Angela Dennis is a visual artist and registered somatic movement educator accredited by the International Somatic Movement Education and Therapy Association. Based in Nottingham UK, they work with individuals and groups to support mental health through dance, meditation, breath-work and therapeutic arts practice. Angela’s movement background includes street dance, contemporary, 5Rhythms, contact improvisation, judo and yoga. Her work is informed by decolonial approaches, indigenous spiritual practice and African philosophy (Ubuntu).
A former photography professional working in London for over a decade, Angela has a keen technical eye and an interest in visual language. Angela has been using the arts to engage and support teenagers and young adults since 2013, before recently bringing an embodied and trauma-informed creative practice into secondary schools and wellbeing spaces. Angela completed a foundation course in Dance Movement Psychotherapy (Goldsmiths, 2019) and a Masters degree in Dance & Somatic Wellbeing: Connections to the Living Body (University of Central Lancashire, 2021).
Angela has since been working regularly with Micro Rainbow – a charity that supports LGBTQ+ asylum seekers with housing, asylum application and wellbeing, through their body and movement programme, and creative project intensives. Angela has also led workshops for Redhill Academy Trust and Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, and has recently been awarded a grant by New Art Exchange to program a series of somatic dance workshops for women coming in Autumn/Winter 24-25.
Angela is also interested in writing and research. ‘Movement Matters: Moving together in the first 1001 days of life’ (2022) was a seed practice research project into the potential for somatic dance to mitigate feelings of loneliness in young parents, as well as support the developmental needs of their young children. Angela led the research methodology and ethics application writing for this alumni research project, funded by the University of Central Lancashire, THRIVE and Dance Consortia NorthWest.
In her downtime, Angela enjoys regular yoga/meditation sessions and random bouts of dancing in the living room that help regulate her nervous system, plus rollerskating, cooking, and walks (or dances) in nature.