Dave performing with the Man Up group in Stoke

Image from:
Jenny Harper and Restoke

Intergenarational group performing the Laban Movement Choir piece at the Vista performance Coombe

Image from:
Lily Price and DanceFest

Man Inside Flying into the arms of Others

Image from:
Mark Anderson

Intergenerational group performing a Laban Movement Choir piece for Vista at Coombe

Image from:
Lily Price and DanceFest

Dave performing The Quiet Men in Theatre

Performed as part of a Boys Dancing platform

Dave performing with the Man Up group in Stoke

Image from:
Jenny Harper and Restoke

Outdoor performance at Warwick Festival

Breakdancing Bin Men

Dave rehearsing with the Man Up group in Stoke

Image from:
Jenny Harper and Restoke

Intergenerational group performing a Laban Movement Choir piece for Vista at Coombe

Image from:
Lily Price and DanceFest

Dave performing with the Man Up group in Stoke

Image from:
Jenny Harper and Restoke

Intergenarational group performing the Laban Movement Choir piece at the Vista performance Coombe

Image from:
Lily Price and DanceFest

Man Inside Flying into the arms of Others

Image from:
Mark Anderson

Intergenerational group performing a Laban Movement Choir piece for Vista at Coombe

Image from:
Lily Price and DanceFest

Dave performing The Quiet Men in Theatre

Performed as part of a Boys Dancing platform

CONNECTING COMMUNITIES

MY WORK REVOLVES AROUND

IMPROVING PHYSICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH

Over the years I have directed many projects with different communities that aims to improve the participants physical and mental health. These include those living with Parkinson's, Dementia and Mulitiple Sclerosis.

Image; David Mckenna and Learners from ALP Nuneaton

SEND PROVISION IN SCHOOLS AND WITHIN THE COMMUNITY

What started as part time work as a dance artist through Off Balance Dance and Frontline Dance my experience in SEN blosomed into becoming a full time course leader for EXPRESSIVE ARTS at ALP Schools. In this role I am creating an immersive drama/ dance studio, encouraging creativity and taking learners through Arts Award.

UK and USA PRISON PROJECTS

Over the last 10 years I have worked in collaboration with the San Quentin Prison’s Artistic Ensemble to develop a pedagogy of co-creation working with those inside to develop performance which combines creative writing with dance. Through this project I have been a recipient of an international residency award (Practice as Research) Headlands Center for the Arts, San Francisco, USA and facilitated in San Quentin Prison, USA together with prisons here in the UK, HMP Stafford England, HMP Berwin (Wales), HMP Stoke Heath, England.

I have also co created prison projects with companies such as Motionhouse and Rideout.

DANCE PHOTOGRAPHY

All through my professional carea I have been interested in using the camera to capture breath taking moments of skill, to explore new ways to express ideas/ concepts and play with the world around us through movement

DANCE FILM

Over the last two decades I have co-created many dance films with different communitoes which aim to tell stories through movement

LIVE PERFORMANCE

Co-creating live performance has always been a passion of mine. From creating huge scale site specific pieces incorporating hundreds of participants to devising small immersive, sensory experiences, my expertise covers both and everything inbetween

latest NEWS

Rideout project 'The Biomechanics fo the Treadwheel'. Saul Hewishshares images from the Rideout project in 2019 where David worked with Saul to create a live show which explored hard labour in victorian times. The sketches were by Paul Gent.	28th March Mark celebrates 20 years of collaboration witrh David by sharing his favourite images they have created together.	1st April I'm very happy to announce that recently I have been acepted as an ASSOCIATE ARTIST with Live and Local based in Warwickshire.	28th March David led learners in creating a logo design using a photograph of 3 Zebra leareners creating the trunk of a tree with their bodies and hand prints making the branches and leaves...this won the competition. The design will now be shared across all 5 ALP schools as the Eco Schools Logo.
10th March Freddy shares his poem "Waitin' For Merlin" that he wrote while collabotrating with David at Headlands in San Francisco in 2021.	8th March Jamie Thrasivoulou shares his poem which he wrote and performed in our last performance at HMP Stafford.	5th February In my post as Course Leader for Expressive Arts I invited Jenny Harper into ALP Nuneaton to take photos of the learners in ACTION, just like this photo that we took of learners flying from a project in colaboration with The Depot London in 2014. Actual photos to come!	25th October David experiments with two projectors in the studio.
12th October David helps out People Dancing and Sorisa Arts at the Parkinson's UK AGM in Birmingham.	4th September David's first day at ALP Nuneaton as Course Leader for Expressive Arts.	11th May Completion of my contract with Frontline Dance teaching SEN groups and a group of people who were living with Multiple Sclerosis

WHAT PEOPLE

CONNECTING COMMUNITIES

MY WORK REVOLVES AROUND

latest NEWS

Rideout project 'The Biomechanics fo the Treadwheel'. Saul Hewishshares images from the Rideout project in 2019 where David worked with Saul to create a live show which explored hard labour in victorian times. The sketches were by Paul Gent.

28th March Mark celebrates 20 years of collaboration witrh David by sharing his favourite images they have created together.

1st April I'm very happy to announce that recently I have been acepted as an ASSOCIATE ARTIST with Live and Local based in Warwickshire.

28th March David led learners in creating a logo design using a photograph of 3 Zebra leareners creating the trunk of a tree with their bodies and hand prints making the branches and leaves...this won the competition. The design will now be shared across all 5 ALP schools as the Eco Schools Logo.

10th March Freddy shares his poem "Waitin' For Merlin" that he wrote while collabotrating with David at Headlands in San Francisco in 2021.

8th March Jamie Thrasivoulou shares his poem which he wrote and performed in our last performance at HMP Stafford.

5th February In my post as Course Leader for Expressive Arts I invited Jenny Harper into ALP Nuneaton to take photos of the learners in ACTION, just like this photo that we took of learners flying from a project in colaboration with The Depot London in 2014. Actual photos to come!

25th October David experiments with two projectors in the studio.

12th October David helps out People Dancing and Sorisa Arts at the Parkinson's UK AGM in Birmingham.

4th September David's first day at ALP Nuneaton as Course Leader for Expressive Arts.

11th May Completion of my contract with Frontline Dance teaching SEN groups and a group of people who were living with Multiple Sclerosis