This report details the development of an intervention that aims to increase the visibility of diverse bodies in my teaching materials. Developing this intervention has given me the opportunity to bring together elements of my freelance design practice that are very important to me, and theories on equality and inclusion, intersectionality (Crenshaw, 1990), anti-racism (Kendi 2019) and inclusive pedagogies I have been introduced to during my PG cert learning.
CONTEXT
I am a part time lecturer in design on the Performance course at London College of Fashion. I am one of the few members of staff lucky enough to teach across both BA courses – Costume for Performance and Hair, Make-up and Prosthetics for Performance. I mainly work with the first year, so I am there right at the beginning of their university journey, part of establishing the first principles of their learning. I feel a privilege and responsibility in welcoming them. I want them to feel included, empowered and excited to learn.
To achieve this, I feel they need to see themselves visibly reflected in the course in the materials and references we use. I have talked about the power of visibility in previous posts ( see Initial proposal and Reflections after workshop 2).
I am also a freelance set and costume designer, so my industry experience informs my teaching practice, and vice-versa. I was taught by working practitioners and was engaged and inspired by their real-world experience and passion. They made a career in theatre design suddenly seem possible to me. I hope that being able to put my teaching in a professional context gives the students a sense of the usefulness and relevance of the methods and materials I share, and why the industry is an important and powerful place to work. I believe that performance offers
“a space where storytelling, empathy, education, and social change converge. Theatre brings people together, transcending the boundaries of culture, time, and geography. It encourages us to reflect, to imagine, and to understand each other in deeper ways.” Mc Cord (2020)
It is vital that our industry and its future character creators understand how potent their work could be in shaping society. We all have a responsibility to own what power we have to represent diverse voices and uphold anti-racist and inclusive practices that create a fairer more equitable society for all. Recognising our power and the ways we can make a difference can feel like a pressure but can also be exhilarating .
“ Positive representation authentically portrays the real world and creates equal opportunities for actors – therefore, it’s essential the industry keeps striving to make it the norm.” Ridgeway (2024)
RATIONALE
The focus of both courses in our department, the student’s canvas and point of collaboration, is the actor’s body. The industry is beginning to understand that these bodies must represent a joyfully broad range of humanity, so the students need to follow suit.
I have noticed a predominance of what I would call “fashion bodies”: thin, elongated and predominantly white in students work. A visual default that speaks of a dominant visual culture for bodies that has been written about in many ways and that I would like to disrupt.
By developing an image library of beautifully diverse figures from which students and staff draw for reference or teaching material, I hope that broad representation in character drawings, costume drawings or the development of make up looks becomes second nature for students. Drawing and visual communication is central to the design process so if the reference for those drawings is varied and diverse then hopefully the work will be to.
This will equip the students for an industry which is striving to be more representative both onstage and backstage, so in very practical terms it helps the students to think about their future collaborators and become aware of the adaptations and opportunities there are in working with all sorts of bodies.
This will equip the students for an industry which is striving to be more representative both onstage and backstage (Ridgeway 2024), so in very practical terms it helps the students to think about their future collaborators and become aware of the adaptations and opportunities involved in working with all sorts of bodies.
I have been lucky enough to work with blind actors, neuro- diverse actors, deaf actors, actors who use a wheelchair, have missing limbs or who are of short stature. Each experience has taught me through the research I have done to prepare and the conversations I have had, stretching my design techniques and testing the clarity and of my communication and collaboration. I hope I can share some of these experiences, and draw out some of the student’s knowledge and experiences by adding this context to the images.
It is also an opportunity to promote the work of the many companies, such as Ballet Black, Talawa and Candoco who
“ celebrate different ways of being and of making art, putting us at the forefront of conversation around dance and disability.” Candoco website ( 2025)
Far from introducing restrictions and parameters to work, working inclusively can push students to imagine more deeply
“ Candoco is the company for which choreographers reserve their wildest and often most inventive work” Candoco website ( 2025)
DELIVERY
I will assemble a collection of full figure references of diverse bodies that I will make available as hard copies and in a digital format for staff and students on the Performance course to use in their teaching.
I will use it as part of the delivery of at least two sessions next term on the Introduction to Design Unit and Hair, Make-up and Prosthetics unit: Principles One. This will build on feedback from my PG cert peers and colleagues, and a pilot session I taught this year. You can find a link to both the lesson plan below.
Lesson Plan for inclusive design.docx
FEEDBACK AND REFLECTION
Although this feels in some respects like a small change or contribution, I was encouraged by the positive feedback I received from my peer group who even identified ways that a similar resource might be used in their own disciplines.
