Hello, my name is Desiree, I am an author and illustrator, professional linguist, artist, classical Indian dance Odissi performer and academic researcher. I have participated on art and dance projects and worked in schools and libraries with young people on a wide range of projects, spanning from:
- Multilingual storytelling
- Language, drama and L2* games (Shona and Italian)
- Dance and hand gestures in storytelling
- Intercultural awareness activities using a combination of musical instruments (diatonic accordion and thumb piano) drama, dance and storytelling
- I believe in bringing different cultures’ art forms and languages together to bridge cultural divides
Activities I can deliver include:
- Classical Indian Dance Storytelling
- Pure Classical Indian Dance
- Write and Act out Your Own Multilingual Story
- Multilingual Story Telling Trough Drama and Music
- Art and Drawing in Story Telling
Organisations I have worked with include:
- Higgins Museum and Ananda Arts to create a painting and dance piece called “Movement and Staticity Shared Halves” to bring awareness to the difficulty we face in challenging cultural stereotypes
- Allfarthing School for a classical Indian dance storytelling and cultural awareness open discussion workshop
- Edward Wilson School to create combination of musical instruments dance, drama and L2* games workshop
- Wandsworth and Haringey’s Public Library to run dance and author’s reading workshops
- University of Bedfordshire as part of their applied linguistic public lectures on material development in L2*.
- University of Liverpool as part of their applied linguistic public lectures on material development in L2*.
I specialise in intercultural language material, in languages underrepresented in the current literature. I have an MA in Applied Linguistics and a teacher qualified status. My research work looks at the impact culture and identity has on our overall mental health.
During my research projects I devised an intercultural language material framework. I regularly exhibit my art work around the UK, especially in London and Bedford and have spent two months in India studying and practicing classical Indian dance.
I am happy to combine talks with each activity about my practice and knowledge of, languages, dance, drama and art and how together can be a powerful tool toward cultural inclusion.
My work is very flexible and I am able to run workshops based on most cross curricular areas spanning from L2*, art, drama, dance, intercultural diversity, literature, multilingual creative writing
Contact me to discuss any ideas/projects and together we can bridge the largest divides!
*L2 = any language that is second to your mother tongue.