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Dancers

We are lucky to have an outstanding and loyal company of dancers, many of whom have been with us for several years. They are all astonishing performers and inspirational teachers.

Junior Cunningham - Rehearsal Director

Junior has been Motionhouse’s Rehearsal Director since 2009. Originally from Birmingham, UK, he was encouraged to study contemporary dance by his sister when he was 17 years old.

He joined the Northern School of Contemporary Dance in 1999 and graduated in 2002 with a BPA (Hons) Degree in Contemporary Dance.

Junior joined Motionhouse as an apprentice in 2002, then became a full-time dancer in January 2003. He performed in Broken, Captive, Cascade, Chaser, Dancing Inside, Dreams and Ruin, Driven, Fragile, Lost, Midwinter Magic, Perfect, Renaissance, Road to the Beach, Run!, Scattered, The Voyage, Tigress, Torque, Traction, Underground, Volatile, Watermusic, Waiting Game and Wondrous Stories.

Daniel Massarella - Dancer & Creative Assistant

Daniel is from Ellesmere Port in Cheshire, UK. He started dancing aged 14 and joined Cheshire Youth Dance Company.

Daniel went to Middlesex University before transferring to the Northern School of Contemporary Dance (NSCD) where he was awarded the Annual Performance Prize. He went on to become a member of Verve11, the Post Graduate performance company of NSCD and graduated in 2011 with a Distinction.

Before joining Motionhouse, Daniel worked with Earthfall, touring with the company’s award winning show At Swim Two Boys.

Daniel joined Motionhouse in 2013 for the first American tour of Scattered. He has since performed in BLOCK, Broken, Captive, Cascade, Charge, Fragile, Knot, Lost, Lumen, Midwinter Magic, Nobody, Tigress, Traction, Underground, Watermusic, WILD and Wondrous Stories.

Alex De La Bastide

Alex is originally from Northwich in Cheshire in the UK and started contemporary dance and the age of 14 at the Lowry CAT scheme. She then joined Rambert school when she was 17, where she graduated in June 2021.

Alex joined Motionhouse in June 2021 and has performed in Captive, Gravity, HENGE, Knot, Nobody, Starchitects, Starchitects Save Santa!, WILD and Wondrous Stories.

Olly Bell

Born in Leeds, UK, Olly began his dance training on the Northern Ballet CAT Scheme, later transferring to the CAT Scheme at Northern School of Contemporary Dance. He completed his BA(Hons) Contemporary Dance at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance and joined the EDGE Postgraduate Company in his final year. Whilst with EDGE, Olly toured the UK and Europe in works by Tamsin Fitzgerald (2Faced Dance Company), Ben Wright, Athina Vahla and Phillipe Blanchard.

After graduation he went on to join Rosie Kay Dance Company for the creation and UK Tour of 10 Soldiers and perform in a UK and USA Tour of 5 Soldiers. Olly has also performed the principal role of Jaschiu in the Royal Opera House production of Death in Venice, directed by David McVicar and choreographed by Lynne Page. As well as performing in theatre work, he also enjoys being part of dance in film, recently starring in the TV Series of Brave New World choreographed by Maxine Doyle (Punch Drunk), and also performed in music videos for artists such as Groove Armada, The Ninth Wave and Low Island.

Olly joined Motionhouse in February 2020 and has since performed in Captive, Happy Hour, HENGE, Knot, Nobody, Starchitects, Starchitects Save Santa!, WILD and Wondrous Stories.

Llewelyn Brown

Llewelyn is from Wick, South Wales, UK. He got into dancing through gymnastics and with a connection to a local theatre school, learning dancing, singing and acting.

He joined the National Dance Company of Wales Associates Programme at the age of 13 then moved on to Rambert School where he graduated in June 2021.

Llewelyn joined Motionhouse in June 2021 and has performed in Captive, Gravity, Knot, Nobody, Starchitects, Starchitects Save Santa! WILD and Wondrous Stories.

Dylan Davies

Raised in Shropshire in the UK, Dylan began his training with the DanceXchange CAT scheme and 2Faced Dance Youth. Dylan co-directed alongside Jules Young at NoSleep Dance Theatre, creating and performing works at Green Man Festival in 2019 and 2022. Dylan is interested in screendance and one of his most recent works was played at the Smithfields Festival site during the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.

Dylan graduated from the Northern School of Contemporary Dance with a first-class BA (Hons) in Contemporary Dance 2022. He joined Motionhouse in 2022/23 as a Professional Placement Scheme Dancer through the postgraduate programme at the Northern School of Contemporary Dance. In June 2023, Dylan joined the company as a full-time company member and has performed in Captive, HENGE, Knot and Starchitects and Starchitects Save Santa!