Both my peers and Dr Victor Guillen, my tutor, recommended invaluable reading and resources as welll as ways to counteract any implicit bias in my choices of image. Jade Gellard suggested that each student could contribute a figure that represents an aspect of their identity, or a resource that they use. Sarah Harkins actually recommended an architects image bank called Non – Scandinavia- which attempts “to increase diversity in architectural representation through the provision of free, high-res, cut out people of all kinds” I found it really encouraging that other practices had thought about this to!
Co-creating my collection would be one way to counter act any bias, and is also vital for student engagement and a sense of ownership. Daniel Freeman talked about the potential of a house style for the collection, an interesting thought that could offer a way of overseeing and preserving the collections identity and function while still inviting contribution.
I learnt a lot from my peers’ responses that feed into the next steps below, and hearing their plans for specific sessions, a teaching glossary, and creating inclusive teaching spaces was in itself inspiring.
My colleagues were also supportive when I sought their feedback and also had important insights to share:
“ a diverse image reference bank could be great- I have always wanted to create an image reference bank for the HMUPP students! Although you probably will have to consider the implications of creating something as literal as that and how its used? – Just reflecting on my experience in that unit trying to create something which wasn’t tokenistic or ‘othering’.” Curren (2025)
This is an important risk to be aware of. As a cis gendered, white, middle-class woman I am acutely aware that I am generally privileged in terms of visibility – and it is become harder with restricted budgets and contracting restrictions to bring those with lived experiences not represented in the teaching or student body to the room.
Another issue that I encountered within my pilot session where students that expressed ableist opinions in reaction to the images. I was caught out by this and had to respond in the moment, which was quite challenging. My reading of From Safe Spaces to Brave Spaces: A New Way to Frame Dialogue Around Diversity and Social Justice: Arao, Clemens (2013) has helped me to reflect on ways to handle and frame these challenges and to remain confident to repeat the process.
NEXT STEPS
So, based on compiling a prototype collection, and using it in a drawing workshop and class on diversity in the industry and the feedback so far, these are my next steps :
- Double the images I have so far drawing from a wide range of industry resources, such as the agency Gritty TV and ZBD talent for images relevant to the performance industry
- Ask colleagues in the first instance to vet it and make suggestions on what could be missing
- Test a digital platform – Miro, Padlet as potential homes for the digital version of the collection
- Consider how to frame or present the images
- Consider access for non – sighted students : for example, investigating ways to caption images or generate audio descriptions ( using tools such as (perkins.org/resource/how-write-alt-text-and-image-descriptions-visually-impaired) to gain further advice on this.
- Develop a feedback questionnaire for a session I will deliver using the resource with next year’s first years that assesses its impact and further use
Developing this idea has challenged me to think about my positionality and impact in the classroom, and to find ways to genuinely co –author resources with the students that will enrich their practice.
Success will look like a cohort of students who avoid narrow stereotypes but instead create characters on bodies that reflect a diverse, multicultural society , evidencing that instinctively in their design responses. They will feel like this resource is theirs.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Crenshaw, Kimberle´ Williams (1989) “Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory and Antiracist Politics.” University of Chicago Legal Forum 1989:139–67, p. 149
Kendi, Ibram X. (2019) “How to be an Anti-racist” Penguin extracts (2020) Available at: https://www.penguin.co.uk/discover/articles/ibram-x-kendi-definition-of-antiracist
McCord, Kellie (2020) Oxford Home School Learning “The enduring importance of Theatre” Available at: https://www.oxfordhomeschooling.co.uk/blog/the-enduring-importance-of-theatre/
Ridgeway, Sarah ( 2024) Spotlight “The importance of positive representation in the acting industry” Available at: https://www.spotlight.com/news-and-advice/the-industry/why-positive-representation-is important/#:~:text=Positive%20representation%20authentically%20portrays%20the,to%20make%20it%20the%20norm.
Candoco Dance Company (Website) Available at : https://candoco.co.uk/
Talawa Theatre company (Website) Available at: https://www.talawa.com/about
Ballet Black Available at: https://balletblack.co.uk/
Aggarwal-Schifellite, Manisha (October 20th 2020) The Harvard Gazette: “Bucking assumptions about dance” Available at: https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2020/10/axis-blends-vision-of-disabled-and-non-disabled-dancers/
Gritty Talent (Website) Available at : https://www.grittytalent.tv/
ZBD Talent (Website ) Available at: https://www.zbdtalent.com/uk/
Nonscandineavia (Website) Available at: https://www.nonscandinavia.com/
Arao, Brian Clemens, Kristi (2013) From Safe Spaces to Brave Spaces: A New Way to Frame Dialogue Around Diversity and Social Justice.
