Dance of Dis(order) is a movement workshop exploring how our bodies can create, inhabit, and transform structures. The workshop will draw on Esme’s practice which is informed by dance improvisation, Somatics, K.R.U.M.P., Clowning and automatic writing/mark-making. This mix cultivates responsiveness, emotional depth, play, and rule‑breaking to support a dynamic relationship between structure and disorder. Language and mark‑making become embodied practices in their own right, extending the exploration beyond movement, and giving shape to our inner and outer states.
You will approach structure by working with the body as a site of architecture and re‑architecture. Rhythm and repetition guide the process, acting as both anchor and disruptor. Through improvisation and somatic noticing, you will tune into where structure settles and where disorder emerges, moving through states of tension, release, vibration, and interruption. These shifts reveal variations that open new ways of sensing, moving, and imagining ourselves—individually and collectively.
This workshop is part of Spring Gathering. Check out the rest of the programme below.
Esme Rocha-Benjamin (she/they) is a dance artist, somatic practitioner, and researcher whose work delves into embodied culture, queerness, and mixity. They have spent over a decade performing and collaborating with artists and companies including Uchenna Dance, Kloé Dean, Babel Theatre, Farrell Cox and Francis Angol. Esme previously created work as part of KWAM Collective—most notably co‑creating the internationally award‑winning experimental short dance film, SOMA—and is currently an Associate Artist at Hoxton Hall.
Across their performance-making, teaching, and research, Esme investigates the body, its place in the world, and the intersections of the personal, social, creative, and theoretical. She is currently pursuing a Practice Research PhD at the Centre for Dance Research (Coventry University), fully funded by Midlands4Cities (Arts and Humanities Research Council). Esme’s research explores how the mixed‑heritage queer body navigates disorder through creative practice, examining how displacement, identity, and embodied resistance are experienced and expressed through and with the body.
Independent Dance is resident at Siobhan Davies Studios. To find out more about accessibility and the amenities available within the building please see here.
If you have any questions about the accessibility of our programme and would like to discuss any specific access requirements, please feel free to reach out to us via email info@independentdance.co.uk or by phone on 0207 091 9650, to speak to a member of the Independent Dance team.
During class, all participants are welcome to take breaks, observe, exit and enter the space as they wish. Lounge areas are available on the first and ground floors of the building. Yoga mats, blocks, cushions and ear defenders are available for use. We also welcome you being in contact if you would like to discuss the option of bringing your access support worker. Please speak to a member of the ID team if you require any assistance.
