojnik, International Street Festival

SDC work in collaboration with outstanding European dance artists Ornella D’Agostino (Carovana), Goro Osojnic (Ana Monro, Slovenia), Joke Menssink ( Hoorn Theatre, Netherlands) and Garry Robson (Fittings Multimedia UK). All have consistently worked on the development of SDC’s artform, signdance, and have added dramatically to its development since 2001, through production, laboratory work, and workshops.


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		Education, development and collaboration Signdance Collective go beyond the boundaries of language within their education and laboratory/experimental work, which is then taken into signdance performance and signdance -miusic performances. The use of sign is neither narrative nor presentational, but in and within the essence of the work, so that it is the stimulus for the innovation, creation, signdance improvisation, and, eventually, production of the dance work. The company employ and work within their education projects with both Deaf and physically disabled performers and directors. SDC’s education programme is 90% production/project-related, the other 10% being one-off workshops. Students and professional artists of dance, physical theatre and music, and groups of young people join the company and the company’s mentees to create a piece of signdance over a period of time. The central art form is dance. The company’s emphasis on utilising improvisation and emphasis on a non-linear narrative structure in the dance work, invites creation, freedom of expression, and exploration in a professional and enjoyable atmosphere. Workshops are led by the company, who are both physically disabled and Deaf professional artists with many years of experience in performances and leading workshops in signdance, new music theatre, and disability arts. “They (the children) all gained a lot from it personally and took part in something that they would never had had the chance to be in, in any other situation. Three of the children had solo parts and showed significant increases in confidence as the week continued.” Residency at Penn School, Arts Council South East, 2005 (Art Pepper research) "The best day of my life", Student at SDC's Jump Start Project, Isle of Wight "I would like to say more about the work they did with the deaf people in Slovenia. Since this kind of workshop was something completely new for the Slovene deaf community, the Sign Dance Collective’s professional and personal approach soon overcame the gap and the results were fascinating. Attendants, whose previous contact with artistic work was purely amateur, entered the world of movement and dramatic expression with such easiness and serenity that final presentation was extremely well", Goro Osojnik, International Street Festival SDC work in collaboration with outstanding European dance artists Ornella D’Agostino (Carovana), Goro Osojnic (Ana Monro, Slovenia), Joke Menssink ( Hoorn Theatre, Netherlands) and Garry Robson (Fittings Multimedia UK). All have consistently worked on the development of SDC’s artform, signdance, and have added dramatically to its development since 2001, through production, laboratory work, and workshops.