Temenos Dance Collective Podcast

Emma Leech (5R)

Emma Leech has been dancing the 5Rhythms movement meditation practice for over 30 years. After diving into the practice for her own self healing from trauma of grief she took the path as a teacher of the practice and trained with Gabrielle Roth, qualifying in 2001.
Since 2001, Emma has travelled to different parts of the globe (and London’s suburbs) taking the dance to disadvantaged communities in prison, addiction recovery centres and even children living in the slums in Kolkata, India. Working with such a disparate range of communities has helped her to expand her teaching skills and insight into all walks of life, keeping her plugged into a reality of human survival where the dance can be of real service.
Emma is recognised for her theatre work, not only working with actors and companies to help deepen their connection to themselves, but also through classes and retreats. She is honoured to be one of just three teachers in the world who are an apprentice to teach Gabrielle Roth's 'God Sex and the Body' map.
It is the diversity of the 5 Rhythms practice that holds her passion and she is still excited to be working with a movement language that heals and transforms human suffering into moving art.​It was an absolute pleasure to sit down with Emma to discuss her journey and her work. https://www.emmadance.co/https://www.instagram.com/emmakristinared/

Ajay Rajani

For this episode we sat down with Ajay Rajani. Ajay is an accredited teacher of the 5Rhythms who trained with Jonathan Horan, son of Gabrielle Roth, in 2014. He was born in Africa with Indian roots and grew up in London, England where he thrives in a diverse, multicultural community speaking five international languages. His spiritual journey began over 20 years ago with a strong practice of seated meditation and this continues to inform his 5Rhythms teaching where he inspires embodying the moment and allowing your body to be your greatest teacher.    Ajay hosts a weekly 5Rhythms class at Colet House in west London every Thursday and regular workshops throughout the year. For more details and information visit: https://www.5rhythms.com/teachers/Ajay+Rajanihttps://www.colethouse.org/5rhythmslondon

Christian de Sousa (part 1)

Christian de Sousa is one of the most recognised names on the UK conscious dance scene. His Sweaty Thursdays night at St Peter's in Vauxhall ran for 14 years and is widely acknowledged as one of the most important dance spaces, touching the lives of thousands of dancers across the capital. It was an absolute pleasure to sit down with him to discuss his life, his journey and his current creative endeavours. This interview is part 1 of a 2 part series. In the next interview we will go deeper into Christian's work and explore the teachings and philosophies that he utilises. All Christian's work can be accessed through his website: https://glimpsesoflight.art/
 
Current Invitations: 
 
The Way of the Dancer (new programme of movement teaching 2024) https://glimpsesoflight.art/cat-movement/wayofthedancer2024/
 
The Dancefloor Jedi Project (membership service offering resources for dancers)  https://glimpsesoflight.art/dancefloorjedi/ 
 
Transmission (free monthly deep radio) https://glimpsesoflight.art/transmission/
(1st Thursday of the month)
 
Bio here: https://glimpsesoflight.art/bio/ 
 
A Short Film about Glimpses of Light is a 6min film exploring the essence of my work: https://glimpsesoflight.art/image/video/

Olivia Olla Palmer

Olivia Olla Palmer is without question a leading light in Italy's conscious dance world. In addition to being the first certified 5Rhythms teacher in Italy she has played a central role in helping to evolve Italy's conscious movement scene. She is qualified to teach the 5Rhythms WAVES & HEARTBEAT levels, she is a mentor for the Spaceholder program and a mentor to new certified 5Rhythms teachers. In addition to regular classes she founded the Midsummer Festival an annual summer event that brings different conscious dance modalities together in the beautiful Umbrian countryside each year for a 10-12 day gathering. She also organizes annual Easter and NYE events. It was an absolute pleasure to sit down with Olivia and learn more about her journey and her work.
For more information visit her website https://oliviaollapalmer.com/en/https://oliviaollapalmer.com/en/midsummer-festival/
NOTE: the interview was recorded online and there are some audio glitches in places.

