karla shacklock company ltd

about page


	I'm a Bristol based mother and mover with an avid commitment to advocacy and change. I work as a performer, choreographer, movement director, lecturer, writer, facilitator and mentor. I have been making and touring my own work for nearly two decades now and have collaborated and performed with other artists and companies across Europe. As a Movement Director I have worked alongside Directors such as Tom Morris and Michael Oakley and created work for dance, opera, circus, large and small scale theatre. My work and collaborations have been performed at the National Theatre, The Barbican, Southbank Centre, Bristol Old Vic and toured internationally, whilst my research and PhD thesis has been widely published.
	My practice is highly physical, visual and visceral. I have a commitment to devised ensemble work and a passion for making and performing work that is autobiographical/biographical in nature. My long-term on-going research focuses on truth, authenticity, liveness, transformation and self in performance and how we can share real lived experiences with audiences in a way that is meaningful, emotional and immersive - a full body impactful experience where audiences are up close and personal to the performers and their stories. I work imaginatively with the body, voice, live sound and everyday objects. I make work only if I have something to say. I have always been heavily involved in collective action as a means for change within the industry. I have curated symposiums, developed films and facilitated the national project 'Out of the Box - how to survive as a dance artist'. I am currently in the steering group for the Freelance Dance Movement, who advocate, campaign, and work to safeguard the dignity and wellbeing of freelance artists. I am also part of Interval, an artist collective who support each other, share, critique and push new ideas and research. We are interested in what a collective can be and in finding new ways in which to support each other’s development.

Over the past two decades my work has received much critical acclaim from national and international press. I have also been recipient of a Total Theatre Award, finalist for the Oxford Samuel Beckett Theatre Trust Award, shortlisted for further Total Theatre Awards and the Three Weeks Editor's Choice Award and been Associate Artist for a number of South West venues. In more recent years I was selected by Dance UK as a 'Future Leader in Dance' and was thrilled to have been awarded a Bonnie Bird Award - the Marion North Award at a wonderful ceremony at Sadlers Wells.
"Karla is an exemplar of the next generation of entrepreneurial dance artists who has worked with determination, passion and energy to establish herself and her work on a very fragile infrastructure and funding." Marie McCluskey, Artistic Director, Swindon Dance	"Karla and her team are energetically redefining theatre in dynamic terms: anarchic, intimate and unpredictable." Plays International	"Karla is an artist with an extraordinary capacity for plumbing the depths of human experience and communicating those experiences with rare combination of commitment and intensity, playfulness and simplicity." Carrie Rhys Davies, Tobacco Factory
"Karla is an instigator and a magnet and has the ability to connect and communicate with the professional, educational and public spheres with a generous human spirit." Ian Abbott, Pavilion Dance South West	"Karla Shacklock is an extremely talented choreographer/performance maker of real passion, bravery and integrity." Kate Yedigaroff, MAYK	"Seriously thought provoking stuff, sometimes very funny and at other times very poignant, but, as promised before we entered the theatre, we left on a high, feeling totally elated!" Vivienne Kenendy, Guide to Bristol, on The Happiness
"Wow. Part drama, part music, part dance, part audience participation this was a surprising, exciting, funny, intriguing performance peppered with pathos too." Angela Atkinson, Total News, on The Happiness	★★★★★ Never have I seen such explicit things done with an old sock or a little finger. The Independent on The Life and Times of Fanny Hill	★★★★ A knowing production which encourages us to swallow this entertaining package with ease before making us choke on harsh reality. The Guardian on The Life and Times of Fanny Hill
"★★★★ ...rather brilliantly combines critical intelligence with rollicking playfullness." The Guardian on The Life and Times of Fanny Hill	★★★★★ It tickles your funny bones and sends your spirits soaring with a winning combination of homespun theatricality and family-friendly charm. The Telegraph on World Cup Final 1966	★★★★ Done with breathtaking sincerity. The Guardian on The Fairy Queen
"This is simply one of the most beautiful shows for the youngest audiences available... it is hard to imagine anything better to introduce young people to the joy of performance." Bath Echo on Midnight Mole	"This is one of the most successful truly European pieces of theatre I have seen in an age." Pasco Q Kevlin on Nobody	"Beyond is a truly extraordinary, powerfully unique theatrical experience." Bristol Culture Magazine