An eccentric dancer, choreographer and writer, Catherine Nakawesa is Handshake 302’s current resident artist.

Nakawesa was first exposed to contemporary dance in 2001, while she was a student of electrical engineering at Makerere University Kampala in Uganda. On completing her degree in 2005, she chose instead to pursue her passion for dance.

She is developing a practice of “applied dance,” a term she’s coined to refer to the concept of making dance relevant to everyday living and global development. She is the artistic director of Beautiful Feet Dance Company, which has mostly engaged in projects with female dancers. She is also the co-founder of Clay Dance Company, which runs programs to mentor young people through dance. She was the creative director of Viva! from 2011-2016, a program of Viva Ltd., a health and wellness company which employs dance, among other tools, to help people experience holistic living.

Nakawesa is passionate about collaborating with artists from diverse backgrounds. Her artistic career spans countries including Senegal, Burkina Faso, South Africa, Tunisia, Belgium, Austria, Israel and South Korea where she’s performed, trained, collaborated with several artists and taught workshops. In her works, she relentlessly seeks to find new ways to move, to create, to communicate and most of all, to inspire.

Handshake 302, a project initiated by Shenzhen-based U.S. anthropologist Mary Ann O’Donnell, engages with Shenzhen’s urban village Baishizhou through art, theater and social media documentary projects.

Time: 7-9 p.m., July 11

Venue: Now · Phenomenon Urban Studio, 502, 5/F, Building 41, Shahe Industrial Park, Baishizhou, Nanshan District (南山区白石洲沙河工业区41栋5楼502现·象城市工作室)

Metro: Line 1, Baishizhou Station (白石洲站), Exit A

(SD News)