olga kay

I am a dance artist of mixed European origin, currently based in Edinburgh. I got involved in movement at an early age, through a mix of dance, martial arts and acrobatics. I started my advanced training in dance when I joined an outreach youth company back in 2005. The work of the company, based in central Europe, revolved around creating full length dance theatre productions and performing them in a small scale theatre as well as a lot of publicly subsidized European touring, to places such as Italy, Austria, Poland, the Netherlands, Spain, Czech Republic. The company allowed me to train extensively in contemporary dance and ballet. After six years with the company, and featuring in four full length productions, I moved on to vocational training and completed a BA (Hons) in dance in Scotland. 

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Since graduation I have dedicated myself to continued professional development, creative freelance work and teaching. I am very interested in the intersection of contemporary dance and various other movement disciplines, which has led me to get involved in various further training programmes and intensives on the continent. To expand my movement vocabulary and further its understanding I have participated in training in various techniques and modalities, such as: floorwork, flying low, gaga, improvisation, acrobatics (especially hand balancing), agility and functional movement, partnering, acrodance, tai chi, capoeira and yoga, in intensives such as Agitart 2016 and 2017 (Spain), IDW Budapest (Hungary), Deltebre Dansa (Spain), Move (Portugal), Moving Through Acrobatics and EAAC (Scotland). Full details of teachers and mentors can be accessed in the CV section. A high portion of my further training has been focused on techniques of release and floorwork, acrobatics and gaga. Last year I have also completed yoga teacher training. I am fascinated by the interconnectedness of movement and mental health therefore in the future I would like to train in dance movement psychotherapy as well as yoga therapy.

 

Apart from continuous further training, since graduation I have focused on developing my own creative voice through devising work with collaborator Claire Pritchard. My second most dominant interest besides movement is psychology, psycho-philosophy and mental health and those have led me to develop my own piece "Duvet Day" between 2016 and 2018. The piece explored depression through creativity and movement and has been showcased as part of Scottish Mental Health Arts festival twice, with grant awards from NHS Lothian and support of CAPs mental health advocacy as well as Summerhall Artist Development Programme. The creative process has been mentored by Debbie Allan. 

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Besides my own creative explorations, I take part in R&D of various other artists, often in cross genre collaborations. These include becoming a shadow artist with Cultured Mongrel Dance Theatre (R&D for Status Anxiety and Thinking in the First Person) as well as R&Ds and performance with artists such as Ellen Bartel, Julie Duffy, Emma Smith, Merav Israel, Tony Mills, Uisdean Murray, Maria Donohue and Atzi Muramatsu; across dance, visual arts, music and film. I have also been teaching in various settings, most recently contemporary dance (floorwork) in places such as Room to Move and Sacred Heart Yoga and covering classes in yoga at Sunshine Yoga and Dancebase.