In December 2019 Anthony Matsena was appointed our director of performance following his debut production here in the barn at Messums Wiltshire. As performance associate Anthony has been working on a new and groundbreaking dance production alongside his brother Kel Matsena to be performed in September 2020.
Anthony and Kel Matsena – Zimbabwean born and Welsh raised brothers, have built a love and curiosity for telling stories that express themes of culture, race, change and belonging. Having trained at prestigious schools: London Contemporary Dance School and Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, which then led to them developing a passion to drive narratives using a wide range of performance disciplines. Their ambition is to continue to encourage people to have conversations about the difficulties faced in our society.
September 2020
Eight dancers took to the stage at Messums Wiltshire for a new performance ‘Geometry of Fear’ choreographed by our Performance Associate Anthony Matsena.
‘Geometry of Fear’ was made in response to the repercussions of COVID-19 and the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement and uses – as its start point – the creative energy of Elisabeth Frink’s output and her recreated Woolland Studio, installed in the historic barn at Messums Wiltshire.
September 2019
‘When It Arrives’ looks at the process needed for the transformation of one from body and spirit to a free roaming spirit and is inspired by the words of James L. Hallenbeck, M.D.
“Death may arrive with a bang, but more often it comes quietly, without so much as a sigh. The moment of death is sacred in the deepest sense, and words do it no justice. It is a time to witness silently a passing.”
The Guardian
‘Empowering instead of terrifying’
The New Yorker
‘Through the haze of tear gas and the noise of flashbangs, it’s hard to tell at first that this nine-minute filmed performance from Matsena Performance Theater is set right now, in the midst of Black Lives Matter protests and the coronavirus pandemic. But soon we focus on one Black man, terrified not only by the violence and death around him but also by the feeling that the rest of the world has moved on, leaving him lost and alone in his vividly rendered trauma.’ JESSE GREEN
The Guardian
‘There’s a fire inside’: the new generation of political dance rebels’
