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.