Atmosphere of Agency
3 October 2024We’re excited to welcome Maisha Kungu and Lily Antonia to Company Chameleon this Autumn. The dynamic and inspiring duo are the first of three artists in residence as part of UPLIFT, our artist development programme for dance artists in the North West. Here they talk to us about their residency at Company Chameleon and the formation of their new company, UMAMI-i!
Q1) Tell us about yourself and your work.
Maisha (they/them): Ay up. I’m a neurodivergent queer artist, choreographer, performer, and movement director. My work is vibrant, kind-hearted, educational, and actively anti-racist. I use structured improvisation to unlock identity and harness authentic groove within body and soul.
Lily: I’m a dance artist, performer, teacher, and choreographer. My work centres around storytelling and human relationships, utilising movement and art as a form to share inner and outer worlds.
Both: Together we are UMAMI-i! A fledgling cross-genre performance company. Our aim is to delight, inspire and create. We’re currently working with contrasting modalities, distilling our ideas until we hit on the essence of each phrase or sequence, movement-dopamine-mining until we find that “satisfying oomph”.
We aim to be accessible and relevant, combining our different artistic skills, from contemporary, corporate entertainment and pop culture, to make work that can be enjoyed by dance connoisseurs and first-time viewers alike.
We are cultivating UMAMI-i! To become a sensorial burst of texture, sound and play.
Q2) What are you working on during your residency at Company Chameleon?
Lily: The residency coincides with us launching our dance company, UMAMI-i!, so it’s really an important time for us. In a discovery phase, we are looking at utilising and refining our shared skill set as a company, investigating music we deem “cool tracks” and pulling out polarities that are presenting themselves in our creative process.
Maisha: In the studio, we’re researching our combined-movement aesthetic, and company vibe, so we can build a uniquely satisfying choreographic brand. We really want people to see our movement and think straight away- that’s UMAMI-i!
Q3) What do you hope to achieve whilst in residence?
Lily: For us, it’s about building the foundations of a new, impactful contemporary dance company with longevity in the industry. As well as movement, choreography, and of course eventually building a piece, we’re thinking a lot about timelines, and strategy, learning what it takes to make a company, and all the important details we haven’t had time to think about before UPLIFT.
Q4) Why is the type of support that UPLIFT provides important?
Lily and Maisha: It’s super, super important!
Maisha: Us coming together as UPLIFT artists is an amazing opportunity for us to work in a more linear way, which is really refreshing for this industry. Instead of taking individual short contracts, we have the time, space and mentorship to really work together as a new duo. It’s the start of continual growth for us, with a hope to evolve beyond the end of UPLIFT into a fully developed company!
Lily: With us also working other jobs as we build, as artists it’s hard to find time together to genuinely focus and have dedicated time on our work. UPLIFT is giving us that time to focus on ourselves, and UPLIFT for us is so much more than just moving in a studio. It’s about having the space to refine and nurture our goals as a company moving forward.
Maisha: UPLIFT is our catalyst for things to come! As an independent artist, you need time to focus on each individual project, and to really think about what you’re making. Without the thinking time alongside your choreographic process, it feels like what we’d create is just movement. Instead, UPLIFT is allowing us to create something more lasting and impactful.
Lily: Even just knowing we have guaranteed space and time gives us breathing room around our work- we’re not having to rush, or settle on our first ideas, which has been really beneficial to how we are able to create.
Q5) Can you tell us anything about what you plan to share at the UPLIFT performance evening in November? And why should people book a ticket and come and watch?!
Lily: UMAMI-i! Is making work that is endearing, playful, sincere, and full of character. We need an audience as much as audiences want to see work! As a new company, it’s important for us to listen to feedback, and see what lands with audience members.
Maisha: I want people to feel included and invited into the world of whatever it is we do. I think I’d feel disappointed if people came away from our work without a strong opinion or feeling, so we’d really like to create an atmosphere of agency at the sharing. Sparking an open dialogue with Manchester audiences is so important for us moving forward, so buy an UPLIFT ticket now to see what UMAMI-i! has in store!
UMAMI-i! will present their work as part of Chameleon Presents: UPLIFT on Friday 15 November as part of a triple-bill of dance. The evening promises to be an opportunity to experience new works in progress from some of the region’s most exciting Dance Makers and a chance to feedback on the work created so far.
Chameleon presents: UPLIFT
Friday 15 November
7:30-9:30pm (doors open 7pm)
Company Chameleon, Barrass Street, Openshaw
Tickets: Pay as you feel
UPLIFT is a programme, which demonstrates Company Chameleon’s commitment to raising the bar for dance in the North West and supporting dance artists with different voices, histories and stories. Find out more about how we’re supporting dance talent in the North West here.