Hana Umeda’s workshop goes to the very essence of the question Whose body is my body?, revealing how deeply rooted patterns of patriarchal control shape our bodies, movement and everyday gestures. In a space of sharing and physical work, she opens up possibilities for taking back our bodies and seeks out new strategies of resistance to those who would try to control them.

Building on the performance Rape Flower, Hana Umeda’s workshop creates a space for examining the impacts of societal norms on our bodies. Hana deals with the ways in which deeply rooted patterns of patriarchal control not only shape our perception of sexuality, but also how we move and exist in our bodies.

Through work with the body, discussion and sharing, the workshop focuses on ways of uncovering and disrupting these patterns. What strategies can help us reassess our relationships with our own bodies? How does rape culture permeate movement, space and everyday gestures? The workshop offers a space for searching for new forms of resistance, expression and self-determination.

Bio

Hana Umeda is a performer, director, dancer and Natori at the Jiutamai Hanasaki-ryu School. She graduated from the SoDA-MA program at HZT, Berlin University of Arts and Cultural Studies and the Institute of Polish Culture at the University of Warsaw. In 2018, she was a scholarship holder in the National Cultural Centre’s Young Poland program, where she made her directorial debut with KOMUNA WARSZAWA. Five years ago, she adopted the name Sada Hanasaki as a dancer of Jiutamai Hanasaki-ryu. From 2021-2023, she worked with The Centre in Motion collective. She won the first edition of the Scenes of New Situations artists residency at the Contemporary Theatre in Szczecin. She was nominated for the IDFA DocLab competition in the Immersive NonFiction 2023 category for the VR Close, in which she initiated research on intergenerational traces of sexual violence.

Running time: 120–180 minutes

The workshop will be held in English.

This workshop is for people who identify as women or have had the experience of being a woman.

The workshop concerns sexual violence.