Glanio is a partnership between 3 creatives - Marla King (she/her), Clara Rust (she/her) and Fin Jordão (they/them) and Impelo. The Glanio Collective came together in the Spring of 2021 through an Artscape project relating to sense of place, climate justice and outdoor arts.

Glanio will now be taking residence in Machynlleth in April 2023 and Llandrindod in September 2023 so for anyone engaging with the project we thought it would be great for you to meet the team of creatives pioneering this extraordinary work.

Marla King (she/her)

Marla is a Welsh freelance dance artist and climate justice activist. Since training at Northern School of Contemporary Dance, she became an apprentice dancer with National Dance Company Wales and has since worked with choreographers including Rhiannon Faith Company, Rendez Vous Dance, Eleesha Drennan, Gwyn Emberton, Elisabeth Schilling and Jack Philp. She has also worked on projects with Impelo - a wonderful community dance organisation, and an inspiring, supportive partner on the Glanio project. Marla is a co-facilitator of the Resilience Project which aims empower young people who are experiencing climate anxiety and burnout from activism, through exploring creative processes that can help foster emotional awareness, collective care, and wellbeing whilst recognising the deep need for rooting relationships and actions in care and compassion. Through creative commissions and collaborative projects, she is continuing to explore the role of the arts, movement and embodiment can hold in strengthening ecological connection and understanding.

Marla feels strongly about the importance of collective learning, fostering connection and compassion, and intentional spaces for creativity and imagination – exploring the possibilities for alternative, more just and sustainable futures, and finding ways to bring these hopes for the future into our every day, even in the smallest ways. She also works for SAIL, an arts organisation who are supporting the creative and cultural sector to feel empowered to take climate action, and facilitates workshops with artists and organisations exploring ways to embed climate action within their creative practice in more holistic and justice centred ways.

Image shows a female dancer wearing black dugarees and a patterned long sleave top. She has light brown hair tied up in a long ponytail. She is stood up and stretching over to one side with both arms in the air. She is looking up at the sky thoughtf

Image is of a female dancer from the shoulders up, it is a portrait photo. The background is grey wood and she is outside. Her top is red and her hair is light brown and long.

Fin Jordão (they/them)

Fin J grew up thinking dance was not for them only to find themselves working on dance performance projects again and again. They made Cymru home 10 years ago and continue to question what that means. They went to Japan with a performance about nuclear contamination, staged a feminist oral history at Volcano Theatre and curated a program of ecological art residencies at CAT. They are endlessly curious about being embodied, the extended mind and collective intelligence.

The image is black and white and mainly a landscape photograph of the beach with calm waves. The image shows the silhouette / faint outline of Fin and they are stood in the water with bare feet.

Clara Rust (she/her)

Clara is a Welsh freelance dancer, movement practitioner, multi-disciplinary artist and yoga teacher. Her creative practice flows where inspiration is found - not one to be confined to one style or medium, she enjoys exploring different pathways for curiosity to lead her work into various forms of expression, including abstract art, intricate mandalas, film, movement etc. She is passionate about weaving a focus on wellbeing throughout her work and encouraging embodied, empowered, connected communities. Taking a holistic approach is important to her ethos, both in creation and in facilitating spaces for people to explore, learn and express their creativity freely. Clara trained at London Contemporary Dance School, where she gained her BA Hons degree. After graduating she travelled internationally, working as a videographer to support charities and indigenous communities to showcase their work in environmental conservation and permaculture projects. Clara has been working in the community dance sector for the past 5 years, with organisations such as Impelo on a variety of dance and movement projects.

“I am intrigued to see how ‘Glanio' will emerge and flourish in Machynlleth this Spring and how this site-specific piece will find its voice in Mach. I feel honoured to work with such a wonderful team of people on this project, who have a variety of skills, experiences, passions and perspectives. I’m looking forward to getting to know the landscape and environment better, spending time connecting with the community and collaborating with local artists. For me, this encompasses such a core part of the work.”

Meet the Collective!

Marla King (she/her)

Fin Jordão (they/them)

Clara Rust (she/her)