J’ai Un Bleu | I Have A Bruise

Laura is a Franco English multi-disciplinary artist based in London. Her practice combines contemporary dance, visual arts, theatre, and yoga. She is motivated by womanhood and eco feminist themes. As the artistic director of WomanEwer, she is interested in exploring authentic movement and speech to release emotions, and unlock trauma stored in certain parts of the body as a form of empowerment. This is reflected in her latest work J’ai Un Bleu // I Have A Bruise.

Laura also works as a performer for Van Huynh Company in DEP, Rebirth, Exquisite Noise, Etta Ermini Dance Theatre in Glam, Levantes Dance Theatre in Canape Art, and previously Autin Dance Theatre in Out of The Deep Blue. She has travelled extensively, working both as a dancer and workshop leader, for Dance Bridges Festival 2019 & 2024 in Kolkata, India alongside Van Huynh Co as well as France, New Caledonia, Vietnam, Norway, Sweden, Spain and Italy.

Sara Maurizi is a dance artist and performer based in London. After being part of VERVE and achieving her MA in Contemporary Dance Performance at NSCD, Sara began her career as a freelancer. She has worked internationally with choreographers and artists such as Marina Abramovic, Kimberly Bartosik, Claudia La Vista, Patscharaporn Distakul, Alice Gosti, Maxine Doyle, Joao Cidade, Supple Nam, among others.

In 2020, together with Virginia Poli, she co-founded VI.SA. Dance Project, a collective with whom she has been creating work and developing a creative and teaching practice. Since 2021, she has been the Assistant Rehearsal Director of WomanEwer.

Akshiti Roychowdhury is an alumnus of Nritygram, where she trained under gurus Bijayini Satpathy, Surupa Sen and Pavithra Reddy, and fully embodies the intense years of training in this style of Odissi.

Some of her notable performances in India include the Naman Festival, Nadam Festival, Anubhava Festival and Rasanubhava Dance Festival (all Bengaluru), Music Academy (Chennai), NCPA (Mumbai), LasyaKalpa Festival (Hyderabad), Serendipity Art Festival ( Goa ) and at the Isha Foundation (Coimbatore). Internationally she has performed at the White Light Festival, Wesleyan University, Stockbridge Theater and at the Temple of Dendur at MET Museum (all in the USA), the Royal Festival Hall (UK), in Srilanka, and in Xian, China. Gent, Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Leuven, Antwerp ( all in Europe ).

More recently, she had been training in Kalaripayattu, and is carving a name for herself as a soloist and a choreographer. Her keen understanding of Odissi biomechanics and body conditioning brings strength and nuance to her own performances and informs her practice as a teacher to impart safe and effective training for future dancers and all others.

Rashmi Mali is a movement artist, performer, and Kathak dancer from Pune, Maharashtra. She holds a Master’s degree in Kathak from Lalit Kala Kendra, Pune, and has trained in the form for over nine years. Alongside teaching Kathak, she explores Kalaripayattu and contemporary movement practices. Her performance credits include Frame at the IAPR Dance Festival, INC by Sasha Waltz & Guests (directed by Hrishikesh Pawar), and Hrishikesh Pawar’s Fluid Frontiers and UTRAI. She also contributed to the movement choreography for the Marathi theatre production VANAVA. Her practice investigates embodiment and interdisciplinary performance through movement.

Greeshma Narendran is a Kochi based actor and movement artist whose practice weaves Contemporary Dance, Physical Theatre, Bharathanatyam and Kalaripayattu. With a degree in Performing Arts and a Masters in Psychology, she brings both grounding and emotional depth to her work. She has worked with dance companies and art spaces across Kochi and Bangalore. As a creative collaborator and performer, she has worked on the contemporary dance and theatre productions, Neythe by Mamangam Dance Company, Gossip by Thudippu Dance Foundation, Transcendance by Boho Moves and Beyond the Land of Hattamala by Space of Act Theatre Collective. Her stage experience ranges from grand musicals to intimate performances on national and international platforms. She has also choreographed and performed for music videos and live shows along with an acting career in films. Deeply invested in community, she founded Kala Forum- a space where artists connect, create, and collaborate.

An independent contemporary dancer and physical theatre artist, they have developed their movement practice through self-directed training, residencies, and intensive programmes. Drawing from Contemporary Dance, Jazz, Ballet, Breaking, and Physical Theatre, they continue to explore physicality and embodied performance. Their work examines the lived realities of women in the Global South, using improvisation and abstract theatrical expression to investigate themes of gender, identity, and violence.

Tanaya Nair is an ecologist and dancer from Bangalore. She has a background in dance and yoga, and is currently doing a PhD in Geography and the Environment. Being amidst ancient and contemporary movement practices, and western and indegenous knowledge systems, she hopes to find a practice that can hold them together.

Henna Raisinghani is a movement artist, performer, and Dance Movement Psychotherapist based in Pune, India. Trained in Contemporary dance, Kalaripayattu, Breaking, and House Dance, she merges performance with therapeutic inquiry. Henna holds a Master’s degree in Dance Movement Psychotherapy from Goldsmiths, University of London, and has refined her craft at Attakkalari, Centre for Movement Arts. She founded The Open Door, a studio dedicated to art, movement, and art-based therapy, and teaches contemporary dance at the Centre for Contemporary Dance (COCD) in Pune and Attakkalari, Centre for Movement Arts in Bangalore. Henna has worked clinically, facilitating Movement Therapy sessions in India and the UK with organizations such as Avartan Dance Foundation, Pune, the East London NHS Foundation Trust, London and Rashi Trehan Mental Wellness Clinic, Delhi.