Yasmin Mello
23 July to 29 July
Reflections of Womanhood - in conversation with my mom

Reflections on Womanhood - in conversation with my mom is a residency to reflect about concepts of femininity, sisterhood, ancestry and identity in collaboration with my mom. This residency proposes to use creative writing and guided conversations through Zoom, with my mom as a source of inspiration, to create a movement anthology that investigates what it means to be a woman and how the concept of womanhood presents itself between different generations. 

I have spent the last two years developing my artistic process and methodologies to engage with text, writing, film and theatre from a movement background, and that led me to seek the support of Create to learn more about socially engaged and collaborative practices. In the past few months I was mentored by Feidlim Cannon to investigate the ethical, emotional and practical implications of making art in a community setting. The first thing Feidlim said to me was that as artists, it is important to turn the mirror upon ourselves and with that in mind, I decided to reflect on my own history. Being a Brazilian woman from a mixed race, mixed religious background, I discovered aspects of my experience that were not challenged or revised, and the assistance of my mom to understand the impact of these experiences in my life became essential. 

I realised that if I am to facilitate work that requires a deep commitment with identity, history and memory from my fellow creative collaborators, I need to be able to make the same plunge into understanding my own identity. This residency is the reverberation of that desire to connect and build a trustworthy creative process that can offer support and a safe space for these conversations to take place.

Poetic Movement workshop with dance artist Yasmin Mello, Thursday 28 July, 3.00pm to 4.30pm. 
No Dance Background required. Booking here: https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/poetic-movement-workshop-with-dance-artist-yasmin-mello-tickets-377836678677
Yasmin invites participants to experience some of the concepts of Poetic Movement from the Echo Echo Dance Company combined with creative writing and other movement methodologies in a fun and joyful space. Centred on the questions: “How can we use autobiographical references to create a dance grammatical sentence?”; “What is the intention behind a movement?”; “How can we use ritual and celebration to explore our own history through movement?” movers will explore through improvisational tasks, ways to playfully connect mind and body while experimenting with their own movement baggage, uncovering hidden movement stories and being committed to what they propose with their dancing to create instant solo compositions.

Yasmin Mello is a Brazilian Dublin-based dance artist interested in making interdisciplinary work exploring themes of migration, myths and memory through surreal imagery and collaborative creation using creative writing, movement and storytelling. After achieving a MPhil in Theatre and Performance (TCD) she went on to develop the piece “Marbleface'' an occult dance-monologue commissioned by the Imagine Arts Festival 2021 and awarded the first National Dance Residence Partnership. She has worked with Steve Batts, Bernadette Divilly and was recently awarded a mentorship with Feidlim Cannon from Brokentalkers Theatre Company by Create to transition to collaborative and socially engaged arts practices.

https://yasminmellocabrera.wixsite.com/artist

@yasminmellocabrera

WCAC acknowledges the financial support of the Arts Council and Cork County Council in making these residencies possible.