Froebel Trust Autumn Lecture 2022

This year's Froebel Trust Autumn Lecture will be presented by the Matsena brothers.

'Telling stories about radical change and belonging'

Anthony and Kel Matsena were born in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe and brought up in Swansea. They have become acclaimed choreographers and performers - and set up the award-winning dance company, Matsena Productions.

Together Anthony and Kel have built a love and curiosity for telling stories that express themes of culture, race, change and belonging. Their ambition is to continue to encourage people to have conversations about the difficulties faced in our society.

The brothers speak about "the power of family, love and creativity" and will reflect on their journey to becoming two of the most innovative and in-demand emerging artists on the UK dance scene.

Thursday 10 November 2022
7pm to 8.15pm. Online - via zoom.
Book your free ticket now

Having a background in traditional African dancing and a strong background in different styles of hip-hop and krump, the brothers merge contemporary movements together to give performance a whole new meaning. Strongly moved by aspects of theatre, poetry and writing, the brothers' work tends to combine different aspects of the performative arts.

Their recent work has drawn national and international attention, with performances on the main stage of Sadler's Wells as part of Dancing Nation - a project co-ordinated by Sadler's Wells and the BBC. In April 2022 the BBC produced a documentary about the brothers' lives and work - "Brothers in Dance". This is available to watch on BBCiPlayer.

Anthony Matsena

Born in Zimbabwe and raised in Wales, choreographer and movement director Anthony trained at the prestigious London Contemporary Dance School. Along with his brother Kel, he is the co-Artistic Director of their award-winning company Matsena Productions. They most recently wrote and directed original piece Geometry of Fear for Messums Wiltshire and adapted it for a livestream performance on BBC's Dancing Nation as Shades of Blue. Anthony is also director of performance and performance associate at Messums Wiltshire. He is an associate artist of National Dance Company Wales and was selected as one of the inaugural Young Associates at Sadler's Wells Theatre in 2018.

Kel Matsena

Welsh-Zimbabwean actor, writer and director Kel graduated from Bristol Old Vic Theatre in 2019. He recently played the role of Anton in A Monster Calls UK/US Tour directed by Sally Cookson and appeared as guest lead Mo Adebayo in BBC's Doctors. He, with brother Anthony, are co-artistic directors of Matsena Productions, an award-winning dance company. They most recently wrote and directed original piece Geometry of Fear for Messums Wiltshire and adapted it for a livestream performance on BBC's Dancing Nation as Shades of Blue.

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Professor Tina Bruce, Rachna Joshi and Catriona Gill will respond to the Matsena brothers' lecture - before the event is opened to a Q&A session (questions are welcomed from all those attending the event).

Professor Tina Bruce

Professor Tina Bruce CBE is an Honorary Visiting Professor at the University of Roehampton where she was Director of the Centre for Early Childhood Studies. She studied at the Froebel Educational Institute (which has since become part of the University of Roehampton) at London University and at Manchester University where she trained to work with children with hearing impairments. For 10 years she was Coordinator of the Early Years Advisory Group (EEAG) to successive Ministers for Children. She has, across the years, been early years pedagogue in local authorities, schools and centres across the UK.

Her international work includes the USA, (University of Virginia Commonwealth where she was awarded international woman scholar of the year for early childhood education) Germany, Portugal, Lithuania, New Zealand, Egypt (with British Council) and South Africa.

She's written many books including Early Childhood Education (Hodder & Stoughton, now in its 5th edition), Time to Play in Early Childhood Education (1991) and her latest book Friedrich Froebel: A Critical Introduction to Key Themes and Debates (Bloomsbury Academic, 2021). Tina has also edited several books including Early Childhood Practice: Froebel Today (Sage, 2012) and with co-editors Lynn McNair and Jane Whinnett, Putting Storytelling at the Heart of Early Childhood Practice: A Reflective Guide for Early Years Practitioners (Routledge, 2020).

She is a Vice President of the British Association for Early Childhood Education and a trainer for the Froebel Trust Travelling Tutors.

Rachna Joshi

Rachna is an early childhood teacher, action-researcher and consultant. She works with under-threes, Nursery and Reception children in classroom settings, and holds an MA in Early Childhood Studies.

Rachna writes for organisations like Tapestry and Early Education, sharing knowledge, empowering practitioners and provoking questions to disrupt routine practice.

A passionate advocate for rough and tumble, anti-racist practice and identity, self-awareness and metacognition in young children, Rachna combines theory and practice to promote the holistic development of the children she works with and their communities.

Rachna's recent work includes embedding music into settings via grants to purchase outdoor music walls, open-ended music resources and workshops for children and their families.

Catriona Gill

Catriona is a Froebel Trust trustee and Associate Tutor on the Froebel in Early Childhood Practice Course at the University of Edinburgh. She is also a committee member of the Edinburgh Froebel Network.

Until 2021, Catriona was Head Teacher of Greengables Nursery School and Family Centre in Edinburgh where the pedagogy was based on Froebelian principles. She regularly presents her work at conferences and seminars and contributed a chapter to the book Putting Storytelling at the Heart of Early Childhood Practice (Routledge, 2020).

Before becoming a teacher, Catriona was a theatre director and person-centred counsellor, and this informs her belief in the transformative power of child-centred creativity and play. Catriona is currently an Early Years Education Officer with Education Scotland (Scottish Government's executive agency responsible for supporting quality and improvement in Scottish education).