Deborah Ward 
Artist

 First-born daughter of a gardener and a seamstress, Deborah was brought up in the rural Lancashire village of Lathom. Her early dance training was supported with a family focussed life filled with village fetes, volunteering, and vinyl records.​

 

    Deborah trained at Elmhurst Ballet School and the José Limón Institute in New York. She read Communication Studies - Dance at the University of York St John and received a Masters of Arts from De Montfort University. She is a doctoral student at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland where her research examines the work of women ballet choreographers through a feminist narratological lens.

​    As a dance educator Deborah has taught internationally at conservatoires in Taiwan, Slovakia, and Lithuania. With a focus on Contemporary Ballet, Limón-based technique and Choreographic Practices, she has taught across the UK in both in professional and educational settings including Rambert, Rambert 2, All England Dance and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.​​

    As a choreographer Deborah has presented works internationally in London, New York, and Barcelona, in both educational and professional settings. Her work has a narrative focus and is embedded in folk traditions and music from the British Isles. Combining contemporary ballet, folk dance and music to create theatrical works for non-traditional stages she works with multi-faceted artists to explore folklore.               

    Her choreographic practice draws a diverse training in Western dance styles from contemporary ballet to tap dance. A genuine engagement with nature and outdoor spaces inform her choreography and an inherent need to tell stories informs her fascination with folklore and tales, and she sketches from a palette of gestural ‘words’ that can be translated through each movement. As a musician she plays piano and guitar, and musical/rhythmical footwork patterning can often be found in her work.​

    She has presented at many international conferences including for the Royal Academy of Dance, CORPS de Ballet International, University of Limerick, and the Center for Ballet and the Arts, New York, on various aspects of dance performance and pedagogical/choreographic approaches.​

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Deborah is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and she currently serves as the Chair of the British and International Federation of Festivals and as a board member for CORPS de Ballet International.