Elaine Thomas is a dancer, choreographer, movement director and teacher.

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Her work has been presented in theatres, galleries and arts festivals in the UK and Ireland. She makes solo and group works that respond to image, text and narrative, and incorporate visual and media elements including: video projection, photography and sound recording. 

Elaine collaborates with film-makers, writers, visual artists and musicians including Laurie Blundell, The Vespertine Quintet, O[rphan]drift and Alison Gibb.

 

She co-founded the performance collectives TRAXIS (1998-2003) and Collaborative Dance Experience (2010-2012) to create multi art form live performances. This work was presented in galleries, clubs, festivals, and as street performance.

 

She has an ongoing research practice with the poet and visual artist Alison Gibb producing drawings, choreography, dialogues, sound-scores, texts and performances.

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Elaine is an Associate Artist with The Lyric Theatre's resident inclusive company, Amici Dance Theatre. She has performed with, and delivered outreach work for Amici for over 20 years. 

 

She taught as a Senior Lecturer at Roehampton University (2010-2022) in dance technique, improvisation and composition and community dance theory and practice.

 

Elaine also has an extensive community-based practice, delivering workshops for older adults, trained and non-trained dancers and children, and particularly with disabled adults and young people. She has delivered workshops for Turtle Key Arts, Beee Creative, Westminster Council and Kildare County Council Arts Service, amongst others.

 

Elaine’s training traversed performing arts (The Urdang Academy 1992-94), Fine Art (Chelsea College of Art 1994-5 & Goldsmiths’ College 1995-8), contemporary dance practice and choreography (Roehampton University 2006-2008) and studies in massage and body work (Morley College 2002-2004). She holds a BA (Hons) in Fine Art and MFA in Choreography.

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