Latest Company Biographies

Claire Benson (front left)

Originally from Oxford, Claire graduated from the London Studio Centre with a BA in Theatre Dance in 2001. As a final year student she toured with 'Intoto' Dance Company working with choreographers such as Jan De Schynkel, Michael Popper, Vivienne Newport, Ramon Oller and Anthony Van Laast.  After graduating, she worked with various dance companies including, Gelede Dance (Oxford) and Retina Dance Company as part of the 'Gradient' graduate project in 2002, after which she moved to Edinburgh for 'six months' and ended up staying there for four years.

During her time in Scotland Claire worked for Freshmess dance company and X Factor Dance Company both of which have toured nationally and internationally with performances including Edinburgh's Fringe Festivals and the British Dance Edition 2006. Before joining Motionhouse in April 2008, Claire worked with Kompany Malakhi on their latest show 'Boxin'.

As a freelance dance teacher, Claire has worked extensively throughout Scotland and England teaching classes from Professional class at Dance Base to Youth Dance with Y Dance.

Junior Cunningham (centre) was encouraged to study Contemporary Dance by his sister, Chantele Harvey, when he was 17 years old. His early teachers in the Midlands were Marion Thraves and Bernard Pierre-Louis.

He joined the Northern School of Contemporary Dance (Leeds) in 1999 and graduated in 2002 with a BPA (Hons) Degree in Contemporary Dance. During this time he performed on tour with NSCD and at the Gross Brittanien Festival in Dortmund, Germany.  He also worked commercially in Switzerland and Paris. 

Autumn 2002 saw Junior apprentice with Motionhouse.  He joined the Company full-time in January 2003 and has been involved as a perfomer and teacher in every project the company has done since.

Fernando Pasquini (front right) was born in Turin, Italy, and he began to study Latin American dances at the age of 14 years. From there he moved on to study classic and contemporary styles, working with choreographers from Italy, France, Switzerland and UK. Fernando has danced as a soloist with the Ballet of Milan, and worked with companies such as Contemporary Plan, New Dance Concept, Cie twain and performed in various dance projects for Italian television.

Fernando is also en experienced choreographer and teacher, and has taught various groups and at dance schools throughout Italy.

In April 2008 Fernando participated in the International Dance Festival Movintheatre in Cologne, Germany and joined Motionhouse in the same month.

Olivia Quayle (at the back)

Olivia was first influenced by gymnastics, in which she trained from the age of 3 and competed up until the age of 17. She made a natural transition to dance and went on to study at Bodywork Company Dance Studios, but her love of gymnastics and also trained in acro-balance, ribbon dance and aerial.

Olivia has worked in various countries, including a contemporary project in Oman with ‘Underwraps’ and a contemporary company in Germany called Strado Compagnie Danza under the direction of Domenico Strazzeri. The latter was devised and performed to Mozart’s Requiem, which proved an extremely fulfilling and emotional experience. Olivia’s circus skills helped take her to Belgium to work with Dragone where she worked with Franco Dragone in the devising period for their new show ‘City of Dreams’ in Macau, China. 

In London Olivia has worked many times with Combination Dance Company, performing contemporary work at Hampton Court Palace, the Royal Ballet School and various other site-specific works. She has also worked commercially in advertising industry.In this period she worked with vertical trampoline, bungee stilts and aerial dance.

Before joining Motionhouse in April 2008 Olivia worked in Tosca at the Royal Albert Hall as Tosca’s stunt double where she did head first crash dives off a 22-foot building! She is now very excited to be able to combine contemporary dance with more athletic and dynamic movement with Motionhouse. When she has time to relax (which doesn’t happen too often!)  Olivia likes to spend time with her friends in London and her family by the beach in sunny Bournemouth!