In this episode of Dancing Class, choreographer Gary Clarke shares his journey from growing up in the mining village of Grimethorpe to founding his own dance company.
Gary reflects on childhood memories of the miners’ strike, discovering movement through rave culture and baton twirling, and the teachers who helped him along the way. He shares stories of training at Northern School of Contemporary Dance, performing with Lea Anderson, and creating politically charged works like Coal and Wasteland.
The conversation explores resilience, class, creativity, and how dance can tell working-class stories.
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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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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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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.
Part of Dancing Class
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.
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Credits +
Date of recording: 28 March 2025
- Charlotte Ryan
Sound Recordist - Xavier Ridyard
Editing - Isaiah Ibitoye
Editing - Dr Jess Blaise Ward
Audio Accompaniment - Michael Ward
Audio Accompaniment Mastering
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