"Working alongside David is such a rewarding part of my role as Creative Director at Ascendance. He makes my mentoring role genuinely enjoyable, and I love watching his creative growth, willingness to take risks, and playful approach to choreography. "

Emma is an acomplished dance artist, choreographer, dance & yoga teacher with over 28 years of professional experience, having graduated from Northern School of Contemporary Dance. Passionate about the transformative power of movement, she specialises in creating bold, inclusive work that weaves together dance, music, and workshops within Higher Education, professional dance companies and community settings - exploring themes of heritage, culture and disability.

As Creative Director of Ascendance, Emma drives the company's new mentoring programme with Fuse Dance Collective and leads vibrant Dance for Parkinson's sessions and performances across the region.

Emma's commitment to nurturing emerging talent is illustrated through her two-year mentorship of David Ainsworth - a thoughtful, driven choreographer who draws on his lived experience of Parkinson's disease to fuel his creative vision. Under Emma's guidance, David found the confidence to push boundaries, taking his work into new and unexpected settings - including outdoor spaces - building remarkable resilience and a distinctly expansive choreographic voice. David has since presented his work Signature Moves at Moving with Joy at Leeds Playhouse and Stage@Leeds, and at The Place Resolution Festival in London. His current piece, Switching, has been featured at Empowering Voices at UCLAN in Preston. Most recently, following David's Fantastic Families Award win, Emma supported him to facilitate his own dance session and Q&A at a conference in Newcastle - a testament to how far he has come.

Izzy Brittain is a Leeds based dance artist, poet and performance maker. Her work is often participatory, intergenerational, improvisational, long-term or outdoor. She welcomes art that expands beyond traditional spaces, audiences and formats, with an interest in trans-disciplinary thinking and experimentation. Izzy believes in care, collectivity, creative play and embodiment.

She has worked with Company of People, Fevered Sleep and Gracefool Collective, and completed commissions for Apples & Snakes, LEEDS2023 and Wigan Arts Festival. Izzy was also a recipient of a DYCP Award exploring interdisciplinary practice in 2022. Her poetry has been published in Popshot, Bloody Amazing, Anthropocene, Black Nore Review and The Thicket by Fawn Press, and she performs widely. Izzy's poem Invocation was longlisted for The National Poetry Prize 2024, before becoming the title poem of her first collection, published by Yaffle's Nest in 2025.

She is currently exploring the magical microworld of soil mesofauna with small people and their grown-ups, developing an interactive dance experience called The Smalls. This project is supported by ACE, Yorkshire Dance's Dance Partner Projects, Choreodrome at The Place, The University of Leeds and previously, a Jerwood Choreographic Research Bursary.

Izzy has worked with Ascendance Rep as teacher, performer, and more recently, artistic mentor, for over 8 joyful years. 

"Mentorship is a beautiful dialogue and an excellent teacher! It's a delicate dance between offering, inviting, encouraging and empowering - but also an exercise in listening, learning, letting go while also holding supportive boundaries.
In nurturing the emergence of this unique journey and process; I came home once again to the wisdom of engaging with participants as experts in their own lived experience. It's such an honour to witness and guide a journey like this.

I look forward to celebrating all that the Chris's have achieved; the journey, the joy dances and all the love, creativity and learning in between."

"Through shared dance-making, with mentors and friends at Ascendance, people's personal journeys, stories, and creativity transcend the limitations of their health condition, and in doing so, shape a new and vital community of dance artists and choreographers."

Dr. Melanie Brierley is a distinguished dance and health artist, researcher, and mentor with a PhD in dance and somatic-informed movement practice for the Parkinson’s community. She is a registered Somatic Movement Educator and Therapist (RSME/T) and has been a Winston Churchill Fellow since 2014. With over 30 years of experience in teaching dance in schools, colleges, and universities, Dr. Brierley has developed a deep understanding of the benefits of dance for people living with Parkinson’s, dementia, and other neurological conditions. Her work includes co-creating dance classes, home-based practices, and collaborations with various organizations to promote dance as a support to health and wellness. Dr. Brierley is also a founder member of Dance for Parkinson’s Partnership UK and has been involved in numerous research and training initiatives to advance dance and health practices.

"An impactful and empowering project, placing people with lived experiences of Parkinson's and care-givers at the centre of the artistic process. Through shared dance-making, with mentors and friends at Ascendance, people's personal journeys, stories, and creativity transcend the limitations of their health condition, and in doing so, shape a new and vital community of dance artists and choreographers."

Dr Mel Brierley Evaluation Consultant & Mentor