Effie McGuire Ward is a contemporary dance artist based in Milton Keynes.
Effie undertakes work as a performer, choreographer and teacher across community dance, educational and professional settings. Her performance roles have included working with Shobana Jeyasingh, Rosemary Lee, and Stopgap Dance Company. Her recent co-creation and performance projects include collaborating with Luminelle on Kindred – an interactive dance experience for grown ups and their 0-5 year olds; and with Eek & Wild: performing on the children’s wards at Chelsea and Westminster hospital.
Effie teaches contemporary classes for young people at Tring Park Performance Academy, and regularly facilitates open classes for adults and professional dancers. Her teaching and facilitation roles have included delivering classes, workshops and residencies for Rambert, Rambert School, DanceXchange/ FABRIC Birmingham, Brum Pro Class, EMDAN, BOTH, Open University Dance Group, Hull Dance, and Yorkshire Movement and Dance. Alongside her teaching and performance work, Effie co-founded and co-directed MÓTUS, a dance organisation and festival for Milton Keynes for its first five years. In 2024, Effie has helped to launch and lead Drift Pro Dance and Movement – an initiative to provide dance professionals in the South East Midlands with opportunities to train and connect in Bedford, Milton Keynes and Northampton.
Effie enjoys working in partnership on choreographic projects. This includes ongoing project ‘Anthology of Touches’ with Luke Birch which has been supported with residencies from Hull Dance and Pavilion Dance South West, Bournemouth; and presented at Offbeat Festival, Oxford. Thomas D Gray, a visual artist and filmmaker, has also been a regular collaborator in recent years. Through this collaboration, Phantasm – a dance film for the Art Wall at the London Hippodrome (co-choreographed with Laura Gibson) – and Natural Magic, a site specific commission for Milton Keynes’ first Midsummer Festival, have emerged.