In this episode of Dancing Class, Laura and Rachel invite artist and researcher Kate Marsh to discuss her journey from growing up in Peterborough to becoming a dance professional and academic. Kate reflects on childhood encounters with movement, the impact of supportive teachers, and how class, disability, and identity continue to inform her relationship with dance. Kate discusses key mentors in her career, barriers to access, and the role of confidence and community in navigating dance and academia. The conversation highlights dance as both precarious a catalyst for empowerment and social mobility.

• Date recorded: 21st February 2025
• Sound Recordists: Dr Laura Taylor, Charlotte Ryan, Igor Mieczkowski
• Editing: Dr Laura Taylor/Amelie Thomas
• Audio accompaniment: Dr Jess Blaise Ward
• Audio accompaniment mastering: Michael Ward

In this episode of Dancing Class, pioneering hip hop artist Jonzi D shares how growing up in a creative family and discovering hip hop shaped his identity and ambitions. From early school performances to training at The Place, he reflects on navigating class and cultural barriers within the world of contemporary dance to carve his own path.

Jonzi recounts the creation of groundbreaking works like Aeroplane Man and Lyrical Theatre, which fused rap, poetry and movement, giving voice to political and social realities often absent from mainstream stages. He also discusses founding Breakin’ Convention at Sadler’s Wells, an international festival that redefined how hip hop is seen in theatre and challenged entrenched notions of “high” and “low” art, Jonzi speaks about identity, community, race, and the limitless potential he found in hip hop culture.

1. Content Guidance: Light reference to drug use
2. Recorded: 1st October 2025
3. Sound Recordist: Dr Laura Taylor
4. Editing: Dr Laura Taylor
5. Audio accompaniment: Dr Jess Blaise Ward
6. Audio accompaniment mastering: Michael Ward

In this Dancing Class podcast episode, Martin Hargreaves reflects on his journey from a working-class upbringing in Wallasey near Liverpool to becoming Head of the Rose Choreographic School at Sadler’s Wells. Raised in a family with little direct connection to the arts, his early exposure to dance came indirectly through his sister’s ballet classes and films like West Side Story. He discusses how dance shaped his sense of identity and confidence as a queer teenager, and how it has remained central to his life through writing, teaching, and critical engagement.

1. Image Credit: Jason Dimmock
2. Content Guidance: Recorded 14th March 2025
3. Sound Recordist: Charlotte Ryan
4. Editing: Dr Laura Taylor
5. Audio accompaniment: Dr Jess Blaise Ward
6. Audio accompaniment mastering: Michael Ward