Independance, based in the westend, offers classes to people from all across the West of Scotland with disabilities, and its performance wing is preparing to stage Whistler tomorrow and Saturday in the Tramway.

The company is among the first to use Tramway's new Work Room – which was built as part of the construction of Scottish Ballet's new headquarters – for its rehearsals.

Director Karen Anderson told The Extra: "One thing we aim to do is use professional spaces like this, so that our members know their work is being taken seriously".

Karen set up the company in 1996 to provide dance classes for disabled people – which now run at the CCA, Tramway and RSAMD.

But it's now branched out to outreach work, performance, and training courses for dance professionals and students who want to make their classes more accessible.

Karen added: "The company has also had other benefits I couldn't even imagine – for example on one of our trips abroad to perform, we took one of our members, Cathy.

"At the age of 62, she had never left Scotland; because of her participation in Indepen-dance she's been able to travel".

This December, 27 of the group will perform Whistler in Murcia, Spain.

Lucy Bennett, from choreographers Stopgap, spent a week in Belfast with the dancers getting to know them.

She told The Extra: "We decided to base the piece on their personalities.

"There are some small parts about individual people, but it's also about how they have learned to work together as a team.

"I hope the story of the company itself comes out in that".
Neil Price (28), who has Downs Syndrome, started as a class attendee but now works for the company part-time as a principal dance assistant.

He told The Extra: "Rehearsals have been quite difficult, but I'm really enjoying it. There is a lot of different stuff going on in this show.

"It will be really exciting to take it out to a new audience in Spain too".

Whistler is at Tramway Friday (November 6) and Saturday (November 7) from 7.30pm, tickets £8/£5.