Facilitating connection & healing

Mattana has experience working with a range of groups to allow people to connect with each other and with themselves. Whether working with student DJs to create and perform at an online festival, running singing workshops for children to showcase their talents at Ghana’s Asa Baako Festival, or creating healing spaces for women, she leads by connecting with participants’ needs and allowing these to be expressed and explored.

Workshops and coaching

Mattana has supported young people to learn to DJ and run events, including co-creating a innovative youth-led online hybrid festival featuring student DJs which was longlisted for an Arts Council Digital Innovation Award.

Mattana is currently a facilitator for True You Today’s Workshops for Survivors series, leading 1:1 DJing workshops with survivors to empower them with the skills and thrills of music-making to support healing, partnering with Pirate Studios to provide aspirational and exciting experiences for participants.

As a musician, event producer and project manager, Mattana has also worked with organisations as a coach to support people early in their creative careers, has led training programmes for musicians entering the sector, and led workplace training for freelancers.

Retreats & Dances

Mattana has led a number of creative holistic retreats with collaborator Claire Horton, working with a number of guest facilitators to tie in movement, creative writing, yoga, nutrition, singing and more. Mattana also leads full moon gatherings for women, alongside Ecstatic Playground and the Moon Lodge, to bring women together outdoors for ritual, healing and ecstatic dance.

Mattana is a Dance & Movement Psychotherapist, having trained at Goldsmith’s University. She enjoys leading music and movement sessions for people of all experiences and abilities, using these as a tool for connection and empowerment. She is a regular collaborator with Ecstatic Dance UK, leading sober, conscious movement journeys that allow dancers to experience full expression of their bodies and emotions, and has led similar dances for Morning Gloryville and Lovejam.

Formerly trained as a Zumba® teacher and a Twerk-After-Work™ instructor, Mattana’s personal movement practice is now much more free-flowing, with experience in a range of dance styles such as afrobeats, dancehall, commercial and salsa, as well as in aerial circus skills.