COMPANY DANCERS

Heather Richmond, Artistic Director

Heather grew up in Devon and went on to complete the apprenticeship with Springs Dance Company in 2011 with the opportunity to also train with Ad Deum Dance Company in Texas. She then went on to train at Northern School of Contemporary Dance, graduating with a First Class Honours degree in July 2014.

She has worked with choreographers including Balbir Singh, Claire Summers, Jane Castree, Gary Clarke, Charles Linehan, Charlotte Spencer, Corey Baker, Angus Balbernie and Sharon Watson.

Since graduating, Heather was invited to perform, choreograph and teach with ‘Vou Dance Company’ in Fiji for 4 months, touring around the Fiji Islands and New Zealand.

She then returned to Devon, performing and teaching consistently with Spindrift Dance Collective and Jane Castree Dance Collaborations as well as founding ‘Ivybridge Dance Academy’. She joined Exim Dance Company as company dancer in August 2015 and is now Assosiate Lecturer for Plymouth University.

__________________________

Alethia Antonia, Company Dancer

Alethia Antonia was raised in Derbyshire and began dancing at 14 taking street dance classes at her local dance school. She was introduced to contemporary dance at 17, studying at New College Nottingham before joining Retina Youth Dance Company and Derbyshire Youth Dance Company. Antonia went on to train on the Foundation Course at Northern School of Contemporary Dance before continuing her training at London Contemporary Dance School, where she was a Peggy Hawkins Scholarship recipient. In 2017, Antonia graduated with a First Class Degree and the Principal’s Award. In 2018, Antonia toured nationally and in Europe with VERVE, the post-graduate performance company at NSCD and was awarded the Overall Achievement award in Professional Practice.

Antonia has worked with choreographers such as Sita Ostheimer, Mickael Marso Riviere, Grace Nicol, Lenka Vagnerová, Filip Van Huffel, Matthew Robinson, Victor Quijada, Renaud Wiser, Ihsan Rustem, Hannes Langolf, Mbulelo Ndabeni and Luke Jessop.
As a freelance artist, Antonia is also a member of Extended Play (Jamaal Burkmar)

_________________________________

 Rhys Dennis, Company Dancer

Originally born in London Rhys is from a Jamaican heritage. His first experience of dance began in his local community and he then went on to dance for the Hip Hop company Definitives competing and touring internationally whilst being in the first cohort of the Avant Garde Dance Youth Company.  His formal training began at London Contemporary Dance School under the direction of Veronica Lewis & David Steele. In developing his studies Rhys also attended the University Unicamp in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Most recently Rhys has worked with Avant Garde (Tony Adigun), James Cousins dance company, Humanhood (Rudi Cole & Juli pares), Sam Coren (Hofesh Schecter), Peggy Olislaegers (Dramaturge) and Hannes Langolf.

As a choreographer Rhys has worked commercially choreographing and performing for the music band Clean Bandit on a number of projects. He has also created work for artists such as Anthony Strong and collaborated with Cinematographers Nicolee Tsin and Hangyeol Lee for independent film projects. His main interests lies within movement therapy and he has committed to providing regular improvisational sessions to encourage artistic integration within his community.

________________________________

Akeim Buck, Company Dancer

Akeim began formal training at the age of 16 at Leeds City College (Park Lane Campus). Where he studied A level dance and BTECH in Perforing Arts. He was advised by his tutor to audition for vocational training and
was granted a place on the Foundation course at The Northern School of Contemporary Dance where he went on to do the BA Hon in Contemporary Dance. Akeim spent his time at school developing as a multi-skilled artist, as he kept practising as a vocal artist, finding ways to connect his movement with his vocal expression. Akeim is one half of a collaborative duo Snakebox, which he co-founded with friend and fellow graduate Otis Jones. He graduated from Northern School of Contemporary Dance with a First Class degree in 2014. He went on to work for companies including balletLORENT, Jammal Burkmar, Balbir Singh Dance and Ciemulator Dance Company.

____________________________

Kayleigh Crook, Company Dancer

Kay Crook completed a First Class BA Hons in Dance at The University of Chichester, receiving the Lea Anderson Award for Choreographic Excellence. In 2011 she completed an MA Dance Performance (Map Dance), receiving the Valerie Briginshaw prize for Academic Excellence. Kay toured the UK with work by Lost Dog, Darren Ellis, Gregory Maqoma and Batsheva Dance. In 2012 Kay travelled to Bangalore, India, to commence a residency at Attakkalari Centre for Movement Arts, teaching the Professional Dance Diploma, and working with the Internationally acclaimed Attakkalari Repertory Company.

Kay works as a freelance dancer between India and UK, collaborating with local artists and companies, Attakkalari, Lshva, Gati Dance, Kha Foundation and Navaneetham Cultural Trust. Kay is regularly commissioned to work across India for performances and choreographic residencies, in Hyderabad, Kerala, Pune, Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore.

Kay set up Chhaya Collective, a contemporary dance collective, working to establish relationships between artists in UK and India through cross-artform, cross-culture collaborative practice. In 2013 Chhaya Collective were funded by Asian Arts Agency UK and Exeter Phoenix Theatre to develop and tour duet, ‘Antara’, with company dancer Ajeesh Balakrishnan. Last year Chhaya Collective began developing duet, ‘Falling Light in Liminal Spaces’, in collaboration with local Indian artists, touring venues across Southern India, including Kerala’s National Theatre. From Autumn ’15 Chhaya Collective will be touring and workshopping a new adaptation of ‘Falling Light’ at platforms in UK, India and Europe, with the first sharing taking place this month at the International Dance Theatre Festival in Lisbon, Portugal.

Website: http://www.chhayacollective.com

______________________________

Christopher Radford, Company Dancer

Chris started his training with Ace Dance and Music and went on to train at Northern School of Contemporary Dance. He has worked with Rosie Kay Dance Company, Ace Dance and Music, Corey Baker Dance and Scottish Dance Theatre. He is currently working for ACE Dance and Music, Extended Play (Jamaal Burkmar) and HeatherWalrondCompany

________________________________

Lewis Bramble, Company Dancer

Lewis graduated from The Northern School of Contemporary Dance in 2013. He then went on to complete a postgraduate diploma with Verve in 2014. He has worked with choreographers including Ben Duke, Gemma Nixon + Jonathan Goddard, Lea Anderson and Jammal Burkmar. They They learnt four different pieces and was able to tour the works national and internationally.

He also trained prior to this for years in various styles of hip-hop such as popping and locking. Also got to travel to Mumbai, India to be a dancer in one of Bollywood’s big dance films. Inspired by both Hip-Hop and ideas from contemporary technique, Lewis would eventually like to start his own company and look at successfully fusing two completely different styles and what could come from this.

___________________________