Maiya Leeke’s ‘She dreams. She flies.’

09 Jan Maiya Leeke’s ‘She dreams. She flies.’

Throughout 2025 and into 2026 we’ve been collaborating with Maiya Leeke to develop new movement language that combines aerial suspension, contemporary dance and the mechanics of her wheelchair. This research has been generously supported twice as a Jerwood Choreographic Research Project funded by Jerwood Foundation and FABRIC.

In Maiya’s words: “Dreaming is my superpower. How far can I dream if my body and wheelchair are suspended in the air? Through research in Contemporary dance, aerial suspension, and the mechanics of my wheelchair, I am uncovering a new language of possibility. My wheelchair both enables and restricts me as a Contemporary dancer. I find freedom using equipment to support my body to move, however, there are limitations of a wheelchair that contribute to the level of freedom I feel and can find.”

This exploration builds on the harness work she did with Lina Johansson and James Doyle-Roberts for Bradford 2025’s opening spectacular Rise, using the suspension of the harness, with and without her wheelchair in the air, in combination with her contemporary movement training.

Lina says this about the project: Artistic Collaborator Lina Johansson: “It’s been really exciting seeing the strong development of a whole new movement language from Maiya Leeke, when adding suspension and harness work into her technical and creative vocabulary.

“I have collaborated with Maiya since 2019, originally for Daryl & Co and Mimbre’s co-production Look Mum, No Hands! mixing solo and group acrobatics, and dance, and since then across a variety of projects, until early last year we had a chance to throw some aerial work into the mix as we were working on the opening spectacle for Bradford 2025, RISE. It turned out to be a really exciting new development to explore the possibilities created when lifting both her and her wheelchair in the air and explore the possibilities brought along by shifting the effect of gravity on her body in space.

“I’m delighted we have a chance to continue this exploration and journey together thanks to further support by Jerwood Foundation and FABRIC for a second phase! Each time we work together new exciting possibilities come up and I can’t wait to see what Maiya will make out of it in the long-term!

We’re also indebted to all the great people who been part of the original explorations: Citrus Arts, Kim Francey, Jules Young and Jani Foldi.

Also Gravity & Levity, Alex Poulter and Matt Burch for initial rigging advice and support!”

Past and present collaborators on ‘She dreams. She flies’ include Stef O’Driscoll, Lina Johansson, Lucie Maisha N’Duhirahe, James Doyle-Roberts, Sadé Alleyne, Martha Harrison, Ihsaan de Banya, Lottie Vallis, Flying Fantastic, Rebel Circus and all produced by Mimbre’s Lissy Lovett.

Photos by Lottie Vallis. See our Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/mimbreacrobats/) for video!