About

Camille Djokoto (Camelia Dances) is a Registered Psychotherapist, Somatic Movement Specialist, Dance Artist and Facilitator. They practice from a trauma-informed, healing-centered perspective, embodying anti-oppressive, anti-racist, pro Black, queer and intersectional feminist values. After surviving breast cancer in 2016 Camille aligned her personal and professional practices in somatic movement, dance, and therapy to counter symptoms of trauma and stress. Their work fosters collaborations that engage collective experiences of embodied resilience and liberation.

Camille’s dance training spans over 39 years, with formative training in African dance arts (Bellydance / Raqs Sharqi) from SWANA/MENAHT cultures. Her dance training includes West African and various Diasporic dances as well as modern and contemporary dance studies. They are a Co-Founder of the Ya Amar – Toronto, Dance Company that facilitates workshops bringing cultural knowledge from global artists to Tkaronto. Their career includes performing with the Arabesque Canada Company and Orchestra as a lead dancer and resident instructor, as well as a variety of dance ensembles. She continues dancing today as an independent artist and facilitator.

Camille’s therapy and body centered movement and dance practice focuses primarily on the various impacts of racialized oppression, PTSD, complex trauma, chronic illness, and breast cancer. The practice serves dancers and movers of all levels looking to inform and widen their dance experience as well as individuals dealing with a variety of issues related to identity, anxiety, and stress. Her therapy approach is an integration of body-centered somatic modalities drawing from her trainings, certifications and extensive hours of embodied practice including, but not limited to: Cultural Somatics Institute training (Embodied Gatherings and Somatic Abolitionism embodied practice), Somatic Experiencing®, Laban/Bartenieff Movement Analysis, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, Developmental Somatic Psychotherapy™, Body-Mind Centering®, Gestalt Psychotherapy, as well as various Anti-Oppression, Grief, and Crisis Intervention training. Camille is a counsellor for the Dancer Transition Resource Centre (DTRC), a member in good standing with the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario (CRPO), the Canadian Association for Psychodynamic Therapy (CAPT), and the Canadian Alliance of Dance Artists – East.