About – Jane Turner

According to my Mum I get it from my Welsh great grandfather who taught Russian dancing in a gym that he set up in Porthcawl, South Wales. Perhaps because Mum’s parents couldn’t afford dance classes when she was growing up she made sure I took  them, starting when I was three, and she encouraged me on from there. By my teens I was performing in the annual City pantomime chorus, went on to win a Record Mirror ‘Best Dressed Disco Dancer’ competition in my Nana’s gold ballroom dancing sandals, before taking a first degree in Performing Arts (dance major) at Middlesex Polytechnic and then joining the Scala Ballet, Barcelona. I went on to tour with the Hallmark Theatre Company, ran a dance group at the Brixton Fridge club, set up and led a community dance organisation and magazine DICE, before launching the dance company TURNING WORLDS. I have had the great pleasure in collaborating with many different people, some of whom I have known since the very beginning of my journey in performative including Tim Taylor who worked with me on the award winning A Rare Glimpse:

Since then I have worked extensively as a performer, movement director, teacher and choreographer in commercial, educational and theatrical contexts, relishing making creative things happen in multiple collaborations. My work has been seen in theatres from the Palladium to the ICA, to railway stations and city squares, colleges and playgrounds, throughout the United Kingdom and Europe. Wondering how the world works bleeds into exploring in creative practice identity: biology, representations, expressions, connections and into theoretical, scientific ideas with audiovisual interactive media. This led to a PhD award in 2012 from Chichester University and an expanding academic path and new forms of production: articles, talks, events and films. TWINE seen here was selected and shortlisted for the L’HIFF Film Festival, Barcelona and for the Exeter dance Film Festival 2022

Jane Turner

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