Laura (left) and Rachel (right) recording the podcast in the studio
Blending personal narrative with bi-neural sound and creative documentation, Dancing Class is a thought-provoking podcast which places dance centre stage in the conversation around class, opportunity and cultural value.
Created by Dr Laura Griffiths and Dr Rachel Krische, the podcast captures candid, often moving conversations with dance professionals whose careers span four decades, from the 1980s to the 2010s. These first-person accounts shed light on the challenges and triumphs of pursuing dance across shifting social, cultural and political landscapes.
Several episodes have been selected to be available exclusively via the DU Digital Pass, offering rich, real-life insights into the potential for dance to transcend and work across class inequalities.
Discover the episodes
2 Oct - 30 Nov 2025
DigitalGary Clarke A Miner’s Gala
A conversation exploring resilience, creativity and how dance can tell working-class stories
2 Oct - 30 Nov 2025
DigitalFarooq Chaudhry Between the Light and the Shadow
A conversation exploring resilience, vision and creating space for all in dance
2 Oct - 30 Nov 2025
DigitalSarah Blanc Class Ceiling
This immersive episode invites reflects on how dance and class identity can shape careers
2 Oct - 30 Nov 2025
DigitalKate Marsh Class, Care and Precarity
A conversation highlighting dance as both a catalyst for empowerment and social mobility
2 Oct - 30 Nov 2025
DigitalJonzi D Breakin’ Class Convention
A conversation about identity, community, race, and the limitless potential of hip hop culture
The episode with Jonzi D is coming soon.
About the artists
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Dr Laura Griffiths
Senior Lecturer in Dance
Credit Lizzie Coombes
Dr Laura Griffiths (she/her)
Senior Lecturer in Dance
Leeds (UK)
Laura is Senior Lecturer in Dance at Leeds Beckett University. Her research interests cohere around the relationship between dance and archives including the role of oral narrative in documenting the past.
Recent research has investigated the role of dance content on social media as modes of social connection and as an archival method. Laura is active in advocacy for the best practice in dance teaching, access and inclusivity in Higher Education within her role as Vice Chair of Dance HE, the national representative body for academics and practitioners in Higher Education Dance Departments.
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Dr Rachel Krische
Performer & Academic Researcher
Credit Lizzie Coombes
Dr Rachel Krische (she/her)
Performer & Academic Researcher
Leeds (UK)
With a performance career spanning over 33 years, Rachel has performed, made work, movement directed, conducted research and taught extensively in diverse, international contexts.
She has collaborated with over 30 different artists/companies such as Deborah Hay, La Ribot, Akram Khan, & Siobhan Davies. Within academic research, Rachel investigates embodied knowledge, embodied cognition, body as archive and social class in dance within art practice and education. She mentors artists and post-graduate students and is a member of advisory panels within the professional sector. Occasionally she still busts a few moves … in front of an audience.
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Sarah Blanc
Choreographer & Artistic Director of Moxie Brawl
Photo: Roswitha Chesher
Sarah Blanc (she/her)
Choreographer & Artistic Director of Moxie Brawl
London (UK)
Sarah Blanc is an Irish choreographer, performer and director based in London.
She is Artistic Director of Moxie Brawl- a spicy inclusive dance theatre company who make work that your mum would love. Their award winning performances have been described as ‘gloriously shambolic‘, ‘wholly absorbing’ and ‘definitely the most fun you’ll have at a dance show’. Their latest work Punk Alley has just finished an 11 venue tour across the UK and Ireland. New works Cheer Up, a show about mental health for young people and Council Estate Princess a new solo show about growing up proddy on a catholic council estate, are currently being developed.
As a choreographer/movement director/associate director, her credits include Bog Witch, I’m a Phoenix, Bitch, Opera Mums (Bryony Kimmings) Pacifists Guide To The War On Cancer (Complicite, Bryony Kimmings), The Dan Daw Show, EXXY (Dan Daw Creative Projects), Oliver Cromwell Is Really Very Sorry (Xnthony Ltd) and organisations such as Southbank Centre, Royal Opera House, Z Arts, Spark Arts, All Change, GOSH Arts, Candoco Dance Company and The Place.
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Farooq Chaudhry OBE
Dance Producer & Co-Founder of Akram Khan Company
Images of dancers at Lois Greenfield Workshop NY
Farooq Chaudhry OBE (he/him)
Dance Producer & Co-Founder of Akram Khan Company
London (UK)
Farooq Chaudhry OBE is a renowned dance producer who has played a pivotal role in shaping British contemporary dance for over three decades. Born in Pakistan and raised in London, he began his career as a professional dancer (1986–1999) before completing an MA in Arts Management at City University.
In 2000, Chaudhry co-founded the Akram Khan Company with choreographer Akram Khan. As producer, he created innovative business structures that supported ambitious, risk-taking productions, propelling the company to international acclaim. Together, they challenged aesthetic boundaries, redefined cultural universality and amplified marginalised voices.
