This screen dance performance investigates dance as an embodied form of activism, foregrounding the woman’s body as a site of disruptive presencing within contexts shaped by gender-based violence (GBV) and the systemic policing of women’s bodies. Anchored by the assertion #NotAskingForIt, the work considers how a woman’s unapologetic, self-determined presence in space constitutes a political act. It engages ritualised movement to navigate tensions between institutional silence and lived, embodied experience. Rather than treating movement as symbolic, the performance mobilises the body as a tool of resistance, using gestures, pauses, and deliberate spatial occupation as acts of refusal and reclamation. The phrase #NotAskingForIt becomes a corporeal vocabulary asserting bodily autonomy, reproductive sovereignty, and the right to exist without surveillance or justification. Through repetition, exhaustion, and weighted stillness, the choreography reveals the endurance demanded of women while resisting narratives of passivity. The video medium extends this inquiry through framing, camera angles, and digital mediation that amplify presence and disrupt voyeuristic gazes. By reshaping how the body is seen, the work challenges regimes of visibility and control. Situated within Global South discourse, it positions dance as a critical embodied practice that confronts injustice and insists on visibility and agency.
Marcia Mzindle holds an MA from the University of KwaZulu-Natal. She is a freelance writer, choreographer and dancer. Mzindle also has a National Certificate in Film and Television Production Operations from BigFish School of Digital Filmmaking in conjunction with Mnet-Magic Factory and is also a Drama graduate from the Durban University of Technology. Mzindle’s career in theatre has included diverse activities such as directing, acting and assistant stage manager. Marcia’s primary research interests are in the areas of/in the body, particularly Black Women’s bodies. Mzindle is interested in dance education, dance studies, and physical performances. As well as an interest in all aspects of Theatre Studies, with a particular focus on directing, acting, and writing for stage and screen