About Us
Who We Are
Gail Sixsmith
Gail Sixsmith is a Movement Specialist and Coach, specialising in the Expressive Body, Holistic Embodiment and Transformation through a variety of somatic and experiential means. Her experience spans a wide spectrum of artistic disciplines, ranging from Visual Arts to Dance Theatre and Film. Her experience as an Actor and Director includes wide ranging work in; Theatre (including the RSC, Immersive, Regional, Site Specific and International touring; Film (she recently won Best Actress Award for 'Violet'; and TV. She has been Artistic Director of her own Arts Council funded Physical Theatre Company 'Might & Main' and produced and written two short Films. Alongside her own creative projects, she has developed a detailed and developmental programme called Physical Practice, coaching Performing Arts students to open up their bodies to become expressive, potent and versatile actors. Gail’s extensive teaching and coaching experience includes her role as Head of Movement at Arts Ed, lecturing in Movement studies at Uni of West London, as well as a wide range of workshops both in an out of education. Gail’s work is highly visual and places the body centre stage. She is interested in discovering new narratives which are as much about giving expression to a ‘state’ as they are relational. She aims to make work that transcends cultural boundaries and which resonates on a humanistic level.
Celia Mendizabal
Celia Mendizabal has more than thirty years of experience as a performer. She is the co-founder and the artistic director of the acrobatic theatre company Circle of Two, touring internationally in circus, outdoor theatre, cabaret, and cruise-ships with a variety of acts and shows for the last twenty years. Celia holds a BA (Hons.) in Theatre Practice (circus) and a MA in Theatre Studies, researching the use of puppetry and masks. She has trained in different performing disciplines, including ballet, circus, puppetry, mime, and butoh dance, as well as yoga, pilates, taiji, qigong, capoeira and aikido. She was one of the first students in the UK to become an accredited instructor of the Biospirals® Method of Qigong and is one of the founding members of Biospirals Qigong UK. Over the last few years, Celia has been researching movement practices relating to the embodiment of the inanimate and the elements of nature. She is also working on the development of a methodology in which the practice of Qigong can be used as an expressive tool and as a way of transcending the human self in performance, where performer and audience can connect at a deeper and more subtle level.
Our
Story
We met through participating in an ongoing series of intensive Butoh workshops with Florencia Guerberoff, founder of Asian Performing Arts UK.
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After two years we decided that we wanted to create something together. We discovered that we were both fascinated by the stories of the tragic heroines in Greek Mythology. We both have a movement background and have a keen interest in film and visual arts. We are interested in how images, textures and sounds can be embodied and expressed.
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We decided to focus on the narratives of Ariadne, Clytemnestra, and Medea, and their fates. We started researching the stories of these women and found that there were recurring themes of abandonment, betrayal and sacrifice; themes which are still present in the lives of many women today.
Apart from the Classical sources, much of our inspiration comes from the works of Marguerite Yourcenar and Natalie Haynes, amongst others, as their potent work exemplifies a contemporary need to retell classical stories from an empowering female perspective. Our mission is to rediscover and empower the female gaze and to use these narratives as a gateway into a deeper understanding of body, image, sensation, and energetics and to discover a physical language that ignites imaginative expression.
We would like to share our discoveries and to connect with others that relate to our creative exploration. If you would like to receive updates about our project or hear about future workshops (both online and in-person), please sign up to our mailing list. We look forward to meeting you!