the heart of my work
For me, the most exciting part of the creative process is building artistic tribes - groups of collaborators who have something they want to say - and helping those voices find their form.
Over the years, I’ve been lucky to work on a wide range of projects, from large-scale community performances to solo collaborations. I have facilitated diverse communities including professional opera singers and elderly ballroom dancers, migrant communities and theatre professionals.
Recent highlights include Lives of Clay (2022/23), co-created with theatre director Tim Supple, Bharata Natyam performer and potter Vidya Thirunarayan, and writer Vayu Naidu - stories of women from ancient myth and modern life, brought vividly to life through classical Indian dance, original music and half a ton of clay. During lockdown, I explored the dislocation between identity and place, co-creating Voices from the Kiln (2020), with Vidya Thirunarayan, filmmaker Zoe Manders and writer Aoife Inman.
Earlier work as movement director includes, Freedom on the Tyne (2017), a large-scale performance event that took place across Newcastle Gateshead, working with marginalised communities to reimagine civil rights stories from around the globe. In the same year I was movement director on Monteverdi ‘s opera, Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria, for The Grange Festival.
I have received choreographic commissions from Derby Dance, Falmouth University, C Scape Dance Company, and Dance South West, and have produced full-length touring productions through my own company, The Fionnbarr Factory, including, 21 Tales and Three Go to Pieces. I have also been Associate Artist with Swindon Dance, Dance South West, and The Lighthouse, Poole.
Alongside all of these creative projects, I work as dramaturg and rehearsal director with artists across disciplines — often blending these roles to meet the needs of the individual or company. I’ve supported storytellers like Emily Hennessy, Kathak performer Anuradha Chaturvedi, and South Asian dance artists and groups including Sankalpam, Re-rooted Collective, Payal Ramchandani, and the all-women community company UYIR.
Collaboration is at the heart of everything I do. I’ve had the privilege of working with an extraordinary range of people over the years - from the Queen’s Gurkha Regiment to award-winning writers, theatre directors, composers, film makers John Foster and Joe Tunmer and long-term creative partners Vidya Thirunarayan and Paul Inman. At the core of it all, I’m passionate about movement, collaboration, and storytelling - creating work that speaks to the communities it comes from and resonates far beyond.
