Breathe Dance was born from a desire to create welcoming spaces where people feel free to move, express themselves, and connect — with their creativity, their bodies, their communities, and something beyond.

I’ve loved moving to music since I was a child. I enjoyed nothing more than rolling around my living room floor to my Madonna records. But once I left the safety of that space and entered more formal dance environments, I often walked away feeling like I “should be better” or “wasn’t good enough.”

My love of moving and drive to create more inclusive dance spaces led me to study dance at university. There, I rediscovered my confidence and my love for contemporary dance, contact improvisation, choreography, African dance and community dance. In 2003, I began working as a dance artist with Norfolk Dance, bringing the joy of movement to a wide range of communities. I saw first-hand how dance helped people express themselves, bring joy and connect communities.

In 2015 I began working for Norwich Mind as part of the Norfolk & Suffolk Wellbeing Foundation Trust, running mental health courses and social events for young people. During this time, I gained valuable insight into traditional treatment approaches. I often felt that many modalities focused primarily on managing symptoms, rather than supporting people to reconnect with their creative, embodied selves. In response to what I was noticing, I launched my first dance-for-wellbeing group in 2017 . In 2018, I began an MA in Dance Movement Psychotherapy, bringing together the two worlds: mental health and dance.

Since qualifying, I have developed my dance-for-wellbeing work into Breathe Dance — a unique hybrid of community dance and dance movement psychotherapy principles. I now run Breathe Dance groups, workshops and professional training, alongside my private practice in Dance Movement Psychotherapy (established in 2023).

The Heart of Breathe Dance

Breathe Dance groups and workshops offer a space where:

• The joy and feeling of movement come before technique or aesthetics

• Dance is accessible and belongs to everybody

• Connection, community and belonging are gently nurtured

• Movement is therapeutic and healing — without being psychotherapy

• People can reconnect with their creativity, curiosity and vitality

As well as regular groups, I now offer workshops and professional training under the Breathe Dance model, supporting others to lead creative and therapeutic movement spaces with confidence and care.

Qualifications & Professional Membership

• MA in Dance Movement Psychotherapy (2020) from university of Derby

• BA in Dance with drama (2002) from university of Winchester

• Registered Member of Association of Dance and Movement Psychotherapy

• Member of People Dancing

• Enhanced DBS

• Fully insured practitioner

• Further training includes, Mindfulness , SandStory, Sensory Motor Arousal Regulation Treatment , Integrative attachment family therapy, Authentic Movement and The Body Mind Approach.