About Ummi
Alongside her work with The Explore Practice, Ummi is a professional dancer, mover, dance teacher and maker under the name of Ummi Yanuba.
Dancer and Mover
Ummi Yanuba is a (contemporary) dancer and performer. She graduated from the Expanded Contemporary Dance program at Amsterdam University of the Arts. Her training spans a broad range of techniques, centering on somatics and body awareness. In her journey, Ummi has developed a signature style characterized by fluidity, strength, and a love for improvisation, floorwork, Countertechnique and breaking. Outside the stage, Ummi diversifies her bodily vocabulary through bouldering, martial arts, yoga and parkour.
Performances: Currently, Ummi is working with Anouk van Dijk and Falk Richter in a new production. Recent performances include 'Knock Out' by Jakop Ahlbom Company x ISH, 'FUNK' by Christian Guerrematchi, 'We Want It All' by ICK Amsterdam and 'Reverberated Emissions' by Andreas Hannes.
Teacher
Besides developing and sharing her own practice (see The Explore Practice), Ummi also likes to teach dance classes. She offers courses in various styles, including Floorwork, Contemporary, Urban Contemporary, Improvisation, Movement research, African Dance, and Afro Contemporary. Regardless of the genre, her teaching philosophy remains rooted in fostering a love for dance, emphasizing enjoyment and connection with oneself and others.
Currently, Ummi is teaching the We Dance Together Series at ICK Amsterdam, as well as teaching at various primary schools with the organization Hallo Wereld.
Maker
As a creator, Ummi is captivated by themes of nondualism, interconnectedness, art as an immersive experience and the inherent power of “being fully with (...)”. Her projects, such as #nofilter, Stubbornism, and Meat by Meat, delve into the abstract terrains of self, other and environment, while questioning the norms of our current day society.
