Jane Castree

I am a choreographer and community dance artist working with movement to create open and accessible opportunities for performers, community members, and collaborators that acknowledge and interrupt invisible structures of hierarchy existing within our culture. My choreographic work invites people to consider ideas and concepts from alternative perspectives as a way to imagine and create a more open and flexible world. 

My community practice is person-centred and encourages people to explore their potential at their own pace and develop their physicality, building self-awareness and confidence by being creative and expressing their imagination. I was honoured to work with Wheelfever Projects as lead practitioner over seven years where I developed my skills in inclusive practice. The group brings together disabled and non-disabled young people, to develop their performance and choreographic skills in a safe and supportive space. Now, I am delighted to enhance these skills by working with Silver Shakers, an Oxford based dance group for people aged 50 plus.

As Artistic Director of Jane Castree Dance Collaborations and Associate artist at Barbican Theatre, Plymouth I championed collaborative practice by exploring the meeting points with other art forms such as lighting, film, sound design and digital technology. I was thrilled to be selected for DanSCe Dialogues 2 Lighting Lab, and mentored by Russell Maliphant and Michael Hulls on the collaborative process between light and movement.

As an artist committed to interdisciplinary practice, I’m part of a multi-disciplinary team for Oxford University’s Shaping Destiny project, and am lead dance artist on Dancin’ Oxford and Oxford City Council’s Dancer in Community Residence project in Barton, working across multi-disciplinary teams to support thriving communities. Next I am embarking on a Creative Residency at Modern Art Oxford, as part of their Boundary Encounters Exhibition. I will be facilitating collaborative research with audiences to ensure that my next choreographic work Bye, Bye Binary, which is based on the work of bell hooks about deconstructing dominator culture, gives voice to marginalised viewpoints. 

My work has been supported by Arts Council England, Falmouth University, The Works, Plymouth Dance, Dance in Devon, The Barbican Theatre, Take Art and Interreg.