Dani Abulhawa

I am a British-Palestinian artist-researcher based in Manchester, UK, and a lecturer in Contemporary Applied Performance at the University of Leeds. My work is primarily concerned with social justice through projects that connect public urban space, performing arts, and community building.

My disciplinary background is located in the performing arts. I am a trained deviser, performer, somatic improviser, skateboard coach, and community facilitator. My PhD examined the ways that women are prevented from a playful engagement with the city, through social regulation of their behaviour. I work on projects that democratise access to playful public realm, increase people’s connection to their own bodies, their relationships with other people, and their capacity for creative interaction within their environments.

I am a co-founder of Accumulations - a collective of dance/movement artists and a supportive network for the development of experimental movement, dance, and performance. I’m an ambassador for skateboarding charity, SkatePal and I’m a director of Skate Manchester, which involves coordinating and delivering community-based skateboarding projects within the city.

In response to biodiversity breakdown within the climate crisis, In 2019 I co-founded a community interest company called PEBL (Plant Ecology Beyond Land)., in collaboration with Materials Scientist Dr Christian Berger. Through PEBL and the use of skateparks as educational spaces and monuments of the sea, I am examining the ways that somatic education can be used to support ocean ecological awareness.