Press Story
3 Jul 2023
London Contemporary Dance School is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr Vânia Gala as the new course leader of the MA Expanded Dance Practice. Vânia will be taking on the role from September 2023, building on the work of outgoing course leader Hilary Stainsby, and working closely with guest artists and unit leaders Lauren Potter and Dr Tom Hastings to develop the course further for current students and those joining in January 2024.
Vânia Gala is a choreographer and researcher working at the intersection of critical dance studies, performance philosophy and experimental practices in dance, theatre and visual arts performance. She is currently Interim Head of Contemporary Performance Practice at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Prior to this she has taught at Trinity Laban, as well as Northampton and Kingston Universities. She holds a BA in Dance from EDDC-ArtEZ (Netherlands), an MA in Choreography with Distinction from Trinity Laban, and a PhD from Kingston University. Collaborations as a performer include Les Ballets C de La B, Constanza Macras, Dina13 and B. Valiente Kompani, and as a choreographer with artists Sonia Boyce, Harold Offeh and Griot theatre-company. Vânia has been an Aerowaves artist and received awards for Best Choreography by Theatre Guide (Portugal) and Best Female Performance at Dublin Fringe (Ireland).
Speaking of the appointment, Dr Efrosini Protopapa, Director of Postgraduate Courses and Research, says:
As we are reshaping and enriching our Masters provision, we are excited that Vânia will be joining our growing postgraduate team to lead the MA Expanded Dance Practice. It is a carefully conceived course that uniquely supports dance artists to expand their creative practice in interdisciplinary and often radical ways. I am looking forward to seeing how Vânia will bring her own artistic practice, pedagogical approach and research into the delivery of the course and our whole postgraduate offer. The appointment panel - which included staff from across the organisation, as well as artist and LCDS alum Jamila Johnson-Small – were impressed with Vânia’s thorough understanding of the challenges and potentials of the expanding fields of dance and choreography, her fresh thinking and imaginative ideas, as well as her desire to lead through principles of care, thoughtfulness and inclusivity.
