
Dance and Audio Description Practical Lab
4th oct 2022
Join us to enhance your understanding and skills around embedded creative audio description through, practical workshopping, sharing practice and discussion.
This lab provides a creative and safe space to explore the fundamentals of audio description, with a focus on the making process for outdoor work with children, families and communities.
Tuesday 4th October, 10:30am – 6:00pm
101 Outdoor Arts Creation Space, Communication Road, Greenham Business Park, Newbury, RG19 6HN
Deadline for bursary application: Sunday 18th September 2022
Who is it for?
Dance and Audio Description Practical Lab is a 1-day exploratory exchange and development opportunity for dancers, choreographers, and Audio Describers.
This training opportunity is for you if you are either:
A professional dancer and maker with at least 2 years of experience. The sessions are particularly aimed at artists working with children, families & communities in outdoor settings.
An Audio Describer. Dance description is an area most describers approach with trepidation and there is currently no accepted approach. By working with dancers these sessions will help build confidence and develop strategies that are satisfying for audiences, dancers and describers alike.
what's involved?
- Practical workshopping to explore fundamentals of working with AD in the devising process
- Time to share practice and learning between companies, dancers and audio describers
- Safe space to develop confidence and skills in using description within practice and making processes.
- Discussion and new connections with like-minded professionals working in this area
- Lunch and time to chat

lead artists & facilitators
The Velcro Collective
A Gloucestershire based company exploring work that fuses participation, access and the outdoor arts. Artistic Lead Louise Brown has worked with Candoco Dance, Diverse City, Pavilion Dance South West among others.
Holly Thomas
A dance artist, choreographer and performer with a specialism in inclusive choreography and embodied audio-description for dance. She is an educator, visiting lecturer and facilitator in inclusive dance practice and contact improvisation. She has recently worked with Stopgap, Touchdown, May Productions, and PECo Theatre. Holly has co-curated this lab and works collaboratively with The Velcro Collective.
Dr Louise Fryer
Audio Describer/Consultant and Co-Facilitator who trained as a Laban Community Dance Leader. She is the author of numerous books and papers focusing on dance and AD. She has worked with 2-Faced Dance, Lost Dog and Kanagawa Arts in Japan. She is currently working with a number of blind artists who wish to use AD as part of their creative practices.
Rosie Heafford
Artistic Director of disabled led dance company Second Hand Dance.
costs and bursary options
This Practical Work Lab costs £30 to take part. This amount can be paid for by yourself, as an independent artist/freelancer, or by the organisation you work for.
We have some bursary options available (to cover the fee and/or travel) for artists who are not currently well represented in our work and who would be interested in working with us in the future. We are particularly interested in connecting with visually impaired dance artists and makers.
If you would like to be considered for a bursary, please let us know in your application form.
Access
101 Outdoor Arts Centre is a wheelchair accessible venue. With level access, accessible parking bays, rehearsal spaces and WC facilities.
Please let us about your access needs, either before signing up or in your application form. We’ll arrange a conversation to discuss how we can best support you to take part on the day.
If you’d like to discuss your access needs, please contact Claire by email or phone:
talktoclaireteasdale@gmail.com | 07952 982255
how to sign up
To sign up, we’d love to hear from you about:
- any relevant professional or personal experience that you would bring to the Lab
- what you are hoping to gain from participating in the Lab and how it
may support your professional development
There are a number of ways to complete an application form:
- Complete an online Google form here
- Complete a Word application form here
- Send us a video or audio file. You can use the application questions to guide you. Please send files to us at thevelcrocollective@gmail.com
- Or, let us know if there is another way you’d prefer to sign up
Deadline to apply for a bursary place: Sunday 18th September
Non-bursary applications are still open
this project is supported by




