Preethi Athreya lives and works in Chennai, India and has a strong commitment to constantly redefine the Indian (female) body. She has been working within the Indian contemporary dance scene as a performer, choreographer, curator and facilitator, exploring questions of gender, history, resistance and solidarity. Deeply curious about inheritance, memory and collective histories, her work explores the political possibilities of moving bodies and the role of performance in the construction of the self. Athreya has created and co-produced thirteen original works, key among them being The Jumping Project (2015), The Lost Wax Project (2018), BIRD (2021), INHERITAGE (2023) and RUBBER GIRL (2025). She has been a resident choreographer at the Cite des Arts, Paris/ CND in 2022, as well as a recipient of the Camargo
Foundation’s fellowship in 2021 in Cassis, France. She was curator for performance in public spaces at the Serendipity Festival, Goa in 2024. In India, she was awarded the Bismillah Khan award for her choreographic contribution by the Ministry of Culture, India. Her work has been featured in forums such as the Szene Salzburg, Impulstanz Vienna, the South Bank Centre London, the Esplanade theatre in Singapore and JOMBA, Durban, South Africa, among others.
Dr Lliane Loots is a Lecturer in the Drama and Performance Studies Programme at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (Howard College Campus). She holds a Master’s degree in Gender Studies and completed her PhD in 2018, focusing on contemporary dance and performance histories on the African continent. Her work as an artist-scholar is grounded in ethnographic and autoethnographic approaches, with narrative as a central methodology. Loots is the founding Artistic Director and Curator of the Centre for Creative Arts’ annual JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience, an international festival that celebrates its 28th edition in 2026. She also founded FLATFOOT DANCE COMPANY in 2003, which developed from a training initiative established in 1994. As artistic director and resident choreographer, she has received numerous national awards and commissions, and has presented work across Europe and Africa. She has published widely on contemporary African dance histories and, most recently, with Prof Yvette Hutchison (Warwick University), co-authored Encountering Disability and Citizenship Through Contemporary Dance in Africa (Routledge, 2026). In recognition of her contributions to the arts, Loots was awarded the Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by the French government in 2017.
Ondiege Matthew is a dancer, choreographer, and DANCE INTO SPACE founder, a group of contemporary dancers, socially engaged performance artists, and the only mixed ability contemporary dance company in East Africa. Through exploring personal stories and employing participatory methods, the company under Ondiege creates touring productions, teaches dance, empowers people with different abilities, raises awareness on human rights issues, and strengthens self-advocacy. DANCE INTO SPACE works with other civil society members, creatives and government agencies, carries out civic education, constitutional education and human rights awareness among citizens in Kenya through the creative arts. As a leading contemporary dance choreographer as well as an activist, Ondiege has been using the mixed ability dance projects as a creative approach to inclusiveness since 2005. The projects address stigma while tackling punitive cultural practices that promote discrimination and basic human rights violations among people with disability. He continues to produce new and original works with his team.