About ODD 2

ODD 2 is a two-day conference, dedicated to deliberating on the role of dance artists and scholars and the function of dance in the 21st Century. The subject matter we are examining is universal and the event is open to practicing artists, academics and freelance creatives from across the art, culture and educational sectors.

We will have keynote speeches; 20-minute papers, experimental formats including performative lectures, workshop/seminars and provocations.

The contributors are examining the following 4 categories:
Dance and Identity
Dance in Pandemic
Dance and Protest/Resistance
Dance and Feminism

The Team

Karen Gallagher MBE, Karen Gallagher & Associates

Born in Liverpool, Karen Gallagher trained at the Laban Centre for Movement and Dance in London in the early 80s then returned to Liverpool to develop dance in a variety of ways. Artistic Director of MDI (1994-2018) Karen is passionate about dance and how it can effect change in people’s lives alongside how as an Artform it is appreciated through creation and performance.

A graduate of Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) with an MA in Social Enterprise, Karen received a BMOBO for MDI’s community dance practice and was a runner up for Merseyside Woman of the Year. She received an MBE, awarded for services to dance in The Queen’s New Year Honours List and is an Honorary Fellow of LJMU.

In 2020 Karen set up and launched Karen Gallagher and Associates to grow her reputation as a mentor and facilitator; tour works by small scale local and international artists and produce events.

 

Dr. Sarah Black – Frizell, Liverpool Hope University

Dance artist/scholar Sarah Black-Frizell joined Liverpool Hope University as a lecturer in dance, specialising

in situated dance and installation practices, maternal and feminist ethics in performance, choreographic methodologies and teaching Contemporary Limon Technique. Sarah studied for her undergraduate degree at Middlesex University, MA at Liverpool John Moores and her doctorate at Middlesex University. Sarah trained and performed at the Limon Institute in New York.

She is a dance maker and performer and she works with her husband and her two children on developing a performance practice which is situated in their family home – Mother as Curator. Sarah and her family regularly perform in their family home and some of this work is presented inter/nationally. She is a co-director of the Mothers’ Day Project a performance company, with esteemed Liverpool writer Esther Wilson. The project responds to the notion of Mothering and Peace through performance and academic discourse.