About Us

ResCen Research Centre, Middlesex University

ResCen Research Centre was established in 1999, focused on the practices of artists working in performance and the contexts in which they work.

From 2016 ResCen projects have been developed in partnership with the professional arts sector involving collaborations with independent artists and organisations such as Dance Umbrella, Sadler’s Wells, Complicité, Akram Khan Company, Avant Gard Dance, Hetain Patel and others. This was in tandem with significant international collaborations, particularly Danscross-ArtsCross with Beijing Dance Academy which began in 2009, a partnership that was extended in 2011 when Taipei National University of the Arts joined and which now celebrates its 10th anniversary. It is also set to be extended again when Hong Kong Academy for the Performing Arts joins us and hosts a creative process and performance project in 2022 (Covid-19 permitting).

Through these projects certain lines of enquiry interweave and, while specific approaches are adopted and adapted according to the needs of each project, the broad research concerns continue to cohere around processes, practices and contexts of performance as it is conceived, created, presented and made available through and in the arts marketplace.

Dance Umbrella

Dance Umbrella is London’s international Dance festival. We shine a light on new choreography every autumn, sharing memorable shows from around the world with audiences across the capital.

We are committed to taking dance out and bringing audiences in by touring in inner and outer London, broadening definitions of contemporary dance, and developing partnerships with non-dance venues and organisations such as The Old Vic, Battersea Power Station, Complicité, Somerset House and local councils.

Founded in 1978, Dance Umbrella has reached audiences of well over a million people. Pioneering commissions by world class choreographers have been presented at sites ranging from rooftops to London parks, from Tate Modern to Sadler’s Wells. Emma Gladstone was appointed Artistic Director & Chief Executive in 2013, and in addition to the festival we now run digital projects, creative learning schemes and professional development programmes throughout the year.

Project Team

Project Lead:
Prof. Christopher Bannerman (ResCen)
Emma Gladstone (Dance Umbrella)
Anu Giri (Dance Umbrella)

Project Coordinator:
Carolina Courbis (ResCen & Dance Umbrella)
Pei Li Ng (ResCen)

Web and Design: Andrew Lang
Documentation & Editor: Andrew Lang

Cover photos: Jevan Chowdhury, Moving Cities
Dancers: Ivan Blackstock (DU2014+), Siobhan Davies (DU1985+),
Greta Mendez (DU1978+) & Freddie Opoku-Addaie (DU2010+)