His collaborative spirit has led to impactful partnerships with organisations such as English National Ballet and Chinese choreographer Yang Liping. In 2021, he founded Feng Ling Productions, dedicated to Chinese and East Asian artists and aesthetics. As Artistic Director, he directed his first productions: Nine Songs (2022) and Ten Thousand Tons of Moonlight (2024).
Beyond producing, Chaudhry is a respected educator and mentor, lecturing at institutions including Goldsmiths, London Business School and London Studio Centre. He has served as Artist Trustee of Tate and chaired its Members Advisory Committee. His contributions have been recognised with honorary doctorates, an OBE in 2019, and awards for his role in China–UK cultural exchange.
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Gary Clarke
Choreographer & Artistic Director of Gary Clarke Company
Credit Josh Hawkins
Gary Clarke (he/him)
Choreographer & Artistic Director of Gary Clarke Company
UK
Gary Clarke is a multi award-winning British choreographer, director, performer, mentor, teacher and facilitator who has contributed to the UK dance sector for more than 25 years. In 2017 he was awarded the inaugural Honorary Fellowship from the Northern School of Contemporary Dance.
He is the co-founder, Artistic Director and joint CEO of Gary Clarke Company, where he has created a series of acclaimed mid-scale works that have toured extensively across the UK and internationally. His production COAL (2016) won the UK Theatre Award for Achievement in Dance and a Critics’ Circle National Dance Award.
Since 2001, Clarke has created over 100 works of varying scale for organisations including the National Theatre, Opera North (South Bank Award nomination), Akademi (winner of a Herald Angel Award, Summerhall Lustrum Award and UK India Award), Sky Arts, Hull UK City of Culture, Anjali Dance Company, Phoenix Dance Theatre, Stopgap Dance Company and Trinity Laban.
His choreography has been presented at leading venues such as Sadler’s Wells, Southbank Centre, Barbican and the Royal Opera House. As a performer, he has worked with renowned choreographers and companies including Lea Anderson, Matthew Bourne, Lloyd Newson’s DV8, Candoco Dance Company, Nigel Charnock, Phoenix Dance Theatre and many others.
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Kate Marsh
Disabled dance artist, performer and teacher
Kate Marsh (she/her)
Disabled dance artist, performer and teacher
Peterborough (UK)
Kate Marsh is a disabled dance artist with over 20 years of experience in performing, teaching and making.
Her interests are centred around perceptions of the body in the arts and notions of corporeal aesthetics. Specifically, she is interested in each of our lived experiences of our bodies, and how this does (or doesn’t) inform our artistic practice. Her practice-research focusses on leadership in the context of dance and disability and draws strongly on the voices of artists to interrogate questions around notions of leadership, perceptions and the body.
Kate’s work is strongly fed by co-design and co-facilitation, where we all arrive into our practice from our own place and pace and this informs the ways we work together. Privileging all experiences and ways of being in, prioritising a playful, accessible and generative environment.
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Jonzi D
Artistic Director of Breakin' Convention
Mixed Bill: SystemsLAB. Short works curated by Freddie Opoku-Addaie for Dance Umbrella 2019. Artists: THĒO INART, Becky Namgauds, Ffion Campbell-Davies/ tyroneisaacstuart and Jonzi D. Bernie Grant Arts Centre. 23 Nov 2019. Photo © Foteini Christofilopoulou.
Jonzi D (he/him)
Artistic Director of Breakin' Convention
London (UK)
An MC, dancer, spoken word artist and director, Jonzi D is the foremost advocate for hip hop who has changed the profile and influenced the development of the UK British hip hop dance and theatre scene over the last two decades.
Since founding Breakin’ Convention in 2004 Jonzi has triumphed in raising the profile and giving a platform to hip hop disciplines, which has gained worldwide recognition as being at the vanguard of the development of the art form. Through professional development projects Open Art Surgery and Back to the Lab, Jonzi has supported hundreds of hip hop dance and rap/poetry artists on their journey to creating theatre.
His critically acclaimed works include 1995‘s Lyrikal Fearta, 1999’s Aeroplane Man, 2006’s TAG… Just Writing My Name, 2009’s Markus the Sadist and 2013’s The Letter: To Be Or To MBE? about his choice to decline an MBE from the Queen. Jonzi’s has been featured in HBO’s Def Poetry Jam, had his short films Silence da Bitchin’ & Aeroplane Man screened on Channel 4, toured his work extensively all over the world and delivered his own TED Talk about the influence and evolution of hip hop culture.
In 2020 Jonzi directed Our Bodies Back which won ‘Best Artistic Film’ as part of the Detroit Black film festival, followed up by the sequel, AUTOCORRECT in 2022. He also wrote Here/Not Here, a short film directed by Bim Ajadi which won the ‘Best Film’ category in Deaffest 2022.
In 2023, Jonzi D was awarded a citation from Al Taylor of the 71st District – New York State Assembly in recognition of his efforts for advancing and advocating hip hop culture in the UK and abroad, and the De Valois Award for Lifetime Achievement by the Dancing Times Critic’s Circle. In 2024, Jonzi D was nominated for his artistic direction of Breakin’ Convention, cementing the festival’s two decades as a mainstay in the world of theatre and beyond.
Credits +
Funded by British Academy/Leverhulme
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