Louise Bardgett

"I see my role as a Creative Agent as a gardener, taking on the ongoing process of nourishing, maintaining, nurturing, monitoring and reviewing an allotment.  It’s a lot of hard work, something things work well, others need to be adapted, and sometimes there are things you can’t control such as the weather, just as there are unexpected successes. In planting the seeds, you lay the foundations and provide the conditions for things to grow and thrive, as well as support longer term sustainability. Just as some of the plants are perennials, some are seasonal and need replacing, whilst others you need to weed out!"

Louise has gained a number of years experience working in a range of different contexts, firstly as a Dance Development Officer for a local authority, as a Performing Arts Worker in a community led organisation in a rural setting, as an Education and Community Manager at Dance 4, the national dance agency for the East Midlands region and as, Creative Programmer for Creative Partnerships Coventry. Since January 2007 Louise has been working independently, as a movement specialist, consultant, trainer and project manager allowing her the freedom to concentrate on her own learning and professional creative practice and to focus her work primarily, with early years and young children in the East and West Midlands.

As a movement and collaborative artist, Louise is interested in seeing how children move and physically respond to spaces indoors and outdoors, with each other and with different provocations though open ended and guided movement play.  Louise always strives for a child-centred, visual and sensory approach to her practice, using a range of physical offerings such as music, stories, props and objects to set the scene.  She is committed to reflective practice and her own professional learning and in particular, Louise enjoys working through enquiry driven learning, drawing upon the good practice built up through her previous and ongoing work with Creative Partnerships.  Being an artist in residence in a number of early years settings over a period of time has meant a continual personal learning journey, listening, observing and responding to the needs and interests of the children and being prepared to take risks and learn “on the job” through and with children.

Through Louise's current involvement with Cre8us and with the Creative Partnerships programme as a creative practitioner in Coventry, the Black Country and Leicester, she has a continued interest and commitment to creative teaching and learning and strives to ensure such creative approaches and values of best practice underpin her own work as a programme manager, movement specialist and as a creative agent.