A project funded by the European Union, Erasmus+

The INTERLACE project was created by and for experienced dance educators (artists-researchers) who recognised they were developing a specialty–teaching creative dance in (diverse and) diversifying local communities–through organised, peer-based exchange.

Authors: Deirdre Morris, Sylvia Scheidl, pavleheidler of LACE Symposium, Zrinka Šimičić of Multimedia Hut, Rachel Tess of MARC
 

access the INTERLACE publication

The main objective of our research was to develop a shared understanding of what it means to teach creative dance to diversifying local populi, to exchange approaches and methodologies, test their use through experimentation, observation, and analysis, and produce an overview that would help disseminate their findings beyond the physical limits determined by this project and help develop the professional standard in the field of inclusive pedagogic dance practice.

We made this publication to showcase our ideas, our methods, and our findings. We want to share what we did, so that you can do it too. Here we are disseminating our findings to live and grow beyond the physical limits determined by INTERLACE.

Each part of this PUBLICATION corresponds to an ACTIVE field of research;
Nothing collected in this PUBLICATION, including the introduction, is certain, definite, or non-negotiable;
Any part of this collection could have been documented differently, were it documented by another researcher at another time in the process;
The publication itself is an EXPERIMENT. If we learn from our readers that aspects of the publication are not clear enough, accessible enough, or transparent enough, we will make the adjustments to make the material clearer, more accessible, and more transparent.
 

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or OeAD-GmbH. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
 

The performance will take place on 14 October 2026 at Gavella Drama Theatre in Zagreb.

dying duets | shimmering is a continuation of a lifelong process in which we dare to stay with questions, trembling, as we embrace the vulnerability of the fragility and risk of living. Join us in a reflective space where movement, as an act of witnessing, lays the foundation for a story.

Beginning with the radical tenderness of the space of the heart, Kirstie and Charlie explore carrying death through life, as well as the momentary deaths that reveal Life in its most essential form. One choice, among countless possibilities, that is called for in every moment; the burning away, as well as the joy and transformation that are released in the process.

Our work is an affirmation of the profound tenderness of human connection and its implications for health and resilience in the face of the universal and personal challenges of our lives today.

The ever-evolving collaboration between Kirstie and Charlie is centred around their shared passion and commitment to dance and healing, and unfolds through teaching, performance, and co-creation.

About the authors and performers:

Kirstie Simson (UK) is an explosive force and an inspiration on the contemporary dance scene who, through every moment of virtuosic improvisation, brings audiences into contact with the life force of pure creation. The New York Times called her a “force of nature,” while Time Out London wrote that she has “immeasurably enriched and expanded the boundaries of contemporary dance.” The recipient of numerous dance awards, she is internationally recognised as an outstanding teacher, captivating performer, and leading expert in dance improvisation, with a practice spanning more than four decades. From 2008 to 2020, she was a tenured professor in the Department of Dance at the University of Illinois (USA). In August 2020, she returned to her native Wales (UK), from where she continues to share her experience and work internationally.

Charlie Brittain (UK) completed the Artist in Process professional development programme at the Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance (SEAD) (Austria), specialising in choreography. He graduated with honours from the professional dance course at Tring Park School for the Performing Arts (UK), having begun his formal training at the Centre for Advanced Training at London Contemporary Dance School. He is the founder of the English National Youth Ballet. Charlie works as a rehearsal director and choreographic assistant in a variety of international artistic contexts, collaborating with choreographers including Etta Murfitt, Kerry Biggin, Milan Tomášik & Co, Barnaby Booth, Jo Meredith, Louise Bennett, Helen Parlor, Richard Chappell, and Holly Noble. At SEAD, he worked as an assistant to directors Helder Seabra, Jorge Crecis, Milan Tomášik, Paul Blackman, and Christine Gouzelis. He was interim rehearsal director for SEAD’s Bodhi project and spent three seasons as rehearsal director with the National Youth Ballet of Great Britain. He is an associate creative director at the National Youth Ballet of Great Britain, an associate artist with English National Ballet, and rehearsal director at Richard Chappell Dance. Alongside his commitment to dance, Charlie is also a qualified clinical sports therapist and musculoskeletal specialist.

