Vertical Dance: An extraordinary exploration where the walls become your dance floor. Using climbing harnesses and rigging equipment, we’ll tip the dance floor 90 degrees, turning gravity into a playful partner. This practice is liberating, exhilarating, sometimes strenuous, and always a bit disorienting!
Aerial Dance Harness: An immersive low-flying aerial dance experience, where the harness allows for dynamic movement just above the floor, blending grounded dance with flight. Using low-fly aerial harnesses, you’ll move fluidly between the floor and air, opening up new dimensions of dance theatre. This style is perfect for those wanting to explore weightlessness and suspension at a manageable height.
What to Expect:
On the wall – we’ll start with an introduction to specific rigging equipment and foundational orientation, building common ground before progressing to more complex sequences. Throughout the week, we’ll explore movement through different planes, engaging in creative exercises and improvisation tasks – all designed to help you discover your unique dance on the wall.
Low fly – we’ll build familiarity with the harness and equipment, exploring balance, surrender, and creative movement, finding effortless transitions in moving from floor to air while hovering just off the ground. We’ll experiment with low-fly sequences, working both independently and with partners, to discover how aerial dance harness work can add depth and expression to dance theatre narratives.
Prior experience with vertical dance is required.
This project is produced and delivered by Autin Dance Theatre in partnership with Imagineer Productions as part of Powerhouse Pro, and supported by a grant from West Midlands Combined Authority Commonwealth Games Legacy Fund.
Header photo credit: Autin Dance Theatre and Gravity & Levity
This intensive week is designed for dancers who are confident and experienced in vertical movement; prior experience with vertical dance is required.
You should feel comfortable with the following skills:
NB: None of these need to be perfect!
  | With over 40 years in the industry, Lindsey is a leader in aerial dance, celebrated as a performer, choreographer, teacher, and mentor. After training at the London School of Contemporary Dance in the 1980s, Lindsey built a remarkable career spanning both dance and circus arts. In 2003, she founded Gravity & Levity, an award-winning, disabled-led aerial dance company focused on redefining dance spaces and igniting audience imaginations. Gravity & Levity specializes in vertical dance and provides world-class artist development, offering fresh perspectives on where dance can happen and how audiences experience it. Lindsey’s work over the past 25+ years has centred on vertical dance, especially through building-based commissions, and she teaches masterclasses internationally, including in France, Italy, Portugal, Canada, and Brazil. She also leads the European Aerial Dance Festival (EADF), now in its 12th year, supporting aerial practitioners at all levels. Her performance credits include roles with Extemporary Dance Theatre, Random Dance Company, Vincent Dance Theatre, Ra-Ra Zoo Circus Theatre, Gandini Juggling Project, and Upswing. A hearing-impaired artist, Lindsey continues to bring her unique vision to the aerial dance community worldwide. For more about the European Aerial Dance Festival, visit eadf.co.uk. |
  | Autin Dance Theatre, founded in 2013 by acclaimed choreographer Johnny Autin and based in Birmingham, is a pioneering touring company dedicated to inspiring and educating through socially relevant, multi-disciplinary arts. We perform in theatres, outdoor spaces, and non-traditional venues to engage a wide range of audiences and communities. Known for highly acclaimed productions like Dystopia, Out of the Deep Blue, and Parade – The Giant Wheel, our work addresses contemporary issues such as the environment, relationships and cultural identities. Supported by regional and national networks of partners and collaborators, our shows have toured globally, reaching over 760,000 people and even being televised to 150 million viewers in China (Macau, March 2024). www.autindt.co.uk Johnny Autin is a multidisciplinary performance artist, choreographer, and director based in Birmingham, UK. He is the founder and artistic director of Autin Dance Theatre CIO, an award-winning company known for creating ambitious, socially engaged, and interdisciplinary performances. Johnny’s work spans contemporary dance, physical theatre, puppetry, and aerial performance, often exploring themes of resilience, belonging, and the human experience in the face of adversity. His notable creations include ‘Parade – The Giant Wheel’, a large-scale performance featuring a striking giant wheel structure, and ‘Out of the Deep Blue’, an acclaimed work that features a 13-foot giant puppet addressing the climate emergency. Johnny’s latest creation, ‘Up in the Sky’, is an outdoor aerial dance and physical theatre performance that delves into themes of displacement and change, blending storytelling with movement. Committed to community engagement, Johnny also leads intergenerational dance sessions, street arts workshops, and family movement classes, fostering creativity and connection through movement. Johnny has collaborated with international presenters and toured globally, sharing his innovative approach with audiences across Europe, China, Australia, and Canada. |
For the best experience, wear snug layers around your hips and waist (or stretch jeans, which can be ideal), as they’ll make the harness more comfortable on your skin. Long-sleeved shirts are also useful for certain movements.
If you have a preferred harness or other equipment, please feel free to bring them along.
The Daimler Powerhouse is along the Coventry Canal and there are limited options for buying food, so it is advisable to bring your lunch and snacks with you; there is a kitchen with a microwave for preparing lunch and filling water bottles.
There are large toilet cubicles for changing, but no showers.
Tickets are no longer available.