PERFORMER
Gabbie is a dance and circus artist specialised in contemporary dance, acrobatics and Chinese pole; working as a performer, teacher and movement director. She started artistic gymnastics at a young age and competed to an elite level before going on to train at the Northern School of Contemporary Dance, graduating in 2014.
Throughout her career she has worked for a variety of Dance, Circus and Physical Theatre companies covering a broad spectrum of performance genres. She has toured work nationally and internationally for theatre audiences, street theatre festivals and under the circus big top at Glastonbury and Shambala Festival. Previous shows with UK companies include work by Acrojou, Becky Namgauds, Tom Dale Company, Pirates of the Carabina, Scarabeus Aerial and James Wilton Dance.
Most recently, she has been performing with various companies in Spain including, award winning company DelsAltres, Zero en Conducta and all-female Catalunya-based collective Capicua.
She has also worked extensively in children’s theatre, beginning with a Swedish tour with Region Teatern, in 2016/17, before moving on to work with Superfan (Glasgow), and most recently at The Place (London) with Dance and Theatre company Anatomical.
Her personal work has been presented at Glastonbury Festival, Bristol Circus City, Circarte (Alicante) and The Lowry. Other projects include co-directing and starring in feature length film ’These Things Aren’t Mine' in collaboration with Barney White which premiered at Bristol Circus City 2023, and immersive multi-disciplinary solo ‘Girl with a Curl’ which is currently in development.
TEACHER
PREVIOUS WORKSHOPS
2Faced Dance, NoFit State Circus, TripSpace, Circomedia, Accademia Dimitri (Switzerland), Institut de Teatre and Emotion Bodies (Barcelona), CREAT (Valencia), Movement Andalusi (Granada), Invisible Circus, Mimbre and Fourth Monkey.
ACRODANCE AND CHINESE POLE INTENSIVES
Teaching is a huge part of her practice and her workshops have been requested by several higher-education institutions and professional companies.
Gabbie has an analytical approach which focuses on first gaining control, feeling relaxed and able to move freely within the basic forms. What she considers ‘the basics’ will depend on the level of each participant, whom she tries to challenge accordingly. She enjoys breaking down the technique so that participants feel safe and confident whilst training, but it is also a way to make sure participants leave her workshops with more knowledge; empowering them to train successfully without a teacher.
In both Acro dance and Chinese pole, she feels it’s important to understand where to put the tension or resistance in our bodies, in order to be able to release in other parts and let gravity do the work.
She will talk a lot about momentum and how to create and harness it - to feel a sense of lightness within the technique. It helps to create opportunities to find new transitions and rhythm changes within sequences.
During the workshops, participants can expect a warm-up that builds an awareness of the whole body, specific conditioning exercises to prevent injury, techincal training, guided improvisations and learning choreographed sequences.
The goal is to broaden their technical vocabulary, refine their movement quality and practice moving with intention - intergrating the techinque into their unique style. Gabbie’s aim is for participants to move fluidly and dynamically, and be able to apply the technique and movement qualities to a creative process.
MOVEMENT DIRECTOR
Gabbie works with companies and individual artists to develop the quality of movement in-line with the theatrical context of their work.
Her aim is to support their creative process by offering tasks, creating choreography and teaching technique to allow the movement to be more expressive and intentional. Her process differs depending on the context of each project. However, the common objective is to support the research and allow the movement find its place and purpose within the show or act.
Gabbie provided acrobatic consultation for Kamala Devam company, offering techinque classes in Acrodance and partnering, and creative direction to incorporate the skills into the work. She has also provided movement direction for Hold Fast by Ellie Dubois and for Hikapee Theatre which were both large ensemble productions.
Other artists she has worked with include, Charmaine Childs (Strong Lady Productions) and Kasia Jastrzębska and Michelle Savage as part of their DYCP grants.
SHOWREELS
Chinese pole - training and performance
Acro dance - training and performance
Dance - stage, street, studio