I set up DUENDE in 2010 – intending to nurture a loose collective of artists who shared a core training (Self-With-Others) and yet brought distinct and individual skills to the company. From the start DUENDE was committed to international and intercultural exploration and to a core belief in the idea that principles of ensemble lie at the heart both of live performance and of the pedagogy through which the skills of performance might be passed from generation to generation. DUENDE is committed to honouring and extending lineages across generations and collaborations across borders.

From the start, a core part of DUENDE’s work was pedagogic – workshops and residential workshops, occasionally residencies in HE settings. It seemed a natural extension of our work, in 2014, in discussion with some of my closest colleagues, to establish a School to offer more extended training opportunities. Thus The DUENDE School of Ensemble Physical Theatre was born.

The foundational pedagogy is Self-With-Others – the improvisation-based, ensemble-orientated psychophysical training process I have been exploring systematically since 1999. I am the main teacher at the school, and the basic physical training is run by my colleague, Greek choreographer and aerialist Eva Tsourou. Other inputs are made by local and international artists who share a training in Self-With-Others, but with particular areas of expertise  – voice, musicality, choreography, devising.