Imaginal Cells
Working with the biological concept of “imaginal cells” – the cells responsible for a caterpillar’s complete transformation into a butterfly — the film explores the experience of radical dissolution and vital re-creation within the space of the unknown.
Here, imaginal cells act as a metaphor for personal transformation towards new forms of moving and relating to the natural world. Interweaving dance, poetry, visual art and music, the film asks: How does it feel to release old forms of knowing and being? How does it feel to emerge anew? What nurtures or and what restricts new growth?
Imaginal Cells was created in 2024 as part of a seed commission from Digital Black Dance Ecologies, a project based at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama with the Royal Geographical Society. The commission furthered interdisciplinary explorations of how embodied storytelling can articulate internal processes of personal change, and the resulting work was premiered at the Royal Geographical Society and has since toured nationally and internationally. Through an intensive 3 day collaboration with digital technologists at Milkit Studio, producer Antoine Marc and dancer Chevon Edwards, the project built on an earlier documentary, which illuminates the personal journeys of change-making Global Majority women working in the UK’s nature sector. This original film was developed in collaboration with Butterfly Conservation, and created by and for people of Global Majority heritage with the aim of sharing strategies for nurturing, cultivating and protecting experiences of belonging in nature, for those of whom work within one of the UK’s least diverse sectors.
The documentary (available to view here) highlighted the stories of:
Chantelle Lindsay
Dr Jade Adams-White
Jinny Reddy
Dr Miranda Lowe CBE
Nadia Shaikh
Rhianne Fatinikun MBE
Soraya Abdel-Hadi
Their stories have inspired ongoing studio explorations of the nature and potential of transformation, while exisiting within systems resistant to change. See also Alkhemy of Sound and The Colour of Transformation.
Creative Team
Antoine Marc: Producer
Bryony Ella: Director, Lyrics, Visual Artist
Bumi Thomas: Vocalist
Chevon Edwards: Dancer
Kyle Reseigh: Digital Designer
Michele Cadei: Cinematographer
Milkit Studio: Production Studio
Orphy Robinson: Composer
Dr Tia-Monique Uzor: Academic Lead
Screenings
2025 Barnard College of Columbia University, New York City
2025 See Here Now – Art in a time of urgency, The Place Collective, Grizedale Forest
2025 Royal School of Speech and Drama, London
2024 Royal Geographical Society, London
Image credits: Michele Cadei and Antoine Marc
Digital Black Dance Ecologies was funded by the Arts & Humanities Research Council.
Imaginal Cells
Working with the biological concept of “imaginal cells” – the cells responsible for a caterpillar’s complete transformation into a butterfly — the film explores the experience of radical dissolution and vital re-creation within the space of the unknown.
Here, imaginal cells act as a metaphor for personal transformation towards new forms of moving and relating to the natural world. Interweaving dance, poetry, visual art and music, the film asks: How does it feel to release old forms of knowing and being? How does it feel to emerge anew? What nurtures or and what restricts new growth?
Imaginal Cells was created in 2024 as part of a seed commission from Digital Black Dance Ecologies, a project based at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama with the Royal Geographical Society. The commission furthered interdisciplinary explorations of how embodied storytelling can articulate internal processes of personal change, and the resulting work was premiered at the Royal Geographical Society and has since toured nationally and internationally. Through an intensive 3 day collaboration with digital technologists at Milkit Studio, producer Antoine Marc and dancer Chevon Edwards, the project built on an earlier documentary, which illuminates the personal journeys of change-making Global Majority women working in the UK’s nature sector. This original film was developed in collaboration with Butterfly Conservation, and created by and for people of Global Majority heritage with the aim of sharing strategies for nurturing, cultivating and protecting experiences of belonging in nature, for those of whom work within one of the UK’s least diverse sectors.
The documentary (available to view here) highlighted the stories of:
Chantelle Lindsay
Dr Jade Adams-White
Jinny Reddy
Dr Miranda Lowe CBE
Nadia Shaikh
Rhianne Fatinikun MBE
Soraya Abdel-Hadi
Their stories have inspired ongoing studio explorations of the nature and potential of transformation, while exisiting within systems resistant to change. See also Alkhemy of Sound and The Colour of Transformation.
Creative Team
Antoine Marc: Producer
Bryony Ella: Director, Lyrics, Visual Artist
Bumi Thomas: Vocalist
Chevon Edwards: Dancer
Kyle Reseigh: Digital Designer
Michele Cadei: Cinematographer
Milkit Studio: Production Studio
Orphy Robinson: Composer
Dr Tia-Monique Uzor: Academic Lead
Screenings
2025 Barnard College of Columbia University, New York City
2025 See Here Now – Art in a time of urgency, The Place Collective, Grizedale Forest
2025 Royal School of Speech and Drama, London
2024 Royal Geographical Society, London
Image credits: Michele Cadei and Antoine Marc
Digital Black Dance Ecologies was funded by the Arts & Humanities Research Council.
