Helga Deasy (Ireland/Germany) is a choreographer, dance artist and educator.
Grounded in choreology (Laban's contemporary developments for the performing arts) and somatics, her practice spans choreography, performance, socially engaged dance and cross-disciplinary collaboration. Central to her work is the significance of the body in perceiving and shaping experience as well as its immediate, expressive potential.
Helga has performed and presented her work in Ireland, Germany, the UK and the USA and is the founder and artistic director of Fish in the Sky Dance.
Socially engaged dance forms an integral part of Helga's artistic practice. She feels passionate about the empowering and transformative potential of dance and regularly facilitates projects in a range of health care and education settings. Helga worked on the Learning and Development Programme of CandoCo Dance Company, a pioneer and leading exponent of inclusive dance practice. She trained with Rosetta Life in the facilitation of dance and movement work in dementia and end of life care settings and has since worked extensively in dance and health. Most recently she was artist in residence with MusicAlive (2019-2021) in collaboration with choir conductor Susan McManamon and writer Arnold Thomas Fanning on the Creative Enquiry - Arts and Older People Programme (Arts Council Invitation to Collaboration Scheme). Helga is a lead-facilitator on the Teacher Artist Partnership Programme (Arts in Education Initiative) and an early year's practitioner with Graffiti Theatre company. Her work Of Bluebells and Butterflies a dance theatre performance for babies and their adults created with Graffiti Theatre in 2022 received a TRACKS co-commission from Baboro International Arts Festival for Children, Cork Midsummer Festival and Dublin Fringe Festival.
Helga has received several awards from the Arts Council including a Dance Bursary (2019) and the Dance Artist in Residence Award with Uillinn West Cork Arts Centre (2017 & 2018) as well as several project awards from Cork City Council and a Culture Ireland Grant (2018) among others. Currently Helga holds the post of Cork City Dance Artist in Residence at Dance Cork Firkin Crane (2021 - 2023) supported by the Arts Council and Cork City Council.
Helga trained at Trinity Laban, Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London, where she completed an M. A. in Creative Practice with distinction (2012), a Specialist Diploma in Choreological Studies with distinction (2018) and a Postgraduate Diploma in Community Dance (2011). Further she holds a degree in Social Work with a focus on music and movement studies (University of Applied Sciences, Regensburg, Germany, 2008) and is a qualified yoga instructor and yoga therapist. Helga is a Alumni Ambassador for Trinity Laban.