Janis Claxton Dance https://janisclaxton.com/ Movement, memory and the spaces between. en Sun, 08 Nov 2026 14:56:11 GMT The Long Middle: Freelance Dance and the Work Between Projects https://janisclaxton.com/long-middle-freelance-dance-work-between-projects/ https://janisclaxton.com/long-middle-freelance-dance-work-between-projects/ A candid look at the unpaid, unseen and oddly creative rhythms of freelance dance life in the UK — the admin days, funding waits and quiet weeks that sit between projects. The gaps are not empty; they are part of the practice. Janis Claxton Dance Studio Notes Sun, 08 Nov 2026 13:30:31 GMT The City Already Has a Tempo: Dancing with Found Sound https://janisclaxton.com/city-already-has-tempo-dancing-found-sound/ https://janisclaxton.com/city-already-has-tempo-dancing-found-sound/ A deep dive into using the UK street as a compositional partner — from bus brakes and seagulls to shop radios and rain on awnings. Found sound changes timing, weight and the way an audience listens. Janis Claxton Dance Critical Feature Sun, 08 Nov 2026 13:30:31 GMT Underfoot: Reading the Room Through Britain’s Old Dance Floors https://janisclaxton.com/underfoot-reading-britains-old-dance-floors/ https://janisclaxton.com/underfoot-reading-britains-old-dance-floors/ Britain’s old dance floors are not neutral ground. From chapel-hall pine to school-gym vinyl, they carry sound, memory and choreographic decisions — and they ask dancers to listen before they move. Janis Claxton Dance Critical Feature Sun, 08 Nov 2026 09:30:35 GMT How We Leave the Room: Seven Ways to End a Community Dance Workshop https://janisclaxton.com/how-we-leave-the-room-seven-ways-end-community-dance-workshop/ https://janisclaxton.com/how-we-leave-the-room-seven-ways-end-community-dance-workshop/ Most workshop plans spend pages on the warm-up and almost nothing on the goodbye. The final ten minutes deserve the same choreographic care — here are seven practical ways to shape endings that feel held rather than rushed. Janis Claxton Dance Studio Notes Sun, 08 Nov 2026 09:30:35 GMT Arrival Is a Scene: Rethinking the Foyer as Part of the Dance https://janisclaxton.com/arrival-is-a-scene-rethinking-the-foyer/ https://janisclaxton.com/arrival-is-a-scene-rethinking-the-foyer/ The show begins before the first light cue. Queues, cloakrooms, programme notes and the walk back to the street are already choreographing the audience. This is a manifesto for treating the foyer as part of the performance frame, with simple interventions that prepare people without over-explaining the work. Janis Claxton Dance Critical Feature Sun, 08 Nov 2026 05:34:08 GMT The Suitcase and the Hall: Seven Field Notes from a Rural Dance Tour https://janisclaxton.com/suitcase-and-hall-seven-field-notes-rural-touring/ https://janisclaxton.com/suitcase-and-hall-seven-field-notes-rural-touring/ Taking a small-scale dance show to village halls is not a diluted version of touring; it is a different kind of precision. These seven field notes gather what I learned about flexible staging, local hosts, low-tech light and the productive risk of being close to an audience. Janis Claxton Dance Studio Notes Sun, 08 Nov 2026 05:34:08 GMT Holding the Room: What Care Home Floors Taught Me About Choreography https://janisclaxton.com/holding-the-room-care-home-choreography/ https://janisclaxton.com/holding-the-room-care-home-choreography/ A reflection on movement workshops in UK care settings — where consent is a rehearsal, memory arrives as gesture, and the audience is never passive. Practical notes and an ethical framework for co-creating dance with older adults in 2026. Janis Claxton Dance Studio Notes Sun, 08 Nov 2026 01:33:18 GMT The Unfilled Stage: A Case for Silence, Stillness and the Unresolved https://janisclaxton.com/unfilled-stage-silence-stillness-unresolved/ https://janisclaxton.com/unfilled-stage-silence-stillness-unresolved/ Contemporary dance in the UK has become suspicious of the pause. But the spaces between movements are where attention actually lives — a manifesto for choreographers who want to trust the quiet. Janis Claxton Dance Critical Feature Sun, 08 Nov 2026 01:33:18 GMT What We Carry: Choreographing Family Papers and Old Tunes Without the Haze https://janisclaxton.com/what-we-carry-choreographing-memory-without-nostalgia/ https://janisclaxton.com/what-we-carry-choreographing-memory-without-nostalgia/ A box of letters, a photograph, a song you inherited. How do you turn personal archives into movement that feels present rather than preserved? A process-led guide to making dance from memory without slipping into nostalgia. Priya Raman Studio Notes Sat, 07 Nov 2026 21:37:35 GMT Outside the Black Box: Choreography, Civic Space and the Art of the In-Between https://janisclaxton.com/outside-black-box-choreography-civic-space-in-between/ https://janisclaxton.com/outside-black-box-choreography-civic-space-in-between/ UK choreographers are increasingly treating train stations, libraries and shopping centres as rehearsal rooms for civic life. In 2026, the most revealing dance work may be the kind that asks you to look again at the pavement you walk every day. Janis Claxton Critical Feature Sat, 07 Nov 2026 21:37:35 GMT