Point of Contact - Ancestral wisdom Series/Encountering Others

Point of contact - ancestral wisdom is a workshop series that aims to create a fertile space for discovery for movement practitioners, actors, dancers and devisers alike where possible applications can emerge in synergy with the space and other people, and gift performers with potent rituals, stemming from a variety of folkloric forms that will expand their consciousness and enhance their artistic expressions.

The choice of bringing folkloric forms to the forefront is intentional. To decentralise contemporary western practices and encourage an horizontal type of teaching and learning. To celebrate the interconnectedness of different artistic expressions and to encourage actors and dancers to cohabit spaces more often; to learn from each other and to share their craft. To recognise themselves as multidisciplary artists.

To experience voice as an instrument of the body. To heighten our sense of selves and others in relational dynamics; to consider every element of the space -visible and invisible- as an extension of ourselves. To navigate improvisation with others with intention. To celebrate the body through rhythm. To play with qualities of sound and its absence; when we are left with its ripple effects in the body, how can we master its gifts?

Ultimately, to bring balance between skill, awareness, inner life and performance, where skill is finally accompanied by rooted presence and a luminous inner life.

When: 23/11/2025

Time: from 10am to 4.30pm (the studio will be available from 9.45am)

Where: Siobhan Davis Studios (closest station Elephant and Castle, London)

Cost: £135 until the 17th of October, regular price £155 contact movementdeco@gmail.com for payments and if you require a 2 instalment payment plan

What to wear: Comfortable clothing that allows you to move freely in space and in connection with others. Elements of weight sharing dynamics with partners will be explored. Bear feet is strongly adviced. Socks or in door shoes can be worned at your discretion.

This workshops welcomes a variety of abilities, however, a level of experience in movement and performative arts (dance, theatre, phyisical theatre, multidiscliplinary) is required.

About the organiser:

Nicoletta ‘Key’ Bonanni is a movement specialist for dance, theatre and screen, with a particular interest in education and creation. She holds an MA in Movement: Directing and Teaching from the Royal Central school Of Speech and Drama, a diploma from the Senegalese International dance school ‘Ecole des Sables’ in traditional and modern dances from West Africa and from the ‘Teatro Nacional de Cuba’ In modern Cuban technique.

She is a researcher, folklore lover, educator, choreographer, movement coach and director, intimacy director, performer and writer, who has fulfilled many different roles within the performing art scene and within community settings, in a variety of work environments and countries such as UK, Kosovo, Senegal, Italy, Mexico, Switzerland, Greece and Granada. Her practice intends to share and celebrate an integrated vision of the body-mind-consciousness system through movement. She integrates approaches without hierarchies, sharing a mindful yet courageous creative process both in rehearsal and through her teachings.

She has taught in a variety of dance organisations, Universities and Drama Schools in London, and she is now an assistant professor in Movement and Intimacy for the Ensemble at LAMDA, teaching and directing across several courses.

She is a multidisciplinary artist, passionate about creating collaborative spaces that encourage and celebrate the interconnectedness of diffferent artistic expressions.

First collaborators:

Baris Yazar and Shaya Ghadimi from Bambubodies

Capoeira is a holistic art form that encompasses martial art, dance, storytelling, poetry, music and activism. Bambubodies explores movement through the lens of Capoeira with a movement practice that aims to develop peoples’ physical literacy. Supported by full body conditioning, rhytmical movement patterns and playful encounters with others, people expand their agility, strength and suppleness in the body while exploring a variety of inversions and acrobatics in a supportive and gradual way. Through movement inquiries people learn how to expand their ranges of motion with freedom and ownership, exploring parterning games that encourage resisting and surrendering dynamics within the specifity of the Capoeira language.

The workshop:

Nicoletta, Shaya and Baris will collaborate throughout the day exploring ensemble movement, partnering work and individual inquiries through holistic movement languages that aim to decolonise or decentralise aspects of contemporary movement approaches, rooting the body-mind-consciousness system in ancestral wisdom and radical presence. The day is designed for performers and movement practitioners alike, interested in deepening their agility and suppleness in movement and applying it for their devising, performing and teaching practices. The participants will experience ways formovement, voice and rhythm to co-exist and interact with fluidity and reciprocity. They will be offered a dramaturgical lens to approach these systems, enabling the transition between tasks and application within the devising and performative realm.