Earth-bound Team
Earth-bound is the work of Performer, Theatre & FILM maker Sioda Adams. Working with a collaborative approach through a mix of art forms she presents high quality, authentic performance art that is bold, brave and emotional. She aims to provoke thoughts and feelings that impact social and environmental issues.
Sioda Adams – Artistic Director
Sioda Adams, founder and Artistic Director of Earth-bound, is a maker who cares greatly about human connections, both in the way that she works with others and in the work that she produces – using art, love, compassion and humour to make a positive influence on the world around her. She works with multi-skilled performers to create performance art, with storytelling at it’s core, work that is socially charged, provocative and inspiring for audiences of all ages and backgrounds. Sioda likes to challenge herself, those who she works with and her audiences, to push boundaries, challenge conventions and make work that is ambitious – her new outdoor theatre show For The Love Of Stuff, which received significant investment from Arts Council England and will be touring in 2023/24 onwards, reflects this passion and ambition.
Sioda endeavours to build a company and working practices that are in line with her own ethics – to value everyone as an equal and make it possible for women, mothers and more mature performers/artists, from diverse backgrounds, to continue doing the invaluable work that they do. She aims to break conventions of the usual intense schedules and expectations, to find more flexible ways of working, that accommodate family life, regular work commitments and ultimately value the energy and specialist skill set that artists bring, so that art/performance as a profession can be more sustainable for independent freelance artists.
Sioda is an associate artist at The Actors Space, BCN
Steph Townsend – PERFORMER, FACILITATOR & ASSISTANT MANAGER
Steph Townsend graduated from Coventry University in 2012, gaining a First Class Honours degree in Dance Making and Performance. She has worked as a dance/theatre/circus performer, aerialist, teacher and project manager over the past 10 years.
She began working professionally in 2012 and has worked internationally with companies such as Fidgetfeet Aerial Dance Theatre, Glass House Dance and Flux Dance Theatre.
Steph is interested in how dance, circus and well-being interact to create opportunities
for people connect with each other and themselves. She began collaborating with Sioda in 2018 during her first Earth-bound performance project ‘Painting Venice’ and has been involved in all projects since. Steph also leads on Earth-bound education projects and assists with management and producing.
CHARLOTTE JARVIS – PERFORMER, MAKER & REHEARSAL DIRECTOR
Charlotte is an enthusiastic, passionate and intuitive performer, theatre-maker, director and puppet maker! Beginning her freelance career in 2017 after graduating from De Montfort University with a BaHon’s in Drama Studies, she has taken many roles from performer, puppet-Maker and clown. Her passion lies in her love for folklore, myth and the fantastical, often leading her to breathe new life into old stories. No audience is out-of-bounds, whether it be street theatre, specialised performances for disabled children and young people, in hospital wards or deep in the woodlands, Charlotte believes that theatre shouldn’t be contained by a stage and four black walls. She has previously worked with Bamboozle Theatre, Spark Arts and Enter Edem, on various shows and projects as well as independently with her one-woman puppetry show ‘Trinkets’ at the Nottingham Puppetry Festival (2021) and Hoopla! (2022) as well as campfire Critters at Forest Fields (2022). Charlotte has been working as an Earth-bound collaborator since 2021, working on the research & creation of ‘For The Love Of Stuff’
Simon Edwards – Mentor & collaborator @ actors space
Simon Edwards (U.K.) has worked internationally in theatre and film for over thirty years, as an actor, clown, director and teacher. He trained at the Jacques Lecoq theatre school in Paris and has been a core member of Kneehigh Theatre, for whom he directed Skulduggery, Arabian Nights and Telling Tales. He has taught at many festivals and congresses around the world including the UK, Spain, USA, South Africa, Iran, Germany, Ireland, Holland, France, Finland, Portugal and Ecuador.
Simon is a founder member of the Actors Space where he teaches acting and directing for stage and screen. He first worked with Sioda when she trained in the Art Of Comedy and Directing Theatre at the school and later Sioda invited Simon to the UK to run CPD workshops with local artists including her artistic team for ‘Painting Venice’. Simon took an interest in Sioda’s work and the company, her desire to mix physical comedy and dance and her passion behind the social justice themes of the work. He invited the company to do a residency at The Actors Space in 2019 where they worked together on the writing and dramaturgy of the show and Simon arranged a cultural exchange for Earth-bound, with circus training centre and venue; La Fabrica Do Somnis, BCN. The Actors Space hosted a performance of ‘Painting Venice’ at the venue and invited local street theatre artists and members of the local community to see the work.
From this point onwards Sioda and Simon continued to build on what has become a long term collaborative relationship and Sioda is now an Associate Artist of The Actors Space, which is an international centre for Theatre and Film that Simon co-directs with his partner Marian Masoliver. Sioda and Simon have developed and delivered ‘Creation Labs’ for artists, that combine the collective knowledge and skill set that they both bring and their working relationship is rich and inspiring offering a unique training to performance artists. As someone with 20 years more experience than Sioda, Simon has been an invaluable mentor and teacher. www.actors-space.org
Earth-bound are thankful to Arts Council England for supporting our projects. Without their funding our work would not be possible. Artistic Director Sioda is also thankful for funding and advice from Dancer’s Careers Development Service who supported her shift from performer to Theatre & Film Director and The Actors Space BCN for their continued support and guidance.
