Liz Clark
Early years dance and movement artist
I’m Liz Clark — dancer, maker and founder of Turned On Its Head — and I believe children under four and their grown-ups deserve movement, story, play and performance that invites them to join in.
When I trained in ballet and completed a degree in Dance at the University of Surrey, I thought the stage was where movement lived. But when I became a mother and started working with very young children I discovered a new truth: that the seat in the darkness isn’t enough. Babies, toddlers, parents and carers deserve to move, shake, twist, improvise and co-create.
So in 2010 I founded Turned On Its Head and set about imagining performances for under-fours and their families — immersive, playful, inclusive and alive with the possibility that movement can speak before words.
In my role as Artistic Director I lead a team of specialist artists who craft stories, choreography and interaction that welcome every body. I also act as Associate Artist with People Dancing, working across the UK to support early-years dance practitioners, develop training and explore how research around neuroscience, attachment and embodied movement opens new possibilities for children and their grown-ups.
I’ve contributed to film and research projects such as “Professional Love: The Dance of Reciprocity” which asks what it means to move together, to care through motion, to exchange rather than observe.
When I’m not devising shows, I blog about movement, improvisation, child-led creativity and the subtle power of small bodies in big worlds.
