Frances
Donohoe
B i o g r a p h y
Frances Donohoe began dancing at the age of 10 and spent her early years training around the west coast of America attending workshops with people like the Lines contemporary ballet company in San Francisco and Strictly Seattle in Seattle Washington.
Her professional career began in 2000 when she moved to France to dance with contemporary jazz company Vendetta Mathea. Frances toured with the company around France in 2000, 2006-2008 and to Martinique in 2000 and China in 2002.
Graduating with honours in 2006 from Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle with a degree in dance performance, teaching and choreography and with an emphasis in the dance sciences, Frances returned to France after graduation where she taught for two years at the private dance university La Manufacture. She continued to perform and choreograph for company Vendetta Mathea.
In 2008 Frances moved to London where she worked as a freelance teacher, choreographer and performer and ran several of her own performance companies.
Commissioned in 2012 by the Cultural Olympiad her group A Bed Time Story created and performed “He dreamed Himself.” Commissioned in 2012 by The Yard Theatre Frances' multi-media company The Unhidden Collective created an original performance entitled “The Fish Tales of Alaska.” The performance ran for three weeks in East London with Time Out reviews proclaiming the work to be "narrative gold dust". She created Tangled Dance Cabaret with Lauren Taylor in 2011 and performed regularly at various festivals, circus events and private parties around Europe.
Frances volunteered from 2010-2014 at the Helen Bamber Foundation for refugees and survivors of torture teaching a weekly dance class in dance movement therapy.
Currently Frances is working as an artist in residency in Sitka Alaska with the Sitka Fine Arts Camp. In addition to her work at Baranoff Elementary School, she is also teaching community dance classes through SFAC and organising community dance events. She teaches daily aerial silks classes through the Hames Centre and is studying for her certification in aerial teaching.
Dance Movement Theraphy & Holistic Work
In the work I've done both teaching and performing, I find I come back to a desire to help people understand the things hidden in their bodies and movements. Our stories are held in our bodies. If those stories are traumatic and hard to tell, we may say nothing. As we shed deep tensions in our body we shed them equally in our mind. Dance offers a way to express these emotions without the fear of words and language.
A dance class provides a safe environment to explore our relationship and trust of others through physical activities. As we build the physical connections to our surroundings we are building community, which is essential in creating a strong sense of home. Feeling that we belong and have a home is an integral part of leading a healthy life.
As a teacher I have watched students grow as their dancing progresses and seen first hand how this change in confidence can transform their ability to speak clearly, change their body language, their health and the choices they make, indeed the very fabric of their lives.
My BFA degree included studies in body mind techniques both to decrease injury and to increase expressivity. I have experience with Bartenieff Fundamentals, Feldenkrais, Alexander Technique, and energy practices such as Tai Chi and Body Mind Centering. I am also independently studying herbal medicine and exploring massage and acupressure.
Environment & Dance
I find our modern life style with its reliance on technology, TV, and general lack of mobility, alienates us from our bodies and consequently the people and space around us. I help people reconnect in a fun and safe way to their sense of self though the physical body with the aim of maximizing an individual’s ability to connect positively with other people and the surrounding environment. This is important for both social and environmental reasons. Physical awareness and appreciation for the space we live in leads to awareness and appreciation of the earth and a desire to preserve the place where we live.
