ID: A dancer of South Asian heritage with shoulder length hair. She is looking down with knees bent slightly inward. One hand is held above the head making a gesture with the thumb and ring finger bent towards the palm.

GATHER UP Presents is a gathering for the celebration of contemporary dance practice in Bristol, in partnership with Bristol Old Vic. Set over 3 days, between 26th-29th April 2025, we will present the work of Bristol movement practitioners and beyond through live performance, workshops, artist talks, and screen-based work.

Workshop with Divija Melally
Home:Body

The workshop will offer a combination of Divija’s ongoing research around the stories our bodies carry, human connection, and ‘Home’. Starting with games and movement warm-up to familiarise ourselves with the space and tune into our bodies, the session will lead into task-based improvisations exploring some of the themes of the workshop through movement and text. We will be using props and objects as prompts for our exploration. The objects will be visually described, and the interaction with these objects can be visual, auditory or tactile. The workshop will also involve using the gestural elements of Bharatanatyam (South Asian Classical Dance) to express the stories of our exploration. The workshop will look at how our body is a home to many stories, and how one object/ word can be perceived in multiple ways based on our lived experiences. We will be working individually, in pairs and as a group. Contact and floorwork is completely optional throughout the workshop, and all participants are invited to explore only as far as they feel comfortable.

Divija Melally is a movement artist trained in contemporary and Bharatanatyam, invested in taking movement and art to different spaces through performance, choreography and facilitation. Her creative practice revolves around exploring the amalgamation of contemporary dance and Bharatanatyam with text and theatre. She is interested in creating works that explore human themes, and strives to offer new perspectives and stories to her audience. Working with communities lies at the heart of her practice, and she facilitates sessions for refugees, asylum seekers, vulnerable communities, older groups, and young people. She has received the Moving with the Times commission from Pegasus Theatre in 2023 and 2024, and is currently working on the Dance East x Akademi commission exploring dance and its relation to health and well-being. Her work “One Foot in the Dark” in collaboration with writer and poet Saili Katebe, will premiere at Trinity Centre, Bristol on 13 May 2025.

https://www.divija-melally.com/

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Access:
Get in touch if you have access needs that we could support you with. Email us at: [email protected]

Creative Audio Description: if you are a visually impaired dancer planning to attend, you may like to book our free Creative Audio Describer service to provide you with 1:1 support during the class. Please get in touch if you would like to request this support.

Care Pot: the Care Pot exists to offer cash support towards childcare, parking, travel, access or other extra costs that may surround coming to these classes. Take a read and please be in touch with how we could cover some of your extra costs so that you can come along and participate.

Rest: Our spaces are rest welcome. There are various benches, seats and corners in the studio or you are always welcome to leave the studio for a break.

Find out more here: www.gatherup.live

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GATHER UP Presents is made possible thanks to our partner Bristol Old Vic. It is supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England and by Bristol City Council (Originators).

Entry requirements: 18+ — Read more — Read less