This workshop explored anatomy as described through the pūrākau (story) of Hineahuone, the first woman, created from the sacred red clay of Papatūānuku. Rachel has developed the Hineahuone Embodied Anatomy (HEA) practice over years through investigating the intersections and relationships between inner and outer landscapes and the physical anatomy through the lenses of Western, Chinese and now Māori knowledge bases. Rachel has worked with Body Mind Centering, contemporary dance, improvised and site specific performance, Contact Improvisation and other somatic (body awareness) practices.

This practice is a recalibration and diagnostic tool, to enable greater awareness of the location, function, state and potentials of our bodily structures, as well as practical movements that enable evolution towards greater ease and health in both physical and emotional levels.

Moving with and from the different structures of our body allows us to find new pathways and connections inside our body, to the space around us, and to the elements that we are created from. We can also find insights into the potential of our bodily structures as powerful sources of emotional energy within performance contexts.