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He/Him

Matt Lackford

Dance Artist

Matt has been working professionally in dance for ten years, as a facilitator, performer, and choreographer. He has a keen interest in floor work and works with people of many ages and levels of experience. Matt is passionate about accessibility and inclusion and believes that dance is for everyone!

Matt started dancing in Heckmondwike, West Yorkshire with an interest in musical theatre and acting. Matt undertook a performing arts course at college in Leeds, with a keen focus in dance. He then completed his professional training at the Scottish School of Contemporary Dance. After Graduating Matt joined EDge 11, the postgraduate performance company of London Contemporary Dance School, working with choreographers Martin Forsburg, Jorge Crecis, Eva Recacha, Ben Duke and studying repertory from Jeremy James. Matt has worked professionally in the UK and Internationally with Jorge Crecis, John Ross, Caroline Bowditch, Dam Van Huynh and Nuno Silva.

Matt has also worked as a practitioner for some of the UK’s top training institutions, including the Northern School of Contemporary Dance, London Contemporary Dance School, Central School of Ballet and Birkbeck University. Matt was Floorwork lecturer for Birkbeck University for three years.

He works with people of many ages and levels of experience, including young people in pre-professional training, disabled people and those with illnesses, people new to dance, and professional dancers. His teaching practice investigates the mechanical processes within the body, with the aim of finding smooth transitions to and from the floor, with a focus on developing each individual’s approach to moving and performing confidently.

In 2019, Matt was diagnosed with an incurable blood cancer, and since then has evolved his practice to explore how to support people with ‘unseen’ disabilities through dance. Matt is also a Patient Representative for the MacMillan Unit at Calderdale Royal Hospital in Halifax, where he supports people who are newly diagnosed and provides advice and information for medical professionals in regards to supporting cancer patients.

You can find Matt working across many of our projects. He facilitates our regular Dance for Wellbeing classes, is a member of our performance company, supports with events, and he also volunteers as a member of our Sounding Board.

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