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Fern Wareham
Co-Artistic Director
Fern has had a passion for theatre and story telling from an early age. After studying at The Arden School of Theatre, she also discovered a love for contemporary dance. She then went on to train at The University of Salford, where she developed her choreographic voice and athletic floor based movement style. During this time, Fern worked with Jamaal Burkmar, Company Chameleon, George Adams and Peter Grist. Fern has 2 years professional experience with Belinda Grantham Dance, and 1 year with Hawk Dance Theatre as creative learning assistant. Fern co founded Coalesce Dance Theatre in 2017, and since then, she has produced work for a variety of platforms (theatre, festival and digital) throughout the UK. Coalesce have been fortunate enough to be awarded funding from Arts Council England on multiple occasions, as well as various other commissions. Fern is a passionate advocate for creating better working opportunities for women within dance as well as centering more female narratives. With a holistic approach to creating work, Fern focuses her process on improving people’s well-being through dance.
Rachel Maffei
Co-Artistic Director
Rachel has been working as a professional dancer, teacher and director since she graduated from The University of Salford in 2017. She has a strong passion for facilitation and teaching contemporary technique across the North West. Since co-creating Coalesce, Rachel has fed her ambition to choreograph and make new, original work. Rachel has worked professionally with Hawk Dance Theatre, The Knotted Project and Bridget Fiske, as well as being a returning lecturer at The University of Salford. Rachel has watched Coalesce grow alongside co-director Fern since the company was established in 2017. Having received Arts Council Funding for several projects, Rachel has developed a love for project management. Rachel strongly believes in continuing to help and support emerging artists, through initiatives like DanceConnect and by creating working opportunities for local artists. She also hopes to inspire young people to think about a career in the arts.
Luke Speddings
Company Dancer
Luke is a dance / dance theatre practitioner based in Leeds and the North of England. He completed both his BA in Contemporary Dance and his MA in Contemporary Dance Performance at the Northern School of Contemporary Dance. Luke has worked on placement with the dance theatre company Luca Silvestrini’s Protein with which he toured the country with their production of The Little Prince. He has also worked with choreographers such as Phil Sanger, Akeim Toussaint Buck and has been seen dancing on screen for the “Waterloo: an ABBA Tribute Band”. Luke is passionate about making art accessible to everyone, regardless of who they are or where they come from. He is also deeply committed to storytelling through movement, particularly in works that explore identity, mental health, and human connection. If he can bring laughter along the way, even better.
Janice Ho
Company Dancer
Born and raised in Singapore, Janice moved to the UK in 2019 to train at London Contemporary Dance School, where she graduated with a First-Class BA (Hons) degree. Whilst there she had the pleasure of performing works choreographed by Anthony Matsena, Clod Ensemble, 2faced Dance Company, Ohad Naharin and in the ‘We Are as Gods’ production with James Cousins Company in her final year. In 2022, she performed with Trigger in the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Pageant, portraying a young princess dancing alongside a giant dragon puppet called The Hatchling. She then joined Emergence Postgraduate Dance Company, which included a national tour of works by Joss Arnott, FLOCK & Anthony Missen; graduating with a distinction in 2023. Janice then joined ACE Dance & Music as a company dancer, touring internationally and nationally with them as part of the ‘Unknown Realms’ double bill, performing works by Serge Aimé Coulibaly and Vincent Mantsoe. Janice currently works as a freelance dance artist in Manchester.
Jordan Sheard
Youth Dance Assistant
Jordan (she/her) is a Manchester based dancer, choreographer, and producer. Fulled by the joy of moving, discover through youth dance programmes, she continued her training through intensives, R&D's and work experience with artists and companies across the UK and Abroad. Experienced in facilitating, playing and performing, she has worked with Casson & Friends, Avant Garde Dance, Wired Aerial Theatre and more to bring projects to life. Passionate about making creativity accessible; Jordan produces for Afrocats, a charity supporting refugee communities. Recently supported by Company Chameleon, she's developed her choreographic practice, drawing from her and her collaborators lived experiences, using dance theatre, storytelling and comedy. Jordan delivers Coalesce Youth Dance and gets inspired every week by their curiosity and desire to learn, getting to share the companies powerful movement style.
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