top of page
Yewande 103 nurture tender, compassionate encounters with creativity.
Our work firstly lives in our bodies. Our form of embodied activism is responsive. Themes of repair, loss, joy and intimacy define our work.
Founded in 2020 by Alexandrina Hemsley and co-held with producer Nancy May Roberts, Yewande 103 is one of the UK’s only Black, disabled, neurodiverse, survivor and artist-led dance organisations.
Origin and Ethos
‘Yewande’ is Alexandrina’s Yoruba middle name. It has been passed down the women in their family from their great-great-grandmother who ran away from slave traders in Nigeria. She hid, survived and lived until she was 103 years old. In Yoruba, Yewande means ‘mother has returned’.
There are echoes of intergenerational, nurturing and survivorship within this name and family history, that speak to personal/ political lines of ancestry. This name also speaks to ways in which Alexandrina would like this company to hold others and uphold values of care and connection.
