A MASTERCLASS IN LONDON

Reclaiming Movement, Reclaiming Self

- By Thasmina Sookoor

When Sri Lankan dance movement therapist, artist, and performer Rangi Fernando steps into a studio, something profound begins to unfold. It’s not about choreography, performance, or precision. It’s about returning home; to the body, to breath, to truth.

She has been trained in Kandyan dancing from the age of six. This November, Rangi returns to London for her third Reclaiming Movement, Reclaiming Self masterclass, an immersive experience that invites participants to move, breathe, and rediscover the wisdom their bodies have always held. Her sessions are less about technique and more about presence, an exploration of what it means to be embodied in a world that constantly pulls us away from ourselves.

Movement as Memory, Movement as Language

Rangi holds a Master of Arts in Dance Movement Therapy and completed her clinical internship at the Royal Bolton Hospital (NHS) in the UK, where she worked with individuals navigating acute mental health challenges, Parkinson's, and dementia. These clinical encounters deepened her understanding of movement not just as art, but as communication, memory, and identity, particularly in moments when words fall short.

“In those hospital rooms,” she recalls, “I saw how the smallest gestures, a hand tremor, a shift in posture, carried more truth than words ever could. Movement was the bridge back to connection.” Her time in the NHS provided the foundation for what would become her life’s work: using movement as a pathway to healing, empowerment, and reconnection, especially for women who have been silenced or conditioned to disconnect from their physical and emotional selves.

The First to Pioneer Dance Movement Therapy in Sri Lanka