In this workshop dance, somatics and mindfulness are used to explore how oppression is rooted in the body and how we can shift its hold on our lives using mindful attention and movement.

Camille Barton is a movement artist who brings her passion for social change to life through a variety of art mediums, including dance, film and clowning. Her art practise fuses improvisation, ritual and Afrofuturism to weave new realities inspired by the creativity of the African Diaspora.

Most recently Camille directed and danced in ‘Space is the Place’, a three minute Afrofuturist sci-fi film produced by Channel 4 Random Acts. The film was selected to play at Sheffield Doc Fest 2018. Camille is currently exploring and developing a workshop series called Embodied Movement for Social Change, fusing somatics and dance to explore how oppression, such as sexism and racism, impacts the body. Camille is the founding director of the Collective Liberation Project (CLP). CLP designs educational experiences to help people understand oppression, and how it relates to their lived experience, so they can stop behaving in ways that reproduce oppression, such as racism and sexism.

This work is inspired by Camille’s ongoing research into somatics and social justice: exploring how trauma from oppression is rooted in the body and how it can be healed with movement and mindfulness. CLP has worked with clients including Quakers in Britain, Release, Sisters Uncut, The University of Sussex, SOAS, The Arts Marketing Association and Sunday Assembly London.

The workshop is part of performingborders | LIVE is a programme of events and new commissions focusing on the exploration of artistic practices happening within the UK live art sector around notions of cultural, juridical, racial, gendered, class, physical and everyday borders. Curated by Alessandra Cianetti and Xavier de Sousa.

Acknowledging that working with oppression can bring up feelings in the body, the aim is to provide a safe space to release emotion if you feel called and a separate space if you would like some quiet time on your own during the session.