The Full Story
BEHIND PROJECT HER
HEY! it's so nice to have you here.
My name is Monta & I created Project Her in pursuit of a safe space within the dance community. Context matters.
I have trained in all styles for years, I have a BA (Hons) in Dance, but what really matters is - my experience during my training years and pursuit of a career.
Throughout all of my years of training, I really struggled to feel safe. To not feel judged, compared to, criticised.
Not by my peers, friends, and community, but by the auditions that would cut you the first round - based entirely on your aesthetic.
The comments employed professionals would make on set.
The feedback that wasn't feedback but rather an abrupt judgement of your entire worth based on your clothing size.
I started to dance at a young ago to escape bullying at school, it made me feel safe, seen, like I could express the stories and experiences in my head, but no one had to understand. It was like a healing love language, just for me.
Unfortunately, the very thing I was escaping followed me into my adulthood, and NO job is worth sacrificing your entire mental state and relationship with yourself. REMEMBER THAT!
So I quit.
I felt lost.
I completely lost my identity. I didn't know my self without dance.
A complete heartbreak. A whole grieving process. Re-building my sense of self.
A year had passed - a crazy year of re-discovering who I am, detaching my worth from dance, becoming curious of my journey and where the future will take me.
and then, I was given an opportunity to teach - fu*k it, right?
I was scared of dance feeling like something from a past life. Like it wasn't mine to have anymore. Like it would feel completely foreign to my body and mind.
Well, it felt different. It felt like that 12 year old geeky girl at school was completely running through my veins again, it felt - like home.
It felt like my magic was needed.
That I could give people a platform to feel what dance is SUPPOSED to make you feel.
At home with your body. To be challenged. To challenge your limiting beliefs. Finding freedom in just - being.
Allowing emotions and vulnerabilities to radiate through our bodies, to release them. To find like-minded people.
So, I turned my pain into my destiny.
To show that dance is supposed to free you, and not chain you down.
To show you that you are much much much more than your physical body.
To show you that mistakes are human, that we learn through our 'failures'.
To show you that connecting with your body, mind, and women alike, is magic.
I hope that gives you a little bit of context behind why 'Project Her' - a forever work in progress, a journey, of finding you, unapologetically.
I hope to see you in class to re-ignite your fire ✨
All my love,
Mon x
EMPOWER COLLABORATE TRANSFORM
At Project Her, no person is left behind. No matter what.
We build, learn, grow - TOGETHER.
Dance has always been a safe space, to explore, to be playful, to make mistakes, to learn, find new versions of you - that's what I have aimed to achieve for every single person that steps through those doors.
Building a community of women who dared to take a chance on themselves.
Dance is daring, dance is a rollercoaster of learning, it takes courage, it takes stepping out of your comfort zone - but darling, you are more capable than you could ever imagine.
We are so much stronger together - when we collaborate, uplift, support each other.
I can't carry this space all on my own - every single person contributes to it.
We all are in it together - truly.
We all pour our magic into this space which is why it is so special.
It's no ones to claim, everyone's to experience.
