Moving Kinship

Who I Am and What I do

I’m an Italian-Irish feminist and migrant (to the UK), and from a working-class family where I’m the first to go to university. My transgenerational legacy of anti-fascist resistance moved me to become a feminist. Feminism shapes my awareness of the co-existence of privilege and oppression. Because of this lived experience, I have a special interest in the relationship between transgenerational trauma, loss, grief and social justice.

I’ve been working at the intersections of artistic practice and psychotherapy in the UK for 25 years and am passionate about tackling interrelated social and environmental justice issues of intersectional body politics, loss, traumatic experiences in mental health, migration and ‘othering’ — through ethical, progressive and accountable practice. I do this through my award-winning transdisciplinary work: as a choreographer, filmmaker, UKCP reg. integrative movement psychotherapist, and trauma therapist, professora of capoeira, writer, researcher, educator, consultant, and founder/artistic director of the international Moving Kinship® performance Hubs.

This Year’s Highlights

My highlight this year is the publication of my new book ‘Moving Kinship: Practicing Feminist Justice in a More-than-Human World (Routledge 2024).’ The book is about my Moving Kinship® feminist practice that (re)generates boundaries between performance, participation, and activism. Touring trauma-responsive hubs across physical and digital borders, it champions inclusive engagement by uniting diverse dance artists with underrepresented communities. Everyone has a story worth listening to and Moving Kinship hubs listen with movement. Have a browse on my site to learn more about the hubs, how to get involved, and to find out about the book: www.beatriceallegranti.com

Valuable Lessons this Year

So far, the lessons I’ve learned this year are around patience – to keep going even though it feels like snail’s pace, and to trust in the inherently creative process in the face of such huge challenges to the UK Arts sector. Although it can feel like a luxury in our grind culture, another learning (turning) point for me has been to value a slower, gentler pace that allows for creativity and resilience to flourish. The final learning point is, where possible, to prioritise building partnerships face-to-face, to get the feel of a potential collaboration and dream into how it can become sustainable for all concerned.

Creativity and Wellbeing Week 2024

For CWW 2024 I’m launching a series of CPD for artists, health practitioners, carers, psychotherapists and arts therapists.
One of the events starting this week is ‘Moving with the Material,’ a monthly trauma-informed movement experiential group. These monthly sessions are designed to nurture a deeper, embodied relationship to change-making and activism, by addressing broader social, political and environmental concerns, hand-in-hand with our internalised biases, prejudices and assumptions — and to do this through the direct experience of our moving bodies.

Whether you’re a professional dance artist, involved in arts and/or healthcare, a psychotherapist (who moves), an arts therapist, or an activist, this monthly experiential group offers an opportunity to expand and resource your practice.
The invitation is to come ready to move, dance, play, discuss, write, draw and receive feedback within an environment that embraces mess, joy, humanity, grief and whatever you show up with. Details & registration: https://www.beatriceallegranti.com/cpd/

The Role of Creativity in a Health Crisis

It seems to me that role of creativity is to reimagine health and social systems that don’t depend on a ‘crisis model’ to maintain the status quo. This is what art and creative processes do best: we respond rather than react to change, pushing the limits of conventional thinking in imaginative ways. A creative, relational, embodied approach is the bedrock of my practice and my passion, and I like to think of Moving Kinship®, as a collective endeavour, not simply about accessibility and recovery from crisis, but about opening a space to re-imagine sustainable ways of embodied relating that are not yet accessible.

Spotlight

I’ve been impressed by Todd Henkin’s powerful work, which brings participatory songwriting to several different groups in vulnerable situations. Todd’s collaborations showcase the beauty that comes from listening to or witnessing someone in a difficult time, offering his craftsmanship in a way that facilitates grief, joy, and flow. The songs he’s creating with people are a tapestry of resilience. They inspire the kind of changes we need to ensure spaces for healing transform into places where people create, imagine, sing, and dance through their difficult stories. A song that you’ve written is an amazing gift to be able to revisit and draw from whenever you may need it. www.toddhenkin.com