oo|dance
move • make • connect
Olly Otley is a community dance artist who works in schools,
studios and forests, with toddlers, teenagers and adults, to get feet moving
and people connecting.
about
Olly Otley
Olly teaches creative movement to a broad range of ages and abilities in a variety of settings.
She specialises in dance for children and teaches creative contemporary at Rambert, Adrenalin Dance and Chisenhale Dance Space. She also loves facilitating movement for adults at her classes in Hackney. Olly has led and supported dance for women affected by cancer through Move Dance Feel and has taught several different groups of older adults, through Trinity Laban and other organisations, including dance for better balance, dance for dementia and dance for sustained brain injury. She has delivered dance for primary and secondary age children with autism, and children with disabilities.
Whoever she works with, her focus is on facilitating their creative agency, and in building playful communities through dance. Her sessions often draw on storytelling, music and making to create a joyous, playful mish-mash.
A mother of two and a lover of nature, Olly has a special interest in early years development. She started Wild Things in 2020 and loves exploring the woodland on her weekly romps with toddlers and their carers. Over the years she has run various arts-based activities for families in Hackney and in Germany, is a qualified Forest School Leader and regularly leads urban nature workshops for schools with The Garden Classroom.
Olly came back to her childhood passion - dance - relatively late in life, after a career in corporate film production, community work and charitable project management. In 2021 she graduated from Trinity Laban, achieving a distinction in her Community Dance PGDip, and she continues to learn from everyone she dances with. Olly moves because it makes her feel good: her mission is to share that feeling with others.
projects
Adults’ dance
New from December 2023: if you miss dancing, miss your body, crave some ‘me time’ and want to leave feeling uplifted, this is the space for you!
Upcoming teachers sharing their practice include me, Galit Criden, Rosalind Noctor, Bismarck and A.
No need to book, but email olly@oodance.co.uk to be added to our whatsapp group.
Wild Things
“We love all the dancing, jumping, running, moving to music, silliness - it’s just wonderful!” Lilou’s mum
“I like how free the children feel to make the session what they want - exploring using their imaginations” Remy’s mum
“Joni is more confident around other kids thanks to these sessions, and we find new creative ways to enjoy the outdoors together, we have made some really lovely new friends. Olly brings out a sunny lightness and brightness in all of us on even the cloudy & rainy winter days!” Joni’s mum
“The most wonderful experience with both girls so engaged with Olly’s direction. Joyful, empathetic, infectious positivity.” Nix and Ione’s mum
Wild Things is a chance for children aged 2 – 4 to dance with their parents or carers in the outdoors. We put on great music and explore, gather, stomp bounce and spin amongst the trees and leaves.
Wild Things is back from March 2024. We meet in Millfields Park South at 10:00 on Thursday mornings, and London Fields Woodland at 09:30 on Friday mornings.
Please visit happity.co.uk/wild-things-dance for more information, plus details of dates and exact locations. Or email olly@oodance.co.uk
No need to book, just turn up ready to dance, play and explore. £6.50 per adult-child pair, card or cash.
