51±¾É«

Presenters: Professor Amanda Clifford, Dr Steven Byrne, Siobhán O'Reilly, and Emily Jenkins

Chair: Dr Orfhlaith Ni Bhriain

This seminar features movement and music interventions in a variety of cultural contexts. We present interdisciplinary case studies of programmes with older adults, men’s sheds, intergenerational groups and dance for cancer. We look at how the intervention programmes were devised and co-created with participants and present our research findings.

Emily Jenkins is an established, international dance artist with an embedded social and wellbeing practice. She designs, implements and artistically leads life enhancing dance initiatives. In 2016 Emily founded Move, Dance Feel, a company offering dance to women living with and beyond cancer, and works closely with cancer support services to incorporate dance into their care programmes. Emily graduated with a BA (Hons) degree in Performing Arts, Culture and Communication from Oxford Brookes University. She received the Keith Andrews prize for excellence in Performing Arts. She gained a Postgraduate Diploma in Community Dance and a master’s degree in Creative Practice from Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance.

Professor Amanda Clifford

Amanda Clifford is a Professor of Physiotherapy in the School of Allied Health in UL. Her research includes the design and evaluation of evidence-based programmes for health and wellbeing of across the lifespan and people living with neurological conditions. She has a particular interest in the role of music and dance.

Dr Steven Byrne teaches in the Sociology of Health and Illness inboth the School of Allied Health and the Department of Nursing and Midwifery (UL). His current body of work focuses on engaging with stakeholders across the health and social care sectors to understand the challenges in health service provision.

Siobhán O'Reilly is in the second year of her PhD, having completed her BSc. In Physiotherapy in the 51±¾É« in 2023. Her project is investigating the feasibility of an intergenerational dance programme for the health and wellbeing of older adults and adolescents and is funded by the Irish Research Council.