Brima Fullah

Brima’s dance journey started with a love for free running and sports. Growing up in Cambridge, he toured with National Youth Dance Company in 2014 before furthering his training at London Contemporary Dance School. Following his graduation, he worked as a personal trainer and fitness instructor before recently returning to the dance world. Brima joined Motionhouse in January 2024 as part of a 12-month paid traineeship.

Blair Moore

Originally from The Lake District, UK, Blair began training in Breakin’ under the supervision of Robby Graham and Nathan Geering. Blair started his contemporary dance training with Cumbria Youth Dance Company and Eden Youth Dance Company. At the age of 15, he joined the CAT Scheme at The Lowry in Manchester and in 2017 he joined The National Youth Dance Company with guest artistic director, Sharon Eyal.

Blair completed the Foundation Course at Northern School of Contemporary Dance and then trained at Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance in 2022. Blair joined Southpaw Dance Company in 2018 as an apprentice dancer under the direction of Robby Graham where he performed Icarus.

Blair has worked on various projects with artists including, Akram Khan Company, Southpaw Dance Company and Akeim Toussaint Buck. In September 2022 Blair worked with Southpaw Dance Company performing ‘This Is Us’ for The Rugby League World Cup. Most recently he has worked on an opera at The Grange Festival, ‘Orfeo ed Euridice / Dido and Aeneas’ choreographed by Tim Claydon. Blair joined us for our residency at Bluestone National Park Resort in Wales for HENGE in 2022 and 2023 before becoming a full-time company member in January 2024. He has performed in Starchitects Save Santa!.

Sophie O'Leary

Originally from Cork in Ireland, Sophie started dancing at 5 years old, training in ballet and contemporary dance at Cork School of Dance. She also competed in acrobatic gymnastics for Ireland. Sophie started her professional dance training with the Barcelona Dance Centre and Area Jeune Ballet in Geneva. She graduated from Rambert School in 2022, where she worked with choreographers such as ALLEYNE Dance, Darren Ellis and Akram Khan.

Sophie joined Motionhouse in 2022/23 as a Professional Placement Scheme Dancer through the postgraduate programme at the Northern School of Contemporary Dance. In June 2023, she joined the company as a full-time company member and has performed in Captive, HENGE, Starchitects and Starchitects Save Santa!.

Beth Pattison

Born in Durham, UK, Beth was introduced to contemporary dance at the CAT Programme at Dance City, Newcastle, before studying for a BA(Hons) Contemporary Dance at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance. Her highlights included performing alongside Punch Drunk as part of the everyBODY Project in Selfridges and being a part of the creative processes and performances of work by Stephanie Schober and Maciej Kuźmiński.

Beth joined Motionhouse in 2017 as an apprentice dancer through the postgraduate diploma programme at Northern School of Contemporary Dance. In 2018 she joined the company as a full time company member and has performed in BLOCK, Captive, Charge, Happy Hour, Lost, Lumen, Midwinter Magic, Nobody, Starchitects, Starchitects Save Santa!, WILD and Wondrous Stories.

Professional Placement Dancers

Emily Sangster

Emily began dancing at a young age at a local dance school in West Sussex. She started contemporary dance at age 14, on the CAT scheme at London Contemporary Dance School and joined the London Youth Circus at the National Centre for Circus Arts, specializing in acro and aerial silks.

Emily graduated from Northern School of Contemporary Dance in 2023 with First class honours. Whilst studying at northern, she worked with a variety of choreographers including Saju Hari, Gracefool Collective, Company Chameleon and Ben Wright.

Emily is currently a Professional Placement Dancer with Motionhouse through the postgraduate programme at the Northern School of Contemporary Dance and has performed in Starchitects Save Santa!

Betty Valentine Warnock

Originally from Newcastle Upon Tyne, Betty began dancing age 7. She started out doing street dance at Dance City, Newcastle and moved over into contemporary dance with the help of her dance teacher Claire McGrath.

Betty joined the National CAT scheme at Dance City in 2016. In 2023, she graduated from Northern School of Contemporary Dance with a BA in contemporary dance and has worked with various choreographers such as Fernanda Prata, Gracefool Collective & Vidya Patel.

Betty is currently a Professional Placement Dancer with Motionhouse through the postgraduate programme at the Northern School of Contemporary Dance and has performed in Starchitects Save Santa!