Richard Parker

Richard is the organiser and founder of the Emerging Hearts Contact Improvisation Camps and has been hosting community spaces since the early noughties. He discovered Contact Improvisation in 2006 and has trained with many international teachers including Lisa Nelson, KJ Holmes, Nita Little, Andrew Harwood, Benno Voorham, Martin Keogh and Ray Chung. It was a pleasure to sit down with Richard to learn about his journey and discover his passion for community building.

Tim Barnes

Tim Barnes, one of a new breed of 5Rhythms teachers that completed their training in the post Covid era, is a Bristol based teacher that runs a weekly class the Tuesday Vibration and hosts regular classes and workshops in Bristol and London. Tim's passion and charisma shines through in his work, and it was a pleasure to sit down with him to find out more about him.
To find out more about Tim or connect with him check him out on Insta and social media. He also has a Mixcloud page so you can check out his music. 
@timbarnes5rhythms
@thetuesdayvibration
https://www.mixcloud.com/TimBarnes5Rhythms/

Rick Nodine

For this episode I had the privilege of sitting down with the living legend that is Rick Nodine. Rick lives and breathes Contact Improvisation and is internationally recognized as one of the leading teachers of CI. We talked about his years of study in contemporary dance, his journey to becoming a teacher and much more.To find out more about his classes and workshops visit https://www.ricknodine.com/
or follow him on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ricknodine/
@ricknodine

Harriet Waghorn

In this episode I sat down with Harriet Waghorn to talk about her creative projects and the role that contact improvisation plays in her work. Harriet is an international Director, Choreographer and Dance Artist. Harriet’s choreographic credits include Netflix, BFI, Sky Arts, Vice, Nowness and internationally exposed viral dance films ‘Abaddon’ and ‘Edifice’ which collectively have views of over 12 million. As a pioneer in her hybrid movement language combining ballroom and contemporary dance her work exudes passion, sensuality and connectivity in movement, in 2022 she was nominated for the “Women in Dance Leadership Award” and in 2021 Harriet was awarded one of 3 prestigious places with Akram Khan Company for Artistic Development in choreography with her company EDIFICE (co-directed by Carmine De Amicis). Harriet works in theatre, TV, film and commercials, and has worked as a choreographer, mentor to artists such as Michaela Cole, Raff Law and Sadie Frost and with brands including Adidas and The Savoy, London. Harriet has trained in Motion Capture and studied Film Direction at NFTS.
 
Based in London Harriet is additionally the co-founder and director of EDIFICE dance theatre alongside Carmine De Amicis. EDIFICE was founded in 2015 and creates works for the stage, film and immersive experiences touring international and throughout the UK. EDIFICE’s unique combination of ballroom and contemporary makes it different from any other company working in the UK offering works that challenge ideas of gender, sexuality, and form.  
 
As a performer Harriet has worked with  artists including International artist RAYE, Ekat Bork, The Riptide Movement, Nzobella and companies including Shobana Jeyasingh and Tavaziva Dance and has performed at The Royal Opera House, Sadlers Wells, Edinburgh Festival Hall, TATE Modern, Serpentine Gallery and has toured internationally.To find out more about her work visit her Instagram or website:https://www.instagram.com/harrietwaghorn/https://www.harrietwaghorn.com/

Dwayne Gumbs (DJ Gumbo)

Interview with Temenos resident DJ Dwayne Gumbs (aka DJ Gumbo). Founder and director of the Diverse Voices charity and head of Foresight Films, Dwayne is a writer, film director, musician and DJ. He sat down with Temenos head honcho Felix Oram to discuss all things conscious dance and to discuss his latest creative dance project. 

Alexa Ledecky (DJ LEXX)

We welcomed Alexa Ledecky (aka DJ LEXX) on to the podcast to talk about her journey into conscious dance, the Powerhouse DJ program and her Bristol based Soft Butch club night. Alexa will be playing at the Temenos Dance Collective on Friday 29th September 2023. To learn more about Lexx check out her Instagram pages @alexathedicewho (https://www.instagram.com/alexathedicewho/)
@softbutchbristol (https://www.instagram.com/softbutchbristol/)
@powerhousedjschool (https://www.instagram.com/powerhousedjschool/)