Startup Wrapup: Sheree Lenting

Interview by Lydia Wharf

Featured picture: Jean-Baptiste Baele and Sheree Lenting at the Beyond Borders Lab. Photo: Naomi van de Burgt

“It’s the way I work – as an artist who’s engaged in dance society, and for art as a medium of healing.” Sheree Lenting describes herself as an ‘Artivist’ – her creative work is socially engaged, often tapping in to issues with particular resonance in modern life. She recently curated and successfully delivered the Beyond Borders Lab, a weekend of workshops to deep-dive into adoption stories for participants with lived experience. Her interest in this topic had begun with TR Citizens, a Theatre Rotterdam curatorial programme that ran from 2020 to 2023, that allowed the life stories of local people to surface as multidisciplinary theatrical experiences. “The last of the TR Citizens had direct experience of adoption. Our work built on that, revealing layers of the system, parts of which my research suggested were illegal, and designed to cater to the demand for adoptees in the west. It was clear that there are many others in the community with this experience whose stories hadn’t been told, and whilst they’re connected by the theme, their experiences are all individual. I wanted to find a way of bringing them together.”

The Madagascan-born artist Jean Baptiste Baele is one such adoptee. His solo Nabinam was presented in Aerowaves’ 2023 programme in Dublin, and its synergy with Lenting’s TR Citizens work made it an ideal choice for her Startup Forum project. The programme she designed culminated in a weekend workshop exploring adoption for up to 10 participants with lived experience of the theme in September at Dansateliers Rotterdam, with Nabinam front and centre. “I wanted to use Jean Baptiste’s story as a way of empowering others,” says Lenting. “That’s what I felt I could do – to centre this around community. Using the body to exchange with others can be such a powerful thing. There are many others that have this experience of being adopted, of being in the foster care system, or just being from Caribbean or African communities where loads of children do not grow up with their parents, but are for long periods in the care of an auntie or grandparent while their parents work.”

“We had a great response to the callout,” Lenting tells me. “We attracted participants with backgrounds in various dance practices, but also in music and acting; we had participants with roots in Surinam, China, Taiwan, Sri Lanka, South Africa and Ethiopia; two even travelled from Sweden to join us. For everyone, it was a great opportunity to dive into their roots.”

Surinamese soup and a shortened version of Nabinam provided a jumping off point. A documentary following Baele’s return visit to Madagascar gave additional context, and Lenting hosted a post-show discussion with Baele to frame and invite his perspective on the making process. Over the weekend, both artist and curator actively participated in every part of the project, alongside participants – ably supported by a team of collaborators that included an ever-present psychologist, highly experienced coaches/dramaturges (among them Lloyd Marengo, a mentor and strong creative influence for Lenting), dance therapists, and a documentary-style photographer attending throughout who had experience of working with the adopted community. Lenting admits that she is a “perfectionist – I was nervous about having overlooked anything. I was opening up a new space – a space that has not existed before – and I had to be ok with planning carefully but not knowing how it would feel for the participants.”

The first day’s sessions enabled a focus on movement: “We had to get into our bodies,” Lenting explains. As part of the dance therapy sessions, the development of ‘authentic movement’ required participants to listen to the inner voice of the body. “This was not about dance, but connecting with the inner self – which could be challenging. Everyone wanted to participate but there was initially some resistance and tension in the group. Fortunately we managed to move forward: we built trust, and slowly our work together unlocked a transformation.”” All participants received individual feedback from one of the coaches before sharing material created during the workshop in a gathering to conclude the event. The audience was a small, select group, including specialists from the adoption sector.

Undoubtedly, the attention to detail and consistency of the people in the room (both Lenting and Baele plus 10 participants attended every session) created a safe space for exploration, whether through writing or movement tasks, alone or together, generating material, learning social dances, exploring joy or grief, channelling emotions through the body. Sheree’s background in hip hop has a heavy influence. “I wanted to create a family vibe,” she explains. “That’s something I always try to bring to my work because it’s part of the ethos I take forward into the studio. And food was also a big thing because it really connects people. We were so lucky to have a brilliant cook. These moments of eating and tidying away afterwards brought us all together with something to share and enjoy, an opportunity to gather and talk or work outside the studio.”

Not everything went to plan, of course. Lenting describes a swerve when a session with highly respected psychiatrist Dr Glenn Helberg, which would have included an important ritual element looking at trauma and grief in the body, had to be cancelled due to illness. Baele and Lenting filled in with different sessions, the former leading a structured creative process and the latter exploring dreams using a poem by Maya Angelou as the starting point for the creation of individual body poems.

Asked about learning from this project, Lenting is reluctant to be drawn. “It’s too fresh. I can only give you a reaction, not a proper reflection yet. That’ll be what comes next.” She goes on to acknowledge that participants have all expressed interest in the ‘next phase’ of the project, that there’s considerable momentum and appetite for more of the space she’s created. “It was quite exhausting spiritually,” she adds, “and I think we all need a period of rest and reflection – but I’d like to use what we’ve learned and take it forward and I’m excited about that possibility. I’m also so grateful to have had this opportunity to serve the community. I knew the lab would have impact, but I didn’t know just how profound it might be.”