Wayfinding

Sharanya is a dancer who is interested in exploring identity by navigating their sense of home and belonging. 

Sharanya says: “As a migrant in the UK, I am constantly figuring and reconfiguring my identity which includes my roots and my beliefs, which do not always align. However, dance lets me wiggle through these liminal spaces and thus you can always see me wiggle into spaces and make them my own.

“Recently, I have been working with other artists to create fun music videos and also letting myself have some fun with my dance practice. I am also constantly ideating on how to develop my own work further, which is called Khoj Pallavi or The Bloom of Search. Additionally, I am currently a part of Corvus Folk, where I work with other dancers and artists to revive folk traditions across Sussex, but in a fun way!”

Sharanya is looking forward to rediscovering their dancer self through Wayfinding and meeting some wonderful people to learn, collaborate and work with: "I am hoping that through Wayfinding I will be able to understand myself better, develop some essential skills required in producing solo work and also learn the art of engaging with others in a meaningful manner".

Zanni is an artist who works with the body and movement to explore possibilities, transformation, choice, multiplicity. They are passionate about exploring the body and movement through a queer and trans lens - queering up the body and reclaiming the potential and possibilities of dissident bodies, celebrating their imaginative and revolutionary superpowers. 

Zanni searches for connection through tapping into sensory and physical experiencing, foregrounding the body and movement as anchors for accessing these radical powers: “I see dance and movement as creating spaces for exploring and practicing ways of being, ways of relating, ways of approaching life, ways of being in space; for creating alternatives to the normative structures and systems of power. Spaces for practicing presence; practicing play and curiosity; practicing dissidence, disrupting and imagining.”

Zanni works as a dancer, maker and facilitator across the UK and Italy and are currently busy working as a performer on some research and performance projects; and as a facilitator, holding spaces for movement and for researching through movement. 

Through the Wayfinding programme, Zanni is really excited to explore more of the ‘making’ element of their work: getting support to create a structure that can allow them to dive into ideas they are wanting to research, building connections, exploring and strengthening what their voice is and can be as a maker. Zanni loves the idea of creating work that can generate exchange, dialogue, sharing and experiencing for and with the people witnessing. They are really excited and grateful for this opportunity to focus on this part of my work with some support and guidance.

Shani is a dance/movement artist and theatre maker who has worked on a range of projects from dance for screen to musical theatre to dance theatre. 

Using their unique lens as a queer, neurodivergent person from a working/ benefit class background to create work which questions who 'can' tell stories, where do these stories 'get' to be seen, and who 'can' watch them? 

They have worked with large companies and organisations such as Sky One, Matthew Bourne's New Adventures and most recently Chichester Festival Theatre (CFT) as an Emerging Artist. 

During this time Shani made their first, full length original piece of dance theatre Hydrophobia commissioned and funded by CFT and also supported by Brighton Dome and BN1 Arts. 

Alongside their choreographic practice, Shani is developing their leadership and facilitation practice; they studied as a trauma sensitive theatre maker which is embedded into everything they do and has begun the journey of creating a care and consent based facilitation practice, looking at questioning: how we hold performers in spaces, who can best access these spaces and how we can begin to change the systems, language and environments we create when facilitating spaces within dance and theatre, for wider inclusion and mindful practice. 

Shani is super excited to be working with South East Dance during this next stage of their career and is really grateful to have their support as a local artist.

George Linehan is graduate of Central School of Ballet and a freelance dance artist. 

Recently, he's been freelancing across a range of projects, attending workshops and auditions and developing ideas for his own work.

George loves all kinds of music from folk to modern metal, strength and conditioning in the gym, and Sussex craft ales and is passionate about working in inclusive, mixed ability settings, and engaging local communities in dance performance.

George says: "As part of the wayfinding programme I’m really excited to dive into sessions with knowledgeable practitioners who can provide me with insight into the realities of working as an movement artist. 

"One day I hope to produce and perform my own work locally, and I feel like the Wayfinding programme can really start me in the right direction!"

Pearl Makayi is a Brighton-based dance artist and filmmaker centring Black joy, care and everyday brilliance. 

Blending choreography with a cinematic eye, she creates intimate stories that live on screen and in public spaces. Recent projects include a Brighton Black History Month short film created with local artists. 

Pearl teaches and trains between Brighton and London and collaborates with community partners and independent venues. Her interests span screendance, movement direction, portraiture and site-responsive work. 

As part of Wayfinding, she’s excited to deepen her practice through shared studio time, professional class and mentoring, and to build a sustainable rhythm for making and sharing work in the city.

Hebe is a dance artist and emerging choreographer trained at London Contemporary Dance School, based in South-East England. 

As an artist, Hebe is drawn towards work which connects with audiences through storytelling. She freelances in the UK, working in both dance and physical-theatre, alongside making her own work. Recently, she has performed with Imagineer & Circolumbia in The Coming of the Gaels, performed at Godiva Festival and Bedworth Park, and as a devising performer with Dauntless Evolution (Odyssey, 2024). 

Hebe’s self-choreographed solo work Giselle, this time it’s about me, has been performed at Resolution Festival (The Place, 2023) and at Brighton Fringe (The Dance Space, 2024) as part of an award-nominated triple bill with work by harrynsmithy and Orla Hardie. Giselle, this time it’s about me brings dark humour and a contemporary perspective to this classical tale of love, betrayal and redemption.