Lucy Nicholson
Lucy Nicholson, originally from Hawick in the Scottish Borders and now living in Staveley, Cumbria is a movement analyst, somatic movement educator, embodied communication coach and a dance and movement specialist.
After graduating with first class from The University of Hull, Lucy developed a career as an independent dance artist; a combination of performing, choreographing and facilitating dance nationally and internationally. In 2005 she started developing dance for mental health and special educational needs projects in the city of Bradford on the arts for health project Dance For Life. In the same year she received a fellowship with the UK’s leading dance in criminal justice organisation Dance United; here she trained in Marshall Rosenburg’s Non-Violent and Compassionate Communication theory and in needs-based behaviours with Geese Theatre Company.
Lucy gained a qualification with Christchurch University in arts-based practice in youth justice settings and trained in the youth justice boards effective practice certified programme. She became a lead dance artist on the award-winning Academy Project, an alternative education contemporary dance project for young people within or at risk of becoming part of the criminal justice system. She went onto co-direct, with Helen Linsell, the community aspect of the national tour of Destino, one of the UK’s first participatory performance projects, placing marginalised young dancers on the same stage as prestigious professional dance works by Hofesh Shecter Company, Russell Maliphant and Adam Benjamin.
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Much of Lucy’s Criminal Justice practice led to her fascination in the nuanced, sophisticated nature of facilitation and a realisation that much of her success in this sector was just as much to do with how she communicated as it was to do with the transformative nature of dance and movement.
In 2007 she travelled to Ethiopia to work with Adugna Dance Company and train with dance artist Junaid Jemal- Sendi and collaborate with KPAG dance in Kenya and in 2010 to Cape Town in South Africa to co-lead, a choreographic project with Dance For All, working in the townships of Khayelitsha and Nyanga to develop a piece of performance with 20 young people.
Lucy is a senior lecturer and course leader with The University Of Central Lancashire in dance, specialising in creative practice, facilitation and dance technique. She has a PG Cert in teaching and learning in higher education and is a fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Through her work at the university, she has developed a research profile in creative facilitation, she’s interested in the in-the-moment improvised act of facilitation and leadership which led her to train as a Laban – Bartenieff Movement Analyst and Somatic Movement Educator, qualifying her to work as an embodiment coach, supporting people to develop a bodily awareness that will support positive, embodied, mindful communication.
Lucy is the founder of In Movement, an organisation that offers one – to- one coaching and group facilitation to bring participants to a greater awareness of themselves in communication.
Picture courtesy of Amy Williams.
