MOVEMENT & STORY
Helen engages the body as an instrument of detail, creating fearlessly human, story-driven work.
Her making spans theatre, opera, and screen, with an ongoing enquiry into dance – and the body – as tender, yet transformative sites of connection and communication.
She is Artistic Director of dance-theatre company Beyond Words, and creator of Hypha, a pioneering gesture-based language for text embodiment.
MOVEMENT DIRECTION: THEATRE, DANCE & FILM
Helen’s practice is defined by rigorous physicality, a distinctive visual sensibility and close attention to human behaviour and exchange.
She is particularly interested in the patterns of movement in which we find ourselves; what they reveal, resist, or make possible. Her process reveals unique physical languages across a range of settings, creating an unflinching sense of presence that draws audiences into each moment.
ROPE / Experimental short, by Paul Stringer
Details
A short film exploring themes of suicide, by Paul Stringer. Poem & reading, Helen Calcutt / Movement direction, Helen Calcutt. Directed by Paul Stringer. Choreography & dancer, Nathan Lafayette.
RE-WIRE / Birmingham Opera Company
Details
The production brings together six world premieres of newly commissioned works, made with and about the people of Birmingham. Jonny Danciger serves as Creative Director on the project, with Harry Lai as Project Music Director, Mariana Rosas as Chorus Director, and Helen Calcutt as Movement Director.
NO PHOTOS / Ryan Sinclair
Details
No Photos is a spoken word show that explores social anxiety, self-image, and visibility through the lens of a man who never wants to be in the picture. Currently touring the U.K. Directed by Desree. Movement Direction by Helen Calcutt.
CHOREOGRAPHY
Helen combines technical rigour with an unguarded rawness, drawing on the full breadth and expressive detail of the body.
She creates dance that reveals what we’re capable of, in our softness, our power, and our aliveness, when movement pushes beyond the familiar, from large-scale commissions to intimate, site-responsive encounters.
CREATION ARHIVE
GRIEF IS THE THING WITH FEATHERS / BEYOND WORDS
Grief Is the Thing with Feathers is a ground-breaking dance adaptation of Max Porter’s award-winning novel, created under Helen’s own company Beyond Words.
Following a successful pilot run across 2026 , the production will embark on a wider international tour from Spring 2027 supported by Arts Council England, FABRIC Dance, One Dance UK, University Centre Leeds, and the Good Grief Festival, and produced by the Middle Floor. VISIT WEBSITE to find out more.
WHEN I WAS 10 / TOTAL INSIGHT THEATRE
Directed by Kieran Vyas (TOURING 2026)
Details.
A brand new piece of verbatim theatre; produced by Total Insight Theatre, directed by Kieran Vyas. Helen designed the gestural choreographic language to translate the emotional and narrative content of this powerful touring work
DESCENT / MIDLANDS ACTOS THEATRE
Directed by David Allen, for Midlands Actors Theatre.
Details
A site-specific exploration of war, grief and trauma. Performed across 12 consecutive nights at The Lampworks.
FOUNTAIN OF LIGHT / MIDLANDS ACTORS THEATRE
Directed by David Allen, for Midlands Actors Theatre.
Details
The research and development of a new site-specific work exploring the stories and myths of Queen Inaya, by Midlands Actors Theatre, directed by David Allen. Performed at FABRIC studios and Huntington Hall. With thanks to performers Harriet Ellis, Jess van de Koot, and Matthew Brion.
CREATIVE APPROACH
Helen encourages embodied authorship and freedom to claim personal expression through movement, creating dance that insists upon resilience, connection and human aliveness.
More
She is dedicated to integrating research-led wellbeing into her touring, learning, and rehearsal structures, championing dancer’s rights to feel safe and valued in all making and working environments. She was nominated for a Women in Dance Award with AWA Dance (Advancing Women’s Aspirations with Dance) in March 2021, and has been supported in her dance making by Arts Council England, the Limoges Trust, and the Society of Authors.
COMMISSIONS & CREDITS
PERFORMANCE & DANCE:
Sonia Sabri Company (Sharing the Light); Autin Dance Theatre (The Big Walk, Little Amal); ME Dance Company (Chain Stories); Akeim Toussaint Buck (OKAN R&D); Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony, 2022 (Director Iqbal Khan); the Southbank Centre (Marina, solo).
CHOREOGRAPHY & MOVEMENT:
When I Was 10’, a commission for Total Insight Theatre (2025 &2026), ‘RE-WIRE’ Movement Direction, Birmingham Opera Company (2026). ‘No Photos” Ryan Sinclair (2026) ‘Fountain of Light’ site-specific R&D (2025, 2026), Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, final year piece (2024), ‘Three Poems,’ joint commission by Hounslow Acton for Youth & Apple T.V. (2023) ‘Descent’, for Midlands Actors Theatre (site-specific production, 2022 &23), Curated by Carlos, Birmingham Royal Ballet (2021), I’d Do It All Again’, Midlands Actors Theatre, care home community touring (2019), ‘The Darlaston Dog Fight’ with Regional Voice (2017) ‘STAY’, commissioned for the Birmingham Weekender Festival (sign-language / gesture integration, 2017. ‘Marina’, solo performance as part of Poetry International Festival (2016).
TEACHING & LEADERSHIP
HOW THE BODY SPEAKS 