MASTERCLASS - Maiya Leeke/ TomNRob

MAIYA LEEKE BIO:

Maiya is a Contemporary dancer, teacher, and Grade 8 Jazz Saxophonist. She was a finalist in BBC Young Dancer 2022, is alumni of National Youth Dance Company, and has an MA from Northern School of Contemporary Dance where she toured nationally and internationally with Candoco Dance Company. She has performed works by: Alleyne Dance; Ivan Blackstock; Jeanine Durning; Annie Hanauer; Phil Sanger; Joss Arnott; Mimbre Acrobats; and Alesandra Seutin.

Maiya co-choreographed ‘Sense’, the opening ceremony of Birmingham International Dance Festival (2022) for Critical Mass with Zoie Golding MBE, was a guest artist at Siobhan Davies Studios (2022) creating ‘Language’, and co-created ‘Burst’ at Candoco Dance Company (2022). She has also worked with Joss Arnott Dance over the last 3 years performing, teaching, and developing accessible repertoire in ‘DANCE:CONNECTS – PULSE! 2.0’ (2020), ‘DANCE:CONNECTS’ (2021), and ‘TIN MAN’ (2022).

Maiya is a previous Associate Artist at Mind the Gap and is in the Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion working group for Dancers Career Development.

CLASS DISCRIPTION:

The class will be an opportunity to explore musicality through improvisational movement taking influences from Contemporary dance movement and Jazz music. Finding your flow, connecting to yourself and others, and composing a collective physical language through your unique expression will be at the heart.

Maiya will be sharing an insight into her continued research of the hidden intelligence of the disabled body, delving into the question of translation and the collective possibilities that arise. Curiosity is welcomed, and openness will be celebrated! This class is open to disabled and non-disabled people.

TOM N ROB BIO:

Tom N Rob began working together in 2019 after meeting through a threatre

group at Open Theatre. After a short while of dancing together they decided to

form a comedic dance theatre duo. As a duo they made their debut show Break

Free in 2020 which has been performed across the Midlands at theatres and

festivals with highlights including, Birmingham International Dance Festival, the

Belgrade Coventry and The Hippodrome Birmingham. The creation of Break Free

has been funded by Arts Council England. More recently, Tom N Rob have dabbled

their toes in film making, creating commissioned films for Dance’in Oxford and

HomeGrown31. Their most recent film, produced by Rural Media for BBC New

Creatives is titled Happy Okay Mate has been aired earlier this year on BBC FOUR

and is available to enjoy on BBC iPlayer. Tom N Rob are associate artists with Open

Theatre.

CLASS DISCRIPTION:

Tom N Rob will be sharing how they dance together through their non-verbal creation practise. In

this three hour session you will be introduced to effective ways of creating and communicating

without the use of unnecessary words. Tom and Rob have discovered that through playfulness, silent

communication and a high level of trust, they can have a lot of fun and be really productive. This

practise empowers both dancer’s strongest qualities as artists to surface. Be ready to surprise

yourself!

The Tom N Rob masterclass is designed to support artists with and without disabilities to work alone

and together. The workshop is open to anyone in training, working professionally or with a passion

for dance and movement. We highly encourage anyone interested to get in touch if you wish to

discuss any access requirements. There will be experienced support artists present who can help you

navigate any access needs to enjoy the masterclass to its fullest.

DMU MAIN CAMPUS:

Floor 2

Studio 2.13/14

Campus Centre Building

The Gateway

Leicester

LE1 9BH

There is a lift up to studio 2.13/14 👍

PARKING:

FREE parking in the main campus car park. Address - Gateway street, Leicester, LE2 7DP.

ACCESS:

DMU is wheelchair accessible, including accessible toilets. If you have and quearys or concerns leicesterprodanceinitiative@gmail.com. We will advise where you can park/get dropped off and happy to help with any other needs. You could also DM us on the gram!

PHOTO CREDITS

Maiya Leeke - Courtney Lowe

Tom N Rob - Anastasia Jobson