About Isaac
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Photo © Ashley karrell
Isaac Ouro-Gnao (b.1994) is a Togolese-British multidisciplinary artist, somatic trauma therapist, mental health scholar-activist, and freelance journalist.
He began dancing in 2008 and has since worked internationally with a range of hip hop, contemporary, and African diaspora dance companies including Alesandra Seutin’s Vocab Dance and Punchdrunk. His own work is rooted in magical realism, Africanfuturism, and indigenous African spirituality with a focus on themes of childhood, trauma, memory, and mental health.
Multidisciplinary artist
Born in Baguida, Togo, Isaac pursued dance at the age of 15 as a form of self-expression after moving to the UK as a Francophone migrant.
He joined street dance crew Hypnotik in Wembley where he trained in the styles of hip hop, popping, and breakin’; performing across London boroughs and eventually placing 1st at the UDO UK Regional Street Dance Championships in 2009.
Photo Credit: Ashley Karrell
After graduating, Isaac joined Oxford-based hip hop dance and theatre company Body Politic. Over a range of roles from performer and scriptwriter to movement director, he featured in Reflections (2016) and Father Figurine (2018) which toured nationally in 2019 to critical acclaim.
He performed with hip hop theatre company Spoken Movement in Obibini (2018) and Family Honour (2018) which won France’s prestigious Danse Élargie competition; and in Boy Breaking Glass (2021) by Alessandra Seutin’s Vocab Dance Company.
Dance would remain a hobby until 2012 when Isaac began studying journalism at Canterbury Christ Church University (CCCU) with aspirations of becoming a dance journalist.
During his final year investigative research into inequalities of gender and race within the UK’s dance sector, a life-changing interview with Professor Angela Pickard -
professor of Dance Education at CCCU - would inspire him to pursue a career in dance.
He shadowed Prof. Pickard’s Canterbury Dance Company in 2015 and trained in contemporary dance and physical theatre.
Photo Credit: Ashley Karrell
In tandem with his choreographic and performing work, Isaac has worked in film, TV and theatre. He featured as a voice actor in Olivier award-winning BLKDOG (2018) by Far From The Norm, Seeta Patel Dance’s A Very bR*T*SH Museum (2020), and Ashley Karrell’s Tales of the Winter Solstice (2022). He also co-directed and starred in BFI Doc Society funded hybrid documentary #BlackBoyJoyGone in 2022, which screened 36 times in 26 cities and 7 countries; later receiving a Grierson’s British Documentary Awards nomination in 2023.
Journalist
Isaac is also an established dance journalist. He is a regular dance critic for The Stage, feature writer for the Dance Gazette (Royal Academy of Dance), and recent programme writer for Sadler’s Wells and the Dance Consortium. His writing has also appeared in the forms of articles, essays, reviews, and poetry in publications such as Lolwe, The Lancet Psychiatry, BlackInk, Poetry Birmingham Literary Journal, and more.
Somatic trauma therapist
He completed an MSc in Creative Arts and Mental Health in 2022 at Queen Mary University of London; the Integrative Somatic Trauma Therapy programme by The Embody Lab; and MHFA England’s Youth Mental Health First Aid training in 2023; and is a member of survivor-led Traumascapes arts collective (CAT) where he continues research on how dance, art, and psychology intersect to aid the healing of trauma.
Photo Credit: Ashley Karrell
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