Tickets can be purchased online through the Gavella Theatre website or in person on the day of the performance.

Ticket price: €15, with discounts available for UPUH and PULS members (10 €)

Stand on one leg and challenge yourself!
Organise your body so that you are constantly throwing yourself out of balance!
You are standing on one leg, but you are also moving,
As if you are playing some kind of childhood game!

Are you falling?
How are you organising yourself?
What is your head doing, and what are your arms doing?

Quickly switch legs! Are you falling now?
What is your head doing now, and your arms and the other leg?
How is your body “saving” you from falling?

Close your eyes!!
Continue the game and map the organisation and reaction of your body!

Recorded by: Mia Štark

You are lying on soft, warm grass, looking at the sky.

You hear the murmur of people.

Birdsong.

You feel warmth.

With every exhale, the body releases its weight into the ground.

Letting go.

Your system is calming down, you are calming down.

You sink deeper and deeper into the ground on which you are lying.

That surface is your support,
And your body is safety and grounding.

Recorded by: Mia Štark

Take a large sheet of paper and a piece of charcoal.

Hold the piece of charcoal with both hands.

Draw lines strongly.

Your attention is on your fingers, on your palms.

Follow the movement of your wrist, elbow, shoulder.

Draw and remain aware of your entire arm.

Let the body organise itself according to the gesture.

Press the charcoal more lightly — release the pressure.

How are your arms and body organising themselves now?

Take as much time as you need in pause and silence.

What does your work look like?

Recorded by: Mia Štark

You are sitting in an armchair reading a book.

Your eyes fly across the letters, adding them up

And connecting them.

You turn the pages.

The page is rough, or smooth.

Thin or thick.

Glossy, coated or uncoated.

What is it like?

What is that book like?

Heavy or light?

Stop paying attention to the book and observe your hands, your palms holding it.

How are your fingers organised, your joints — many small joints.

How does the skin crease?

How does your wrist move?
—
Close your eyes — Remember — Draw

Recorded by: Mia Štark

Go outside and begin an adventure guided by your senses.

Hyper focus on sight —
What do you see that is new, how do you see it, from which position, near or far?

Hyper focus on smell —
What scents surround you, is your sense of smell overwhelmed? Where does your nose lead you?

Hyper focus on hearing —
Continue your adventure, let the sounds take over!
Where do they lead you, or do you stay in one place? Where are the sounds coming from?

Hyper focus on touch —
Fabric, air, other people, plants, animals? What is touching you, what are those textures, and where do they lead you next?
Is your attention on what is touching you or on what you are touching?

Finally, hyper focus on taste —
Do you want to bite into something, do you want to taste something, even just touch it with your tongue, open the buds on your tongue?
How often do we let our adventure of exploration be taken over by the sense of taste?

Recorded by: Mia Štark

You are sitting next to someone.

You are touching — shoulder to shoulder,
back to back
or palm to palm.

Close your eyes, breathe deeply.

Attention is on the meeting and the touch.

With every breath the body expands, with every exhale it contracts
again,
and again.

You are breathing together, warmth is created in the touch.

Shared calm, shared rest, shared breathing.

Just like cellular respiration.

Recorded by: Mia Štark

Pay attention to the walls surrounding you, to the space you are in.

What is within us can be found outside, and vice versa —
The walls of a room, the membrane of a cell, safety.

Shift your attention to your skin.

The large membrane that you see and clearly feel.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

Go even deeper.

Imagine the cells and their membranes —
Safety and support.

Hold that thought within yourself and outside yourself, carry it into every space you enter.

Recorded by: Mia Štark

Whatever you are doing, stop!

Go outside.

Find a position in which you can feel the sun, wind, warmth, or coldness on the skin of your face.

Breathe in.

Imagine the air flowing and traveling through all the hollows of your skull.

It enters through the nasal cavities, travels into the nasal conchae,
First, second, third.

Allow the air to flow through.

Feel it beneath your eyes, deep within the skull.

Breathe in like that several times.

Recorded by: Mia Štark