Ademhaling & jazz vocal (workshop)

Relax and feel the energy in this unique session that combines breathing and supportive movement with live a cappella jazz. Experienced teachers Brenda Anyango and Adja will guide you through flowing song rhythms and let you experience how to harmonise breath, body and mind. Enjoy this moment for yourself and return to your day recharged.

Guidance is in (easy) Dutch.

Brenda Anyango aka SemaNami

Brenda Anyango is a proud Kenyan woman based in Belgium. She earned her master's degree in clinical psychology at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB). She gained experience in psychodiagnostics and in providing therapeutic support to individuals with addiction at the Asster psychiatric hospital in Sint-Truiden and the Alexianen psychiatric clinic in Tienen. Additionally, she worked as a student psychologist at the VUB's student support center.

Today, Brenda is a full-time independent psychologist under the name SemaNami, where she offers body-oriented and movement therapy under the name Healing Movements, in addition to talk therapy. She also works as a front-line psychologist within the Diletti network.

Brenda has a strong interest in diversity- and culturally-sensitive care and is actively dedicated to promoting mental well-being within the African diaspora. She hopes to contribute to breaking the stigma and taboo surrounding mental health in this community and to support people on their healing journey.

Adja

Adja is the Brussels based singer and performer Adja Fassa. One who is quickly making a name for herself in Belgium. She has already released a fine debut EP IRONEYE.

As well as being a musician, Fassa is also a theatre maker, working on what she herself calls “sophisticated soul in a hybrid concert form”. Her music takes centre stage and her live shows gradually take on a theatrical character: she tells stories through singing, accompanied by sensory elements such as smells and symbolic images. All this stems from a desire to shed light on the level of existence between everyday life and the hidden stories of our collective memory.

In a direct line from her personal growth to her artistic practice, through jazz, soul, gospel and her ever-expanding and transforming experience of reality, Adja simultaneously translates the creative process as a vehicle to make the answer to these inner questions known to herself. Her goal: to make her spiritual path in this life as tangible as possible. A force of nature on stage with a warm, sensual voice, Adja is reminiscent of artists such as Erykah Badu, Solange and Lianne La Havas.

During Leuven Jazz 2023 she was our focus artist. On the closing day of the festival, she gave a rock-solid performance with a clear nod to Nina Simone.

More info