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Shattering Conceptions | Contemporary Dance Performance Created by Ricardo Ludgero Souza Shattering Conceptions is a dance short film that explores the stages of grief through the fractured lens of depersonalization, anxiety, and depression. Unfolding without dialogue, the piece communicates entirely through raw, expressive movement and visual abstraction, immersing the viewer in a psychological landscape where language fails but the body still remembers. The narrative follows a non-linear emotional journey in which identity unravels, time collapses, and the self becomes both observer and captive. Each phase of grief—denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance—is not portrayed as a clear step but as a recurring rupture, a physical manifestation of inner dissonance and mental fragmentation. The body repeats, pleads, and resists, caught in a loop of emotional entrapment where healing remains elusive. Choreographic motifs of stillness, repetition, and sudden disruption reflect the paradox of holding on to what once served us—even when it becomes destructive. The piece questions what it means to outgrow a version of yourself that once felt essential, and how the process of letting go can feel like a quiet, personal rebellion. CREDITS Dancers - Sanaiya Nelson, Sienna Tierney, Ricardo Ludgero Souza Production Company: Elstree Screen Arts Academy, ESA Productions & SKY TV Studios Director: Somi Briggs Producers: Ricardo Ludgero Souza, Somi Briggs, Donna Kelly, Phoebe Walker, Rahme Dervish, Rosey Whitehead, Chris Mitchell Tech Supervisior: Jake Kramer Choreographer: Ricardo Ludgero Souza Grip: Ben Warriner Grip / Camera Operator A: Ruben Kelly Camera Operator B: Jay-Lewis Mitchell BTS Camera A: Elliot Budakova BTS Camera B: Isla Swainston Production Assistant: Chimika Mwale, Alex Haddad, Chloe Chambers, Imi Mitchell, Rayea Mwale Head of Lighting: Owen Hockin Lighting Assistant: Annabelle Cripps Sound Assistant: Lyndon Brennan-Drew BTS Photographer: Sophie Phillips, Matt Jones Head of Set & Props: Carys Llewellyn Makeup Artists: Ruby Warnock, Daisy Turner, Lotta Craze, Mili Patel Runner: Molly Hosier, Mia White Lusende, Tayah Elis, Rio Robinson Set & Props: Keon Sinclair, Matthew Seera, Justin Rubin, Edie-Izanthie Prenga, Bobby Kinsella O’Brien, Liam New, Dominik Gomulka, Lauren Cockerton, Isabel Ellis, Florence Whitehorn