Who we are
Hello!
Thanks for stopping by. If you don’t know us, I’d love a minute of your time, to give you a bit of our history and background, and info on what we do and why we do it.
In the summer of 2015, Kate (our executive producer) and I started Jones the Dance; back when it was called Gwyn Emberton Dance.
We both had this idea of how to make dance as much a part of the everyone’s lives as music or words are. Dance is a universal language that can connect us to experiences and stories that move us and can help us make sense of the world that we share like nothing else can.
Dance has the power to be transformative. It changed my life hugely when I was young and gave me a sense of community and well-being when I had little of either. This is what keeps us making dance, performances and projects today - to create moments and opportunities for audiences and participants to come together and experience the joy and transformative impact that dance can have.
Since, we began we have made and toured dance theatre productions around Wales, to festivals and European countries. We have made an immersive dance film experience over the course of the pandemic which toured all over and we are currently planning several new productions, some of which you can read about on these pages, others are super early in thinking with lots to do before they are shareable.
We don’t just create shows and performances. We run two youth dance projects; Quiet Beats for young Deaf people in South and North Wales, and Jones Bach for young people who are rurally isolated in Mid Wales. These are run by our amazing producer Kama and two dance officers Amber and Eli, as well as inviting a host of incredible Deaf and hearing, local and international dancers and choregraphers to come to work with both project throughout the year. Together with the young people, they have created new works and short films, as well as the regular workshops.
In addition to all of that, we are part of international projects, which keep us thinking about the wider world. We collaborate with companies to explore and expand ideas about what dance is and can be, and we love to bring international dance artists to meet with our communities at home here in Wales.
Please check out the rest of the website and if you are interested in knowing more please get in touch with me or Kate.
Diolch,
Gwyn (Artistic Director)
Image: Åsa Sjöström
Gwyn Emberton - Artistic Director and Founder
Gwyn has been working in dance for over 25 years as a choreographer, performer, producer, teacher and dramaturg, working across the UK and internationally. Originally from Montgomery, a small town in Mid Wales, he is passionate about sharing dance with those who don’t expect it and about developing a future for dance artists from Wales.
Gwyn’s previous works for Jones the Dance include My People, Shadow of a Quiet Society and Raft which toured widely across Wales and the UK. His solo work Of the Earth, from where I came was presented across Europe, the Middle East, as part of Dance Roads and at British Dance Edition. In 2024 he created Y Dewis, Jones the Dance’s most ambitious work to date, an immersive dance film and live experience that toured nationally to rural and coastal towns throughout Wales.
Gwyn has been a lead collaborator with international contemporary dance project, iCoDaCo, since 2014 and continues to initiate and facilitate international projects between Wales, Sweden and beyond.
gwyn@jonesthedance.com
Kate Perrdige - Executive Producer and Founder
Kate works as a creative producer, project manager, arts consultant, fundraiser and as an executive director. She has previously worked with National Dance Company Wales, Wales Millennium Centre, Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru, Sherman Theatre, Theatr Iolo, Living Pictures, Flossy & Boo, Tanio, Reckless Sleepers and Theatr Brycheiniog. She has a strong network of arts contacts in the UK and internationally throughout Europe, and India in particular, having managed several collaboarations with creative partners in India.
Kate is a trustee for Theatr Iolo and was previously Chair of Wales Arts Review, a Trustee for Made in Wales Stage Company, Creu Cymru, and was Chair of the Creu Cymru Drama Consortium.
kate@jonesthedance.com
Kama Roberts - Producer
Kama is a freelance producer working across art forms with experience in contemporary dance, outdoor arts, storytelling, theatre and youth arts. She has a keen interest in inclusion, engagement, participation and artist development.
Kama produced Y Dewis for us and is producer for the Young Company and iCoDaCo. Besides her work with Jones the Dance, Kama has also worked with Deborah Light, Light/Ladd/Emberton, Bando!, BoomTown Festival, Jackdaw Theatre, Mid Powys Youth Theatre, Beyond the Border Storytelling Festival, Aberystwyth Arts Centre and Articulture as well as a supporting a number of individual artists in Wales. She has a specific focus on developing the art form in Wales by building buy in from venues and audiences and supporting artist development.
info_and_admin@jonesthedance.com
Eli Williams - Dance Officer for Jones Bach
Eli is a dance artist based in North Wales and Cheshire. Eli trained at The University of Chester in Contemporary Dance where she gained her BA (Hons) and Masters Degrees in Dance. Eli is currently a Visiting Lecturer and Workshop Coordinator at The University of Chester, teaching contemporary dance technique, choreographic approaches and performance alongside working as a freelance dance artist. Eli’s freelance teaching work creates connections across a range of ages, allowing people of all abilities to engage with dance inclusively as a resource to develop creative thinking, communication and confidence.
Jonesbach@jonesthedance.com
Amber Howells - Dance Officer for Quiet Beats
Amber is a socially and ecologically-engaged dance artist and aspiring writer from the heart of Cardiff. She graduated from Northern School of Contemporary Dance in 2020, before joining Rubicon Dance Company for a year. She has performed works by Anna Watkins, Marcus Jarrell-Willis, Jamiel Laurence, Wayne Parsons, Lea Anderson, Krystal S. Lowe, BBC Wales and Ewan Jones. She is passionate about the arts and education within Wales, which is reflected in her short films 'Womanby Street' and 'Our Future Wales', commissioned by FOR Cardiff and The Future Generations Commissioner. In May 2023, she joined the Jones the Dance team as a dancer in the film project, choreographed by Gwyn Emberton, and is thrilled to now represent the company as Dance Officer throughout Wales, alongside the wonderful Eli Williams.
Quietbeats@jonesthedance.com