Lisa Simpson

I am a choreographer and a workshop leader with a disability, I have quadriplegic cerebral palsy and no verbal communication. I choreograph using the Simpson board, an inexpensive but priceless tool that enables other disabled individuals like myself to choreograph.

The Simpson board came about when Adam Benjamin, former director and co-founder of CandoCo Dance Company did a five day residency in 1995 at Hereward FE College involving students with and without disabilities, Adam was inspired by the methods in which I produced visual artwork that he wanted to create a way to enable me to choreograph based on the same principles.

As we developed the Simpson board, my drive to be able to choreograph increased considerably and the enthusiasm within me to create a tool that enabled me to achieve it led to the board being named after me. Although we made a substantial amount of progress during the week it was clear that in order for me to have more of a precise decision e.g. individual movements of the dancers, the board would have to be developed further. This led to Jonathon Thrift from the Roehampton Institute London becoming involved, who had expertise in dance analysis and notion. He went on to modify the Simpson board with Bill Robbins, a student with the same degree of cerebral palsy as me.

During the five day residency I met Louise Katerega, a dance lecturer at Coventry University for the Performing Arts. She went on to be an East Midlands based dancer/choreographer, director of her own company Foot in Hand, Place Prize semi-finalist 2006 and a trustee of The Foundation of Community Dance. She has worked nationally and internationally in the field of integrated dance since 1994.

Louise worked with me on dance summer schools, which were a huge hit with the children who learnt to use the Simpson board as well as dance. In turn this led to us creating a simpler version of the Simpson board that the children could choreograph with.

Louise and I went down to Suffolk in February 2009 to assist a woman with serve cerebral palsy and a limited verbal communication to be able to choreograph for the first time. It was so inspiring to watch her progressing into a choreographer who by the end of the 3 days was deciding everything from the positions her dancers were in, to the type of music that captured the right mood of her piece. During this residency we held an open workshop exploring ways in which artists working in the community can allow everyone's creative voice to be heard.

Since Suffolk, I strongly believe there could be more prospective choreographers with no, or limited verbal who haven't been given the opportunity to realise their true potential. With this at the forfront, I have recently set up a social enterprise along with two business partners, called Simpson Board Enterprises Ltd; teaching people how to use the Simpson Board.

Our Aims are:-

• Opening doors for people to choreograph and also dance.

• Bring the creative side out in people.

• To work with people with non, or limited verbal communication to increase their confidence and life skills.

Simpson Board Enterprises Limited particularly aims to work with disabled people with limited or non verbal communication to access an area of the arts currently denied them, in the form of teaching them how to choreograph. The Simpson Board concept is a unique training opportunity to allow both children and adults with this level of disability to gain a new and exciting skill which is educational and fun to do. We are committed to supporting disabled people to realise their full potential and open up areas of interest and education in the arts.

In addition to this, the Simpson Board workshops benefits people’s health and self esteem who usually cannot access physical activity and might allow them to access the recommended 3 x 30min exercise per week.

As a person with quadriplegia cerebral palsy and no verbal communication, I did not think I would be able to choreograph and it was a tremendous feeling when I choreographed for the first time. Also, the reports from Suffolk are truly amazing as the woman’s confidence has improved considerably, not only with her choreography but with her day to day living. This is one example that proves that our service will improve people’s lives and open doors that they never knew existed

At the moment I am contacting people throughout the Northwest, creating awareness that there is a tool in which disabled people with non or limited verbal communication can choreograph via; and that we teach people how to use the Simpson Board.

If you are interested in working with the Simpson Board feel free to email me (see below for my address) If you want to contact Louise Katerega regarding Foot In Hand - Louise's details can be found on www.footinhand.co.uk