How dance company Motionhouse helped Danny take giant steps

Danny loved football and played for the school team. But dance was a compulsory subject so he was able to give it a go without experiencing the ‘boys doing dance’ stigma highlighted by the hit movie Billy Elliot.

Danny said, “I didn’t fall in love with dance straight away, I just enjoyed being physical. And I had teachers who saw something in me that I didn’t see myself.”

He also discovered that a dance class was a place where he could feel heard. “I was going through a lot in my personal life that was out of my control,” he said. “Decisions were being made for me and I felt I was being told to be seen, but not heard.

“Then, all of a sudden, I was in a room where I was able to build my confidence and put ideas out there. A place where you can say ‘can we try this?’ and someone will say ‘yeah’.”

Danny, now 37, has recently been appointed Assistant Director of Motionhouse, a dance-circus company based in Leamington Spa. Having spent more than 10 years as a Motionhouse dancer, he’s well aware of the transformative power of the company’s gravity-defying shows.

Danny said, “With dance you’re constantly exploring and growing… you come out of a session feeling you’ve achieved something every time. And there’s a team spirit that allows you to build people up rather than stripping them down.”

Motionhouse, which combines dance with elements of circus and acrobatics to create accessible, relatable performances that tour extensively across the UK and internationally, has been supported by funding made possible by National Lottery players. It is just one of the 700,000 amazing projects to receive National Lottery funding over the past 30 years.

Louise Richards, the company’s Co-Founder and Executive Director said, “National Lottery funding has played an important role for Motionhouse over the years, helping us to deliver some really incredible projects, taking thrilling performance work into communities and transforming lives. It’s a critical lifeline for the arts and has helped us to become the successful company that we are today.”

Danny found the blend of circus and dance intoxicating as soon as he joined the company. He said, “It’s such an amazing place to be. You push yourself daily, but in a safe, exciting environment.”

You might have seen Motionhouse performing an incredible dance-circus collaboration at the opening of the 2024 National Lottery's Big Night of Musicals. They also helped kick off the Birmingham 2024 Festival – dancers tumbled out of a giant book in Centenary Square – by giving a free performance seen by more than 22,000 people over four nights.

Free performances in public spaces are part of Motionhouse’s mission to reach as many people as possible. Danny said, “We really believe that everyone should have access to dance and enjoy moving or the sight of other people moving. We want to touch people and change their lives.”

Danny’s parents are a good example of how Motionhouse is able to engage people who are unfamiliar with dance. He said, “My parents always came to every show I was in. But when I joined Motionhouse my dad said for the first time, ‘I’d pay to come and see that again even if you weren’t in it’. That’s when I knew Motionhouse was really important.”

Motionhouse’s new production Hidden will be on tour in theatres across the UK and Europe from February 6th 2025. Find out more at www.motionhouse.co.uk

You can get a dancer’s view of Motionhouse by watching our film below.

28th February 2025.