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 movement – and the body – as transformative sites of connection.
She is Artistic Director of dance-theatre company Beyond Words, and creator of Hypha, a pioneering gesture-based language for text embodiment.
COMMISSIONS & PROJECTS / –
NEW / Touring Dance Work (Upcoming, 2027)
Details
/- Choreography & Direction. Helen has been commissioned by to create a new touring dance piece for young audiences. The project will feature an intensive collaborative residency with graduating BA (Hons) dancers, followed by a regional tour in Spring 2027. Full announcement coming soon.
ROPE / Experimental short, by Paul Stringer
Details
An experimental short film mapping grief and isolation, directed by Paul Stringer with poetry and movement direction by Helen Calcutt and choreography by Nathan Lafayette.
RE-WIRE / Birmingham Opera Company
Details
/- Movement Direction. 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 (touring)
Details
/- Movement Direction. 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.
WHEN I WAS 10 / Total Insight Theatre (touring)
Directed by Kieran Vyas (TOURING 2026)
Details.
/- Movement Direction. A powerful national touring verbatim production directed by Kieran Vyas, featuring a bespoke gesture-based choreographic language designed by Helen to translate emotional subtext.
GRIEF IS THE THING WITH FEATHERS / Beyond Words (touring)
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.
Details
/-Direction & Choreography. 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.
DESCENT / Midlands Actors Theatre
Directed by David Allen, for Midlands Actors Theatre.
Details
/- Choreography & Movement Direction. An immersive, site-specific exploration of war and trauma choreographed by Helen across a 12-night run at The Lampworks.
FOUNTAIN OF LIGHT / Midlands Actors Theatre
Directed by David Allen, for Midlands Actors Theatre.
Details
/- Choreography. 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.
FULL 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:
A new touring work, details forthcoming (2027) 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
