Madeline Squire - Dancer/Choreographer and Dance Inclusion
Madeline Squire. © Jack Thomson
Madeline Squire is a First Artist with Scottish Ballet and, aside from dancing, is a rising choreographer. However, what most people aren’t aware of is that she is invisibly and fluctuatingly disabled, and the reason it’s not widely known is that neither she nor the company makes a particularly big deal about it. This is how inclusion should be, but so often isn’t.
Madeline joined Scottish Ballet in 2014 after training at the English National Ballet School. Her website lists all the subsequent dance and choreographic achievements you would expect. However, it also includes, almost in passing, details of what happened to change her life, which I quote verbatim here:
’In 2017, Madeline had a sudden isolated neurological attack. She went from doing a full traditional ballet class to not being able to feel her hands and losing motion in her legs. Through long rehabilitation, she was incredibly lucky to regain movement in her legs and return to the stage performing, as well as creating. Some ’limitations’ remain in her left leg, but rather than looking at these negatively, this has opened her mind to the dance world and the opportunities of how to channel experiences, value and versatility into her work. It has only sparked more creativity.’
There is also a three-minute video called The Shimmering Extraordinary, in which you can see Madeline dancing and talking about what happened to her.
It’s a heartwarming story when you know it, but most in the audience don’t, and they don’t actually need to know — Scottish Ballet continues to deliver great ballet that pleases theatre-goers, and that’s what counts.
Companies like Candoco, who expand the landscape of dance and disability, have long shown that bodies and minds, in all their rich variety, can produce and offer amazing work. But it’s also terrific to see one of the mainstream companies quietly and thoughtfully showing that meaningful inclusion enriches us all.
Getting back to Madeline Squire, she is most definitely on my choreographer’s radar, and I look forward to tracking her progress. Her first main stage commission from Scottish Ballet, Echo Echo, premiered in Dunfermline last autumn, and I was there to review it. Also interested in her latest work for the United Nations in Geneva - it looks amazing. And as a dancer I look forward to seeing her in Scottish Ballet’s new Mary, Queen of Scots premiering at the Edinburgh Festival on the 15 August 2025. In the meantime, go visit her website and catch her on Insta.