Cheshire Dance brings together PMLD Dance Professionals to share approaches, knowledge and resources to enrich dance experiences for people living with Profound and Multiple Learning Disabilities. Together we explore, question, develop and inspire our practice – and each other – to ensure people with PMLD experience and enjoy dance regardless of the challenges that they face.

The Dance and PMLD Network Group established in October 2018 responded to a call from community-based dance artists for more support, training and dialogue around dance practice in the context of PMLD. The network has expanded from 5 to 25 members in a two-year period by word of mouth and meets bi-annually.

From these network meetings and our own experiences, we have recognised that we have often felt uncomfortable. We have found ourselves in workshop situations within day care settings where participants have been ‘wheeled into the space’, with us having little knowledge or information about whether they have consented to being with us.  As such, over the last 18 months we have embarked on a journey to see if we can examine our ways of working and in doing so, we have addressed some of unanswered questions. For example, how do we know if a person is consenting? What is our role as dance artists in ensuring that participants in our session are consenting to be there?  And …What implications might this have on our practice?

In seeking answers to questions such as these above, our practice has expanded to draw in new areas of knowledge alongside examining that which we already had. Today, we continue to come together to examine questions such as these and continue to make shifts in our dance practice and procedures to improve the dance experience of our participants with PMLD.

To join our bi-annual PMLD Dance Networking meetings and to share knowledge, experience, questions and concerns with other artists, please visit: www.pmld-dance.org.