Wild Moves International

JACQUI ‘Esi Tweba’ DREESSENS is an ethnochoreologist - the study of humanity through the lense of Dance.Born and raised on the Surf Coast and Geelong, Jacqui brings over 30 years of professional teaching and performing experience in schools, Early Learning Centres, universities, festivals, corporate and community celebrations. Jacqui’s research interest is in Performance Ritual and how people express their identity and connection to their sense of place through music, dance and across the Arts. Her inspiration draws from nature and the environment, researching the Ecology of Place and Sensoriality through an intersection of poetry, film, sound and movement within Ethnochoreology.Jacqui's teaching and choreography also draws upon her formal training in Contemporary and Classical dance techniques supported with Tai Chi, Pilates, Feldenkrais, Skinner Release technique and Laban Movement Analysis. She has extensively studied dance and drumming styles of the African Diaspora including Soukous, Highlife, Tap, Afro-Jazz, Funk, Afrobeat, Afro-Cuban , Afro-Brazilian and Garba Indian folkloric dance as well as Irish Sean-nós and Cèilidh danceOn the Australian festival circuit, over the years, Jacqui has performed with many African dance bands notably, Warako Musica (Congo), Thula Sana (Sth Africa) and Adzohu (Ghana). She runs cultural dance and drumming tours to Ethiopia, Ghana, Portugal, Senegal and South Africa since 2001.Jacqui currently creates new works within her own company, Wild Moves International and this has led to residencies in Brazil, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Ireland, Nepal, Netherlands and Senegal.  In 2007, “Children of the Blue Light: Bringing healing through music and dance” was her first major ethnographic film documentary in performance ritual at the Cape Coast Slave Dungeons of Ghana, West Africa. 2017, "Out of the Blue: Embodied experience of the River Shannon". 2021, "Dancing in the Échelons: Finding a reference point for cultural heritage in a mangrove ecosystem".

2017 Masters of Ethnochoreology, Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, University of Limerick, Ireland

1985 Bachelor of Education in Dance, Drama, Psychology (Secondary School Arts), Faculty of Arts and Education, Deakin University, Australia.

1989 -2016 Lecturer in Dance Education, Faculty of Arts and Education, Deakin University, Australia.

1994 - Director of Wild Moves International