Rhiannon Mary Elizabeth Brace

Rhiannon is concerned with devising contemporary performance which draws upon the ideals of romanticism; bringing beauty to contemporary performance, as a reaction against contemporary works which seek purely to shock or to create art that is ugly. She is further influenced by aspects of Asian theatre to create performance which incorporates music, art, dance and drama and provides the audience with a sensuous theatrical experience, engaging more than just the intellect.

Rhiannon set up The Ophelia Project in August 2009 as a reaction to discussions in the contemporary dance world about a lack of female choreographers. The first performance of the project is She Walks in Beauty and is a celebration of womanhood and femininity. It draws upon romantic images of women such as Millais' Ophelia and other Pre-Raphaelite paintings to create movement. It is further influenced by the work of Lord Byron, Shakespeare and Edmund Spenser.

The performance lies somewhere between contemporary dance and physical theatre and is clearly set within the natural world through the soundscape and movement. It examines the Pre-Raphaelite's glorification of the natural world and, as women, our relationship with Mother Nature.