CONSCIOUS DANCE AOTEAROA
Meet the Team
Our mission is to create an opportunity for those on a moving path, or those interested in learning more about Conscious Dance to gather together to share knowledge and live and move in community for a time. In an age of high tech saturation where speed and end goals are the currency, we’re inspired to gather, earth ourselves and connect. We hope deep nurture and inspiration will result and who knows what wonderful things may unfold from here!
(Image by Karaena Vincent)
(Image by Glenn Bisdee)
(image by Glenn Bisdee)
(Image by Karaena Vincent)
HESTER PHILLIPS
"My deepest self speaks through movement, dance is my native tongue.”
Hester is dedicated to liberating the creative spirit in others and is passionate about how creativity and most especially dance can support and empower people and communities.
Hester holds a Master of Arts in Art Therapy and is a professional Arts Therapist. Hester has a busy private practice where she specialises in working with clients living with Trauma using a wide range of embodied practices evolving from the field of Somatic Psychology. Hester is an accredited Open Floor movement meditation teacher and co-founder and director of Conscious Dance Aotearoa. Since 2005, she has facilitated regular conscious dance classes and workshops. Hester has a passion for Social Justice and has an enduring interest in how collective spaces facilitate or not personal liberation. Hester holds a degree in Political Science and facilitates Conscious Dance spaces that embody the liberation she longs to see in the wider world. Hester is a mother and in her spare time she likes to DJ.
(image by James Hudson photography)
(Image by Oliver Crawford)
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(Image by Keith Morris)
(image by James Hudson photography)
CHLOE LOFTUS
Dancing has always been a part of Chloe’s life and she has been creating new and exciting choreographic work that engages the public eye for almost two decades.
Contact dance features heavily in Chloe’s repertoire and she is a great believer in improvisation as a tool for releasing creativity and nourishing souls, teaching extensively throughout the UK and NZ. “There is something innate about the connection humans have to movement and music. Its potential to inspire, ground and create moments of connection and pure joy is both powerful and exciting.”
Italian born and New Zealand bred, Chloe Loftus emigrated to the UK in 1997. Alongside working internationally as a freelance dancer, Chloe choreographs and performs for her own company, Chloe Loftus Dance, formed in 2005. Her work is routed in contemporary dance-theatre and she’s passionate about creating work outdoors, ventures into harness aerial dance and Mass Movement Direction for large-scale events. Chloe has received many distinctions for her contributions to the dance world including nomination for a Theatre Critics of Wales Award for Best Small Scale Dance Production. She has been fortunate enough to create work for Cultural Olympiad events, numerous music and arts festivals and has collaborated with National Theatre Wales and the Welsh School of Architecture. Chloe returned to live in New Zealand in 2016 and is excited to be continuing her movement explorations here.
This event is generously supported by many members of the Conscious Dance community. We extend our heartfelt thanks for their contributions and encouragement.