ELLA TIGHE is a Bradford based independent dance artist.
She started out as a disco freestyle dancer before going onto study contemporary dance. She has a BA in Dance, Making & Performance (Cov Uni, UK) and an MA in Performance Practices (ArtEZ, NL).
Ella premiered her first full length show Disco Queen in April 2025, programmed by Bradford Arts Centre at Alhambra Studios. Disco Queen toured to The Place and The Lowry. It tells the story of her personal experiences of growing up as a competitive disco freestyle dancer. It aims to squash some of the negative narratives and stereotypes branded onto this world to celebrate it and the people within it. It includes the voices of young Freestyle dancers today through audio interview and film material.
Much of the work has been informed through spending time in Freestyle communities - in class, competitions and talking to those who for them Freestyle is their whole life.
Ella made an extract of Disco Queen for tv which was featured in BBC Dance Passions Bradford, available to view on iplayer.
Her work has been supported by Arts Council England, The Place, Kala Sangam (Bradford Arts Centre), Cultural Knowledge Exchange - London Contemporary Dance School, Yorkshire Dance, Bradford 2025, Barnsley Civic, Mind The Gap and Theatre in the Mill.
Ella is an independent supervisor at Bird College, London.
Runs BOLD! Bradford Artist Scratch Night.
And teaches RocketBeats Yoga at Practice with Ella, Yarn Studios in Shipley, Bradford (see @practicewithella for more details)
