“Life’s tenderness and confusion stirs up my creativity. The creative ‘state’ awakens energy in me that is honest and primal.”
— Douglas Thorpe
we bring together reality and imagination in a world where the ordinary meets the magical.
Our intriguing narratives blend ingredients from both dance and theatre inspired by life’s rich roller-coaster.
The movement language is refined.
The choreography is nuanced.
The dance is intuitive in practice
with an uncompromising pulse.
The audience is totally absorbed.
staying true to our vision
mad dogs dance theatre is intuitively driven by what ignites us to move and create: connecting with real people experiencing real lives.
Reflecting on a fast-changing world triggers unexpected and beautiful stories, often expressing conflicting thoughts, deeply physically explored.
Douglas Thorpe, founder and director, trained at The Place London, and returned to Leeds to build his career.
He worked with Phoenix Dance Theatre over 3 decades, dancing, choreographing and teaching. Meeting choreographers such as Ben Duke, Didy Veldman and Arthur Pita were important in developing his own choreographic voice.
His choreographic highlight has been a commission with Staatstheater Braunschweig, Germany. Other commissions include ACE dance and Music, Mobius, Phoenix Dance Theatre and Verve.
mad dogs dance theatre is a Leeds based company with a combination of high physical and visceral movement with text, music and film creates honest work, sometimes unflinchingly harsh in its reality.
Tiia Ourila-Thorpe, associate director, left her native Finland to train in Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary. After a short period working in Denmark she based herself in Leeds and with Phoenix Dance Theatre.
Working with Darshan Singh Bhuller as an artistic director was most inspiring and she enjoyed the challenge of a wide range of repertoire. Highlights of her time with Phoenix include working with Robert Cohan, Didy Veldman, Rui Horta and Arthur Pita.
After gaining her MA in Dance training and Education Tiia started working at the Northern School of Contemporary. She is also a qualified Yoga teacher, utilising these skills within the context of mad dogs dance theatre and maintaining company’s well-being.
