DANCER

Laura Careless is a dance and physical theatre performer, maker and educator working on both sides of the Atlantic. She graduated from The Royal Ballet School, London, and The Juilliard School, New York, and her performance career has involved collaborations with choreographers including Aszure Barton, Austin McCormick, Andrea Miller and Jonathan Watkins. Upcoming projects include A Single Man (Assistant Director and Principal Performer; Jonathan Watkins, Choreographer; Royal Ballet /Manchester International Festival co-production) and choreography for the opera Svadba for the Hogfish company in Maine, USA. Laura is a Dance Curriculum Specialist for The Juilliard School K-12 department, traveling and mentoring dance teachers in schools worldwide, and was the Education Consultant for Rambert Classroom. Laura lives in the Sussex countryside with her family.

CHOREOGRAPHER & PRODUCER

Since graduating with a 1st BA(Hons) in Choreography from Falmouth University in 2014, Katie has developed opportunities for young people and communities who face barriers to accessing dance through her work as a choreographer and producer. Her work is interdisciplinary spanning motion capture, mixed reality, film and audio and is made for unconventional theatre spaces such as sheltered accommodation, youth centres and community halls. Supporters of her work include Arts CouncilEngland National Lottery Funding and the British Council’s Connections Through Culture Grant. Katie is grateful for the support of this commission from Jessica Cheetham to create opportunity to make work for a new audeince.

CELLIST

Rachel is an actor-musician based in St Leonard’s-on-Sea. Recent theatre work includes ‘The Mousetrap’ 70th anniversary tour, ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’ West End, ‘Amélie’ West End, ‘Once’ New Wolsey, ‘A Christmas Carol’ Northern Stage. As a cellist Rachel has played with artists such as Sinead O’Connor, Michael Bublé, Gary Barlow and Muse. She is part of two Hastings bands- Our Royal Displeasure and Saints on Sea. Her most recent and proudest achievement was the birth of her baby girl, Bonnie, who is six months old. Rachel is so grateful to be working on a project that is very dear to her heart, combining motherhood with music, dance and storytelling.

CELLIST

Sarah’s work as a musician spans a wide range of genres. A founding member of the Mavron String Quartet, she performed throughout the UK in diverse communities through Live Music Now! and the Cavatina Chamber Music Trust. She has since worked with ensembles ranging from the BBC National Orchestra of Wales to the London Contemporary Orchestra. 

As a session musician, Sarah has contributed to major film, television and video game soundtracks, including Wicked, How to Train Your Dragon and the Horizon games franchise.  Alongside her work as a modern string player, she is a passionate performer of the viola da gamba, for which she writes, improvises and records.

Committed to the power of music to connect people, Sarah has worked on multiple projects with the Brighton-based charity New Note Orchestra. As a mother of two young boys, she is delighted to be part of a project that brings together motherhood, music, storytelling and dance.

COMPOSITION

Tara Franks is a highly versatile cellist, composer, creative project leader working across genres and art forms. Her work centres around collaboration, both with other professional artists and within the community. As a passionate educator and creative facilitator, Tara also leads participatory projects that bring people together through the joy of collective music-making. She founded SoundsCreative Projects (with her flagship award-winning project Tots Tunes). Over the last two decades she has led a myriad of creative composition projects/training for organisations nationally & internationally; Barbican, Royal Opera House, Kobe University Japan & KACES South Korea and Sunland Mexico. As a mother of a young daughter and founder of Tots Tunes, Tara is invested in supporting mothers at this early transitional stage of motherhood, honouring their own creativity, shifts in identity and need to be supported and recognised.