© Lisi Estaras
Bodies at Work. Lisi Estaras / Monkey Mind
A collective encounter, where differences in bodies, stories, and perspectives are a driving force for imagination and creation.
How can dance become a universal language that opens space for all bodies, stories, and perspectives? In this workshop, internationally renowned choreographer Lisi Estaras invites dance enthusiasts – with and without disabilities – to create a shared vocabulary of movement and expression.
In recent years, Estaras developed her MonkeyMind method: a way of translating the chaotic stream of thoughts and emotions into language, rhythm, and choreography. Since her first experience with inclusive dance at Platform-K in 2016, this has become a cornerstone of her artistic path. She discovered that performers with disabilities often connect intuitively to instinctive, emotional movement. The focus is never on limitation, but on creativity, energy, and choice. The workshop creates a space where traditional roles between teacher and student shift, and where participants lead and inspire one another.
Improvisation, group dynamics, and individual exploration intertwine, gradually forming a collective dance language. But above all, Estaras emphasizes that her method is not adapted for disabled dancers. Instead, it grows with their bodies and imaginations. By embracing movements that fall outside traditional training, Estaras and her collaborators “unlearn” the habits of conventional dance. This process opens unknown paths: exciting, raw, transformative. The engagement with disability is not a mere aesthetic decision—it reshapes how we think of choreography, theatre, and even the world itself.
Reflecting on this practice means working with diverse bodyminds, including our own evolving and ageing bodies. The workshop therefore becomes more than training: it is a collective encounter, where difference is a motor for creation and connection.
Read also Lisi's tribute to Hannah Bekemans, one of the dancers from Platform-K with whom she has been working regularly since 2016. Part of Etcetera's ‘Belichaamd Erfgoed’.
Practical
➤ language: EN
➤ Accessibility
➤ The workshop is designed for an inclusive group of participants, with varying physical abilities and ages.
➤ Recommended: comfortable clothing
Lisi Estaras (1971) is a choreographer and performer. Her works focus on the connection between physicality and thoughts, actions and words. She started to dance in Cordoba, Argentina. After studies in social work combined with professional dance training, she leftArgentina to study at the Rubin Academy of Music and Dance in Jerusalem. Quite soon afterwards, she joined the Batsheva Dance Company in Tel Aviv. After five years in the company, she moved to Europe and joined les ballets C de la B. She created and danced: Iets op Bach, Wolf, VSPRS, Pitié!, C(H)OEURS and Tauberbach by Alain Platel and Tempus Fugit by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui. As a choreographer at les ballets C de la B, she created Patchagonia, Bolero, The Gaza Monologues, primero-erscht, Dans Dans…
In 2016, she created her first inclusive piece: Monkey Mind. This work with three dancers with Down Syndrome was a significant step for her later choreographic work. For the research into her ‘Monkey Mind's method, Lisi is granted several scholarships by the Flemish Authorities. This research concentrates on the themes of kinesthetic, empathy and the mirror neurons. In relation to Art (dance) Brut and will be further explored and developed in the projects to come.
Since 2017, together with Nicole Petit, she has been leading her own company, MonkeyMind Company, based in Ghent, with which she has produced the following works: The Jewish Connection Project, SONICO (the heart is the muscle we like to workout), A bigger thing with Opera Ballet Vlaanderen and #THISISBEAUTY, a solo for her 50th year anniversary.
Her interest in combining words and movement has led her to choreograph and perform for different productions; Hiob by Sandra Strunz (Theater, Bonn), Das Brennende Haus by Emilio Garcia Wehbi and Maricel Alvarez (City Theater, Bern), The speech (Festival Equilibrium, Rome), Het Hamilton Complex by Lies Pauwels (HETPALEIS, Antwerp), Love Boulevard (Berliner Ensemble), Madame Bovary by Michael De Cock and Carme Portaccelli (KVS, Brussels), Tupac by Junior Sephunyane Mthombeni. Jr.Cesar (KVS, Brussels) and Mother Courage by Lisaboa Houbrechts (KVS, Brussels and Toneelhuis, Antwerpen). She collaborates with: Unmute Dance Company (Cape Town), Ballet Contemporaneo Teatro San Martin (Buenos Aires), KVS (Brussels), Mercat de les Flors (Barcelona), B12 (Berlin), Dorky Park/Constanza Macras (Berlin), Campo (Ghent), MA Maison de la Culture (Montbelliard), laGeste (Ghent) and others.
Lisi carries out research projects at the AP Hogeschool in Antwerp, devoted to Art Brut, dance and disabilities and with Carla Carmona at the University of Sevilla, focusing on the work of Ludwig Wittgenstein.
In 2025, Lisi premiered Pasos en la noche (2050) for the Ballet Contemporaneo Teatro San Martin in Buenos Aires, a piece for 24 dancers based on the compositions of the avant garde tango composer Eduardo Rovira.
What we can do together is the new production of MonkeyMind Company which premiered in the December Dance 2024 Festival in Bruges. A collaborative mixability work with performers from South Africa and Belgium, it can be seen in the 2025/2026 season around Europe.
Location
Price
Pay what you can (€0 / €5 / €10)
Additional info
Max. 20 participants
