Artist Spotlight - Helen Calcutt
Each week, we’re shining a light on the incredible artists we collaborate with at The Middle Floor. We work on a diverse range of projects with our artists – and now, it’s time for you to get to know more about the artists behind the work.
Who are you, and how would you describe your work?
I’m Helen Calcutt — a poet, dance artist, and choreographer working at the intersection of language and movement. As a dance maker I either create purely within movement for theatre/live performance work, or within the intersection between disciplines, where the body and the written word coalesce. I’m the artistic director of Beyond Words and the creator of The Hypha Method — a gestural language system that translates the internal textures and meaning of text into choreographic form.
I describe my work as both grounded and exploratory — rooted in precision, form, and technical rigour, but always seeking what lives in the periphery: the in-between moments, the breath before articulation, the energy of what remains unsaid. Whether I’m working with professional dancers, new learners, or fellow writers, my focus is often on how we embody meaning, and how meaning can emerge through presence, nuance, and attentive expression.
Across poetry and dance, my creative process centres on emotional truth — particularly the embodied experience of language, and how text can become a lived, felt event. My choreographic work ranges from stage to site-specific productions, cross-arts collaborations, and outreach performance, while my writing explores trauma, memory, the body, and the interior life.
How would you describe your approach to creating or preparing for a new project or idea?
I don’t tend to prepare anything. Ideas come and I follow them. If I’m being commissioned for a project outside of my own practice, I’ll immediately look at how my knowledge and skills can hold space for the theatres or artist’s vision – can I meet them where they’re at? How can I serve their process? I’ll map this out, pull it all together, and then once I’m in the space, trust the meeting point and the shared process. I’ve learned that over thinking or planning is futile – you always end up going somewhere else. Just have the bag of tools to hand, and you’re set.
Are there any themes or ideas do you find yourself returning to in your work?
It used to be lived trauma, but I’m finding myself moving into more experimental areas - like negative space, or the tension around a ‘pause’ – how can we utilise that in language and art?
It’s interesting though, because it’s in these spaces that deeply felt emotions or experiences come through. Grief can become very loud in a moment of stillness – as can joy. I'm still drawn to themes like grief and loss, but increasingly I'm interested in exploring them within the broader context of the human condition — in particular, their kinesthesis and texture. How can I elevate this fully in a theatrical setting – through costume, lighting, staging? Or within the shape of a poem: what order do the words need to fall in order to bring this idea to life? I'm asking: how do we capture the living quality of an idea or emotion — not just represent it, but embody it?
I’m always committed to holding space for humanness in my work, too. My creative process has naturally become a compassionate container for working through difficult emotions, or at least a catalyst for their release. Life is roses, but it’s also shit — and I firmly believe we have to acknowledge both. Art lets us do this with integrity and presence, while also offering that lens of separation, where self-enquiry can begin. It’s in that space that real processing and healing happen. My creative work will always be rooted in this, in one way or another — simply because it wants to be. I don’t feel like I’m in charge of that.
What has been one of the most rewarding projects you’ve worked on so far, and why?
Any project involving young children is ten times more rewarding than anything else I do. They are sacred beings, full of wisdom. Children are quite literally closer to the earth — they understand play, they revel in it. They meet you with openness, with an instinct to connect. This is where creativity flourishes. More and more, I find myself most inspired in these spaces.
Second to this, of course, is my adaptation of Grief Is the Thing with Feathers, developed alongside the creation of the Hypha method — a movement practice that explores the articulation of text through dance.
What continues to fascinate me about this project, and what I find most enriching, is the way truthful communication between dancers becomes essential. We’ve developed a unique language of visual and kinetic connection, and I love this interplay between structure and freedom, personal voice and collective intention. Ultimately, it’s the dancers who breathe life into it all: they’ve taken my mind and world, and elevated it into 4D.
I also love how Hypha has become such a powerful engine for storytelling. It’s multi-layered and complex, yet at its core lies the narrative—and our constant focus is on how best to serve that story. That commitment to the narrative, despite all the layers, is what makes the whole process so rewarding to me.
How do you balance creative work with the more practical aspects of being a working artist?
Saying no to the things that absolutely don’t need your attention right away.
Practicing good sleep hygiene.
Accepting when you need to rest, even if this means missing out on some money. Always prioritize rest.
Your health and wellbeing come first, and when you lead with that, everything else falls into place.
Are there any upcoming projects you're currently working toward or where can we next see you?
Currently, I’m collaborating with Total Insight Theatre on a verbatim piece about gun violence, devised by young people. This process has completely transformed my understanding of what’s possible in storytelling and how the body can convey power and authenticity. I’m deeply in awe of the bravery and capacity of the young artists involved — their talent is immense. Artistic brilliance is everywhere; it just needs the right environment to thrive. You can find performance details at totalinsighttheatre.com.
You can see me next on the Poetry School Autum calendar, where I’ll be teaching poetry on the subject of ‘The Spaces Between: What lives and breathes in the spaces between moment, and moment. What possibilities arise from these bridges of quiet?’
More here: https://poetryschool.com/
I have several readings coming up over the Summer too. Follow me on Instagram to be kept up to date! @helen_calcutt