One Foot In the Dark: Divija Melally & Saili Katebe

Event information

One Foot in the Dark is an exploration of our known and unknown experiences of identity, culture and change through text and movement. It comprises a double bill of a solo ‘The Skeleton is White’ and duet ‘Six Degrees from Home’, both honest explorations of two artists from the global majority understanding what it means to navigate through life, questions and unknowns.

‘One Foot in the Dark’ is a collaboration between dancer Divija Melally and poet Saili Katebe, and is an exploration of our known and unknown experiences of identity, culture and change through text and movement. The answers we are often looking for are waiting on the other side of discomfort, challenging norms and old stories from the past. This collaboration looks at the ways in which movement and language in their various forms can come together in a creative outlet for all the stories that we carry.

Here's what previous audience members have said:


“A beautiful double bill where the connection between the audience and performers was so tangible.”
“Melally has managed to encapsulate an overwhelmingly huge topic into something beautiful, powerful and cool.”
“A moving, profound and compelling piece. I was left thinking deeply about journeys, home, place and boundaries and my
relationship to them.”
“Fresh & powerful ways of approaching the themes.”
“A magnet that kept pulling us back in."


The Skeleton is White
How do we erase the inscribed whiteness of the skeleton?
The project choreographically explores the physical metamorphosis of the body in reaction to the ethnicity and nature of the environment. Even if there is no immediate harm, merely the anticipation of racism, and not necessarily the act, is enough to trigger a stress response. The work aspires to investigate the effects of the stress response system on the somatic and fascial level of bodily movement, and how this could manifest into the entire physicality of the person.
Combining elements of contemporary dance, Indian Classical dance and physical theatre, ‘The Skeleton is White’ explores listening to our bodies, and what it has to say after probably generations of being silenced and suppressed. The work hopes not only to understand how stress and trauma manifests in our body, so that we can find ways to release them, but also to provide strength, support and inspiration to communities so that they don’t stand alone in their struggles.

Choreographer & performer: Divija Melally
Music: Christopher Serazzi
Dramaturg: Vicki Hearne

Six Degrees from Home
Different genders, cultures, and artistic practices exploring connection in a home away from home.
In a world where we are many things at the same time, how do we say the things we want to say but cannot? What valuable information is lost in translation when language and our bodies are telling different stories?
Combining elements of movement and spoken word, the duet explores the the idea of making and breaking borders with our bodies, and how this translates into contact and movement. It plays with the qualities of welcoming softness or rigid harshness, and explores the reactions and responses to these. The work also makes and breaks borders with the two different art forms, and switches between creating a clear distinction between the two forms to merging them so that the difference between the two is lost and it seems to be one unique vocabulary. The work hopes to contribute towards erasing invisible lines and creating a kind and welcoming world.

Creation and performance: Divija Melally & Saili Katebe
Music composition and sound design: George Bloomfield
Dramaturg: Vicki Hearne, Theo Clinkard and Malaika Kegode
Mentoring: Richard Chappell Dance

Divija Melally is a trained contemporary and Indian classical dancer. She graduated from Bath Spa University with BA (Hons) Dance, and is dedicated to the arts, and spreading the intricate nuances of dance through performance, teaching, and choreography. She has completed a 2-year diploma in Movement Arts and Mixed Media, which focused on ballet, contemporary and martial arts, from Attakkalari Centre for Movement Arts, India. Her creative practice revolves around exploring the amalgamation of contemporary and Indian Classical dance. She is interested in creating works that explore social and political themes, and she hopes to help the audience be more aware of the world that they live in through her art.

Saili Katebe is a writer, performer and workshop facilitator. Born in Zambia and now based in the South West of England, his work celebrates language and the power of story. Author of his debut poetry Pamphlet, Katabasis (Frosted Fire Press), his work has been featured on BBC Arts and BBC Radio Bristol.

He was a poet in residence on board SS Great Britain in 2019, and part of the "Iron Island" Project bringing the ship back to life, has appeared on stages across the country including performances as a finalist at the BBC Edinburgh Festival Fringe Slam in 2018. He has received various commissions for his writing including, Celebrating Age Wiltshire Commission, BBC Protest commission (“Portrait of a Poet as Protest”), Festival UK 2022, SS Great Britain
(“She Made It Back”), and BBC Radio Bristol (“Difference Makers”). He has also worked as an actor in Autobahn (Neil LaBute), Nothing by Lulu Raczka, Iphigenia by Jane Lumley, Howl by Russel Ecclestone. He is the resident poet in conference at Afrika Eye (Feast for Mandela) and Wiltshire BME network. From commissions to collaboration, he looks for opportunities to explore and express the nuances of moving through the world.


Ashburton Arts Centre
Always three prices – please pay what you can. Pay less, come to more!
See Access, Tickets & Finding Us for more about why there are three ticket prices, plus other useful info about coming to events at Ashburton Arts Centre.
Level access from street – please contact us on boxoffice@ashburtonarts.org.uk if a wheelchair space is needed, or if you have any other special requirements.