RADICAL BODY

Chronic illness can be a frightening and lonely experience. But nobody can ever be truly alone. Seasick is an interdisciplinary piece of theatre from Radical Body, the collaboration between chronically ill artists Katie Walters and Elle Chante. Combining performance poetry, dance and music, Seasick tells the story of a chronically ill woman exploring her connection to nature and her disability. An exploration of what it means to be sick, it examines how close communion with the natural world can help us to understand our bodies and their afflictions.

Elle Chante is a musical self-expressionist based in Birmingham. Using her vocals, lyrics and instrumentation she strives to encompass and share with the audience the world that she lives in. Described as 'ethereal' 'angelic' and 'enchanting', Elle combines her unique sound with emotional raw lyrics to capture and hold the audience with her honesty.

Katie is an autistic and chronically ill performance poet with a soul full of stories that can’t be contained. She writes complicated metaphors about serious things like sickness, loss, and love. Her poetry is vivid and aching to be heard. In 2014, she was a winner of the SLAMbassador’s national youth slam and has stuck to the stage ever since. She has gone on to work closely with the National Autistic Society on a variety of performances and awareness campaigns, compete in the prestigious Roundhouse slam, and perform at several festivals.

Katie and Elle met as members of Free Radical’s 2018 BAIT cohort, where they worked together to create performances for Festival of Audacity and the BAIT final showcase. Together they have formed the Radical Body collective, which aims to create immersive interdisciplinary art that explores chronic illness and disability