In this session, Emily Davis will discuss her research on dancing with multiple sclerosis, undertaken in partnership with Scottish Ballet. Emily will explore the nature of their programming and programme experiences across urban and rural island contexts, Glasgow and Orkney, Scotland. By looking across two distinct contexts, Emily will share reflections around the constants, changes, and constraints in dance health across different people, relationships, and places.

Emily Davis is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Moving Bodies Lab at Durham University, working at the intersection of dance, health, and social science. She recently completed her PhD jointly across the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and University of St Andrews, focusing on Scottish Ballet’s dance programme for multiple sclerosis. Emily’s backgrounds as a professional ballet dancer and community dance practitioner inform the critical and creative approach she takes to researching dance and chronic illness.