MONDAY MORNING CLASs
Our classes support the continuous training and development of experienced movers and professional dance artists. They take place weekly on a Monday morning in term time.
GATHER UP invites different Bristol-based practitioners to lead a block of classes with an intention to host a programme that offers a variety of contemporary dance approaches, techniques and interests.
See below to learn more about upcoming classes and the specific offer from the lead artists.
Time: Studio is open from 9.40am, class time is 10-11.30am, with time to stretch and meet 11.30-12:00.
Location: Bristol Old Vic
Booking: Book in advance to secure your place via Headfirst. Pay-what-you-decide with a min. price of £5.00 + 50p booking fee (donated to a Bristol-based charity via Headfirst).
Realise you can’t make it?: We try our best to price our classes and workshops fairly and offer good value for money. To ensure the viability of our programme we do not offer refunds. However, you can put your ticket up for resale if the event is fully booked or you can arrange to transfer your ticket to a friend using the Headfirst booking system.
Waiting List: When an event is sold out, a waiting list will be set up, should you wish to join it and be informed when a ticket gets released.
Access: Get in touch if you have access needs that we could support you with: info.gatherup@gmail.com
Creative Audio Description: If you are a visually impaired dancer planning to attend a class, you may like to book a free Creative Audio Describer to provide you with 1-1 support during the class. Please get in touch if you would like to request this support.
Care Pot: the Care Pot exists to offer cash support towards childcare, parking, travel, access or other extra costs that may surround coming to these classes. Take a read and please be in touch with how we could cover some of your extra costs so that you can come along and participate.
Rest: Our spaces are rest welcome. There are various benches, seats and corners in the studio or you are always welcome to leave the studio for a break.
MORNING CLASS WITH JO HELLIER
Image Credit: Felicity Crawshaw, In Into the Mountains, a work by Simone Kenyon.
Image Description: an colour photograph of Jo standing on a moutain, with her arms outstretched over her head, eyes closed enjoying the feeling of the wind blowing her over and hinging her sideways. She's got blonde hair, white skin and is wearing a cream wooly jumper and green trousers. Two other dancers, Petra Soor and Caroline Reagh are dancing in the background.
CLASS INFO:
This class will explore how to access surprising movement and sound vocabulary from sensation, both external and internal. I'll be drawing on Body Weather training, somatic practices, and extended vocal technique to improvise from real time touching, seeing and hearing as well as diving into composing from our imagination and fantasy. We will explore imagined landscapes; bogs, mountains, forests, as well as impossible, fantastical realities, unearthing movements from these places and locating them in our own material bodies!
We will explore vocalising as an extension of movement to discover an immediate and total embodiment. I will be inviting participants to use their voices in this class but you certainly don’t need to be able to ‘sing’ or have any prior experience using your voice. We will use touch in this class but alternatives can be found, and everyone will be welcome to work at their own pace and energy level. This class will be relaxed, playful & unpredictable and give opportunities to work solo, in pairs and in groups.
ABOUT JO:
Jo Hellier is an artist, choreographer, vocalist and performer making experimental performance work across dance, live art and music. Their practice uses improvisation, somatic movement practices and extended vocal technique to amplify awareness in body and imagination. From this place they create abstract, expansive work that intends to disrupt binary thinking. Their work explores queer ecologies and ways to expand and transform relationships between human and nature.
Jo’s work has been commissioned by Jerwood, Artsadmin, In Between Time, SPILL, Bristol Biennial, Buzzcut, Battersea Arts Centre and Bristol Ferment. Their work has been performed across the UK (including BAC, Mayfest, SPILL, Buzzcut, Forest Fringe, In Between Time) and internationally. Jo often dances for, and collaborates with makers and musicians including: Hanna Tuulikki, Simone Kenyon, Louise Ahl, Cade & MacAskill, Verity Standen and Wojciech Rusin.
MORNING CLASS WITH AERON PRESTON
Image Credit: Elly Welford
Image description: A black and white image of Aeron dancing in a long, arched, outdoor walkway. She wears a loose white top, dark trousers and boots. She is in a wide, grounded stance, leaning to one side with her arms extended in a flowing, spiralling motion.
ABOUT CLASS:
This class is an exploration of movement through sensation, using partner work to tune into touch, weight, and texture as we shape and respond to another body. Through improvisation and set phrases, we’ll discover how movement emerges from the exchange of sensation—blurring the lines between giver and receiver, mover and moved. Partners will become shifting landscapes, offering warmth, pressure, and resistance. We’ll explore how sensation extends beyond touch—how sight, imagination, and internal perception can shape movement, letting these experiences ripple through and between bodies. A set phrase will anchor us, providing a structure to return to and layer with new discoveries. With some thrown-in floor work and technique, this sensation work will be a tool to open your awareness to new possibilities of experiencing set material. This class invites openness and play, blending improvisation with structure. Working solo, in pairs, and as a group, we’ll explore deep listening and the possibilities of movement from sensation.
ABOUT AERON:
Aeron is a dancer, performer, and creator who blends movement, performance, and creative expression to explore connection, collaboration, and the human experience. Her practice, grounded in improvisation, somatic movement, and sensation, helps deepen the awareness of the body and imagination. Aeron creates immersive performances that break down the barriers between performer and audience, making it a shared, inclusive experience. Aeron’s worked with companies like Scottish Dance Theatre, Botis Seva (Tutumucky), Womenewer, Sababa. Co (Coiled Up), Rosemary Lee (Threaded Fine), Corey Baker (BBC Commonwealth Games), Gary Clark, and Tinarts on a children’s education tour. Aeron’s work is about creating opportunities for people to connect through movement and feel part of something meaningful, whether that’s in a performance or a workshop setting.
@aeronprestondance