Sheema Kermani joined us for an immersive session on how dance is important for the feminist movement. She shared her own experience as a dancer and an activist in Pakistan, especially what it has been like to perform under patriarchal surveillance that actively curtails any liberatory embodied movements and wants to distance itself from South Asia’s “immoral past”. She discussed how dance as an explicitly political and feminist practice did not just help her build a discipline, but also allowed for healing and spritual growth in times of crises. The audience was encouraged to explore and sustain a relationship of trust and joy with their bodies, esp for women and queer folks, who occupy a specifically gendered and embodied reality. 

She welcomed the audience to participate in body work and introduced the audience to a few, traditional practices in classical dance, and talked about the loss of cultural memory in a very commercialised present.