Lucy Haighton is an Independent Dance Artist / Choreographer / Performer / Movement Director / Community Dance Practitioner based in Sheffield, UK.
Her artistic practice is interdisciplinary, spanning live performance, film and site specific. She devises work collaboratively working in dance and theatre, sound and material design, visual art and film. Never a ‘lecture in disguise’, her work is consistently charming and playful, and challenges audiences by gently posing questions through heartfelt storytelling.Â
Lucy is Artistic Director of Third Bite Dance, an over 50’s contemporary dance company in Sheffield making work that defies expectations of the ageing body. This company was developed from 50+ Contemporary Dance Sheffield which Lucy founded in 2019.
Lucy is a highly experienced community artist: leading projects / facilitating workshops / receiving commissions to co-create work with people in the heart of communities.
Through making and delivering performances and community arts projects that are multifaceted, person-centered, intergenerational and inclusive, Lucy creates opportunities for people to explore and celebrate their creativity in a safe and judgement free space. Lucy works collaboratively with other artists offering multiple levels of engagement including visual and body based languages such as dance and movement as well as music, singing, story telling, poetry and creative writing.
Work settings / communities include: SEN schools / mainstream education / adult day care facilities / care homes / assisted living care schemes / the Deaf community / refugee and asylum seeker groups plus more. In 2018 Lucy qualified as a Postural Stability Instructor and is a lead artist on national falls prevention dance programme: Dance To Health.Â
Her work has been supported by: Theatre Deli Sheffield, Sheffield Theatres, Exchange Place, The Montgomery Theatre and Arts Centre, Access Space and Hype Dance (Sheffield), Yorkshire Dance (Leeds), CAST Theatre and DARTS (Doncaster), The Barnsley Civic (Barnsley), Deda and Derby Theatre (Derby), HOOT Arts (Huddersfield), Strike A Light (Glouster) and both Sheffield Universities, as well as numerous funding bodies backing her projects with financial support and resources.
As a performer and facilitator, Lucy has collaborated with numerous companies and independent artists including Spiltmilk Dance, Hubbub Theatre Company, Hype Dance Company, Balbir Singh Dance Company, Forest Sounds Theatre, The Dance Network Sheffield, Grimm & Co, Sonia Sabri (Manasamitra), Dora Frankel, Gary Clarke, Lisa May Thomas, Gerry Turvey and Allie Carr and has performed across the country in national tours and at the Brighton and Edinburgh Fringe Festivals.
“The opposite of play is not work – the opposite of play is depression. True play that comes from our own inner needs and desires is the only path to finding lasting joy and satisfaction in our work. In the long run, work does not work without play”
– Stuart Brown
Lucy Haighton 