Festival announces its new commission by Marc Brew

Imaginate has announced its next Expo-funded Festival commission will be by award-winning disabled dance artist and choreographer Marc Brew, as part of an increased focus on disabled-led work.

Article Source: Imaginate
Last Updated: 21 October 2025 9:26

Imaginate is delighted to announce its new Festival commission as Boys Don’t Dance by Marc Brew. Having worked closely with disabled and neurodivergent artists for many years, the new commission is a natural development for Imaginate and an exciting highlight of its year-long programme with a particular focus on disabled-led work.

Boys Don’t Dance is a poignant dance theatre show by acclaimed disabled and queer director, choreographer and dancer Marc Brew, reflecting on his journey as a boy who defied society’s expectations to embrace his love for dance. The performance unfolds through a tapestry of memories, shedding light on the loneliness of being the only boy in the village who dared to dance.

The production will combine movement, storytelling, lighting and an uplifting sound track, alongside visual projections and animation to reflect Marc’s inner journey and create an immersive experience for young audiences.

Boys Don’t Dance celebrates individuality and the liberating power of dance, encouraging audiences to embrace their unique passions and find strength in their differences. It follows Marc Brew’s internationally acclaimed and award-nominated dance theatre piece an Accident / a Life that shares his lived experience of being a dancer who acquired a disability.

Marc Brew said: “I am extremely excited to be commissioned by Imaginate to make new work Boys Don't Dance for young audiences. I grew up in a poor and rural area of Australia surrounded by sheep, cows, and country folk who loved football. All I wanted to do was dance but I was told “boys don’t dance”. Throughout my life, society has told me that I cannot dance - whether that was during my upbringing as a boy from a working-class household, or after I acquired my disability.

I’ve worked to prove people wrong by championing and celebrating differences. This work will celebrate the beauty of this, and how we can each forge our own path to fulfil our dreams.”

Edinburgh International Children’s Festival Director Noel Jordan said: “It is always exciting when an artist makes a work based on their own personal experiences. It adds a layer of depth and authenticity that, when done well, reaches out and touches audiences in a truthful and unique way. This was the case in Marc’s powerful and poetic piece for adults an Accident / a Life. So, when Marc discussed the kernel of an idea for a production based on his experiences of growing up in rural Australia, as a boy drawn to dance in a hyper masculine world, we immediately became excited about its potential and universal relevance. Forming part of a focus on disabled artists, Boys Don’t Dance promises to be an exciting bold addition to our 2026 Festival programme.”

Boys Don’t Dance is commissioned by Imaginate in partnership with Aberdeen Performing Arts and supported by the Scottish Government’s Festivals Expo Fund. It will tour Scotland before and after its run at the Edinburgh International Children’s Festival in late May.

Aberdeen Performing Arts Chief Executive Sharon Burgess said: "We’re delighted to be partnering once again with Imaginate on this inspiring new production. Our previous collaborations have produced meaningful, high-quality experiences for young audiences, and it’s wonderful to continue that relationship again for Light the Blue Festival. This new piece by Marc Brew is set to be a beautiful celebration of individuality, courage and creativity. It will deliver important messages and themes to young people while giving them an inspiring and rewarding experience. We’re proud to support work that invites the next generation to see themselves and their stories reflected through the arts.”

The new production is part of Imaginate’s ongoing efforts to support under-represented voices in the performing arts, which in 2025-26 includes a focus on disabled-led work, thanks to new international partnerships and funding including from Unlimited, Nordisk Kulturfond and Scottish Government’s Festivals EXPO Fund.
The programme, which will create platforms for artists to share their work internationally, and gain greater networking, visibility and touring opportunities, currently includes:

• Presenting Cringe at the 2026 Edinburgh International Children’s Festival, a new play by disabled writer and theatre-maker Ross MacKay in association with Imaginate.

• Supporting artist Ellen Renton through an Unlimited Partner Award, to develop PALS, a musical theatre piece for young audiences, about the lifelong friendship between a sighted and a visually impaired young girl, told through text, song, and movement.

• Presenting PALS and another disabled-led work-in-progress as part of the delegate programme of the 2026 Edinburgh International Children’s Festival.

• Shifting the Stage, an international project collaborating with three Nordic countries, to support the creation of new disabled-led production ideas for children. The project offers professional, international artist development opportunities and exchanges for disabled, D/deaf and neurodivergent artists, and is funded by Nordisk Kulturfond.

However, whilst we are delighted to announce this programme focus, we do so in a climate of decreasing support for disabled artists. We are particularly concerned by the impact of the government’s reforms on artists’ ability to work (in particular cuts to Access to Work and Personal Independence Payment), reforms that are dismantling hard-won progress on the employment of disabled people in the cultural sector. We believe that a truly thriving arts sector is one that is accessible and inclusive to all and have signed an open letter to the Prime Minister demanding an immediate stop to these cuts. #TakingThePIP @AccessToWorkCollective

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