Denise Rowe

Denise Rowe is a choreographer, dancer, movement artist, singer and mbira player with 10 years experience performing and teaching traditional and contemporary pan-African dance.

To know her personally has been a gift. Denise is a lovely, inspirational woman who has indeed took me on a movement journey that has been incredible, educational and just generally inspiring. I know that she has taught me many things and the memory of that will stay with me for a long time.

Never put together a piece of choreography together in this way before. Seemingly non-related pieces of structured improvisation fitted together as if it had been the grand plan all along. None of it was forced and we were open to where the choreography wanted to lead us.

Site - Coombe Abbey

One of the sites at Coombe Abbey used for inspiration for Rooted. A place so familiar to me now yet still contains the magic. Memories of my time there will linger. I hope I left an impression there no matter how insignificant. Conversations with trees, details of life, being still yet open and full and being part of the landscape. Calm, Peaceful, Magical, Quiet, Interruptions, Connotations, Flickers of Movements in the outskirts of my eyes, Cannot control anything here... why would I want to?

Expanding my Movement Vocabulary

After participating in 5 intensive dance sessions with choreographer and performer Denise Rowe, I feel like I have expanded my movement vocabulary and explored an entirely new way of moving. We focused on moving within the landscape of music, articulating different parts of the body and leading with different body parts. As we were working with aspects of African dance we were also thinking about being grounded, whilst being full and open. I can't believe some of the movement that I was creating. Things I thought would work wouldn't and mistakes or falls would suddenly become this new burst of movement. I learnt just to let go and instead of looking for new movement, just being open to new movement. How can you continually find new ways of movement? I'm constantly using my body in various ways everyday but still manage to do things I didn't know I could do. Be aware of being stuck in my old ways of movement.