Movement Studies | Floor Work

BIOGRAPHY

Thamsanqa (Thami) Majela is an award-winning South African artist whose multidisciplinary practice as a dancer, choreographer, and teacher has been sustained over more than fifteen years. Originating from the Free State province, his work is grounded in both personal history and broad socio-political inquiry — an inquiry that continues to evolve in response to shifting cultural landscapes on the African continent and beyond. Currently based between Bloemfontein and Johannesburg, Majela embodies an artistic identity that is deeply rooted in community, movement, memory, and transformation. Majela’s formal training commenced at the Tshwane University of Technology in Pretoria, where he completed a national diploma (NDip) in dance. This foundational training provided him with technical tools and theoretical exposure within the South African dance context. Yet, his pursuit of expanded horizons led him to Europe, where he enrolled in the renowned Performing Arts Research and Training Studios (P.A.R.T.S.) in Brussels, Belgium. At P.A.R.T.S., he immersed himself in advanced studies of contemporary performance, somatic practice, and choreographic theory, forging a rigorous framework that would underpin his evolving practice. This transcontinental education—African origin, European training—established the cross-cultural, interdisciplinary sensibility that continues to inform his work. 

MOVEMENT STUDIES

Movement Studies - Floor Work is a series of workshops offered/taught by Thamsanqa Majela. A contemporary dance workshop that equips movement practitioners with techniques and background in floor work. Majela’s experience is in release technique, William Forsythe improvisational technologies, and classical ballet, to mention a few. The floorwork workshops are an amalgamation of these dance techniques from Majela’s 15 years of experience as a graduate from the Performing Arts, Training & Research Studios in Brussels. The intensive workshops focus on assisting the participants with training and knowledge on how to apply dance in relation to the floor. The workshops challenge the participants through a series of exercises and improvisational series where the participants investigate their own personal bodies and responses to directions. The workshop emphasizes the importance of healing through dance and using breath as the fundamental tool to achieve this. To facilitate the healing part, breathing through the experience led by Thamsanqa, the participants are able to find their inner rhythm and understanding of where movement is initiated from. They experience the use of breath when the pace of the movement is slow & sustained and also when it is fast-paced, which requires a different application. The participants get to understand the relationships with the floor, its gravity, and how to use core strength. 

Majela has taught movement studies in different dance spaces and institutions such as ImPulsTanz Vienna International Dance Festival 2025, Market Theater Laboratory, ProfiTraining (Switzerland), Moving into Dance Mophatong (Johannesburg), Dance for All (Cape Town), Zama Dance School (Cape Town), Muda Africa (Tanzania), and Kigali Triennial Festival (Rwanda), to mention a few. 

The workshops accommodate both young and old people at different levels and with different abilities/disabilities.