Family Thing

Family Thing is freedom, self-confidence, energy, and motivation. . . a bomb of natural talent and passion which brings up hidden talents in the most brilliant people. We provides positive environments for people to express themselves through dance.

At Family Thing we celebrate each individual so that more people feel free to believe they can.


Family Thing is a dance school working with individuals and groups from marginalised, stigmatised and /or vulnerable people within our global community.

We work for and with people with learning differences and diverse abilities and have a number of crews in Brighton and East Sussex.

We teach a wide range of dance styles including Street Dance, Latin American and Line Dancing, offering group sessions and one-to-one classes.

At Family Thing we strive to support each individual to be able to express themselves and reach their full potential within dance. We believe that dancing is a great, fun way to build confidence and anyone can do it. Dancing with Family Thing has even helped boost the confidence of support staff and our volunteers, not just the service users!

Our Family Values:

Love, Respect, Understanding, Unity (Togetherness), and valuing each member of the family for their own qualities.

Love – “the unselfish loyal and benevolent concern for the good of another"

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A Bit About Kate:

Kate has 17 years dance teaching experience and qualified with the International Dance Teacher’s Association 14 years ago. Her teaching career began at her mum’s dance school in Cambridgeshire and from there she went on to work as a senior teacher and coach for national freestyle competitors, at The Miller Dance Centre in Norwich.

Kate has always had an interest in human connection and communication, which led her to read English Literature and Creative Writing at UEA, and later to qualify as a psychodynamic psychotherapeutic counsellor at Brighton University. Throughout her work within the fields of dance and counselling and in life, Kate has passionately pursued the importance of empathy and connection in enabling people to live to the fullness of their capacity, whilst valuing themselves and others.

Kate moved to Brighton in 2010, where she started working with people with additional needs. She founded the dance company Family Thing, and also worked as the adult company leader for the inclusive drama company BrightonShed. In 2017 she was part of their collaborative Brighton Fringe project with TheatreShed, called, ‘Wake Up Alice! ’, which played at the Brighton open air theatre (B. O. A. T) and in High Wycombe.

Following her first degree, Kate continues to write and perform spoken word. In 2015 she was the spoken word artist for ‘Traded’, which was a collaborative project between EIC Dance Company and Bucks New University to raise awareness around human trafficking. She has led choreographic workshops for Bucks New University, and was a lecturer on their Foundation Degree in Dance Teaching. In 2016, Kate wrote and performed in a comedy show, which ran for 4 days at Hove Grown festival and for a week on Brighton Fringe, as well as continuing her work with Family Thing.