Identities informed by dissolved [racial, cultural and artistic] histories often disrupt the direct connections to ancestral wisdoms and affect one’s lived experience of identity.
These ‘Stepping on Situ’ practice classes are informed by Francesca’s known South African lineage, spiritual and artistic practice. Participants will be guided through a compassionate yet rigorous practice encompassing improvisational scores and choreographic explorations, acknowledging the pelvis as a site that holds ancestral wisdom, intuition and identity, as well as original adaptations of the Nama Stap Dance that find rhythm in the feet.
These classes will encourage heat in our bodies as well as moments of breath, introspection, grounding, play, embodied storytelling and connection to intuition through an awareness of ancestry. This developing practice aims to offer all individuals an opportunity to delve deeper into their nuanced ways of connecting to ancestry through the body and movement. Thus it also encourages alternative routes for exploring our ever-changing identities and an affirmation and validation within the self.
Cancellations & refunds
Prices for classes are kept very low and are subsidised by ID in order to support artists to attend. To keep admin manageable for our small team, we don’t offer refunds if you cancel or can’t attend a class, and we can’t transfer your booking to a different class/event. We hope this is understandable. If a class is cancelled or changed by ID however, we do offer refunds/transfers to everyone who has booked.
Francesca Matthys is a South African Interdisciplinary Dance Artist, Writer, Facilitator and Kundalini Yoga Teacher based in London. Her practice is rooted in connections to ancestral wisdoms through movement, text, collaboration/community. Francesca holds an MA Creative Practice: Dance(distinction) from Trinity Laban and was a recipient of The Leverhulme Trust Scholarship & Gill Clarke Bursary. Francesca has collaborated with esteemed artists and produced her own work using dance, theatre and film in South Africa/abroad. Matthys’s writing is published in print/online publications. She has been part of collaborations supported by The British Council and Arts Council England. She participated in Talent Lab 23 in Luxembourg at Les Théâtres de la Ville as part of The Zebras Crossing Collective that she co-founded in 2022. She is a Theatre Rites associate artist 22/23. Francesca facilitates dance to individuals with learning disabilities. Matthys is a Creative Research Associate at the University of Johannesburg.