FKA twigs: behind the scenes of THE BODY IS ART

It’s an early call time. High industrial ceilings at the shoot location in North West London mean the air on set is cold. But FKA twigs and the athletes joining her in front of the camera – Léa Bayekula, Shelly Mensah and Nana Yaa –  warm up fast, and fall into a rhythm, moving and contorting between each other. They’re meeting for the first time since FKA twigs asked them to be part of this project, inspired by their respective approaches to sport and training. Their shared dedication to movement is palpable.

Since her breakthrough in the early 2010s, FKA twigs has carved out a genre-defying career blending music, movement, fashion, art and film. Her curiosity for new forms of movement and dance, and a commitment to exploring diverse cultural spaces, play a part in the success of her work. It’s no surprise that the athletes collaborating with her on set bring their own unique blended stories too – fusing traditional training with creativity and an exploration of movement styles.

Training is fundamental to FKA twigs' work, empowering her to make many of her concepts and creative impulses a reality. “When I train, I believe that what I leave in the gym or on the dance floor is a microcosm of the mark I'm going to make on the world that day,” she shares. “I’ve been dancing professionally since I was 13 with ‘touch wood’ no serious injuries, and I attribute this to a toolbox of mobility, flexibility, strength, mind, and body routines that I obsessively do whenever I am training.”

The movement between the athletes continues with Director Jordan Hemingway encouraging Léa, Shelly, Nana and FKA twigs to freely interact with each other and the set in a way that feels authentic to them. The open space for creativity is inspired by FKA twigs’ vision of training – that the body is art and training is a space for self-expression, creativity and empowerment through movement. 

For Léa Bayekula, a Paralympic athlete specializing in wheelchair athletics, training offers up meaningful space to embrace her infectious, positive spirit. She ignores the additional mats and ramps that have been placed for her arrival, crashing off platforms and rolling over set elements without hesitation.

“I always tell people that when I ride on the track, I feel like I'm riding on a whole problem, everything I've ever experienced. And so, turning on the track, it allows me to be able to find a certain zen,” Léa tells us.“Riding, just riding, banging on my hoops. It helps me enormously, and I find a certain serenity.” 

Léa was born with spina bifida, a condition affecting the spinal column which led to the paralysis of her lower limbs. Six years of rehabilitation meant Léa was eventually able to stand again. “I'm glad I fought so hard to get here. And today, it's with the strength of my arms, most of the time, that I fight my daily battles.”

Warming up between the scaffolding of the metal jungle gym in effortless splits and straddle holds is Michelle (Shelly) Mensah. It was Shelly’s training that brought her here today. Her powerful routines with performative dance elements caught the eye of FKA twigs as they trained in the same gym together. “When I first got the email that they were interested in me being in the campaign, I was like, ‘this is too good to be true. Seriously?’” she laughs.

The bodybuilder and fitness Pro started with gymnastics at seven years old and quickly progressed to national competitions. She later explored acrobatics, ballet, team gymnastics (her team came second in the British Open) and modeling, before taking up cheerleading. In 2015, Shelly represented the UK at the World Cheerleading Championships. Now, she channels her experience of multiple sports into professional bodybuilding, fusing years of performance sports with traditional depictions of strength.

“Fitness is unique in bodybuilding. It is the only category where you have to do a routine that requires mandatory skills such as a push-up, straddle hold, sidekick and a split. We get marked on endurance, execution, difficulty and performance,” she explains. “That's 70 percent of our mark. Our body is 30 percent.” Shelly won her first pro show at the Arnold Sports Festival UK, qualifying for the international Olympia competition, where she achieved a top-five finish.

For Nana Yaa, dance is more than art – it’s athleticism. “I was born and raised in Ghana, a country that embraces and shares a love of dance. I have always been inspired and drawn to movement, which has been a conduit for my mental, spiritual and emotional expressions.” As a child, she thrived exploring disciplines like shot put, javelin, long jump, and the 100-meter sprint.

Behind the scenes of the shoot co-created by FKA twigs and partner-Director Jordan Hemingway, we spoke to the movers in front of the camera, to hear in their words what FKA twigs’ vision of training means to them.

What does THE BODY IS ART mean to you?

Lea: “For me, ‘the body is art’ means a lot because I've experienced discrimination and injustice. When I was younger, I was made fun of for my body and the way I walked. People were pointing at my body, it was as if I had to hate my body. More and more, as I grew up, I met people who really spread or shared acceptance with me. I accepted my body. I also did theater where I saw that my body could also be an instrument, like a movement. When I walk, I have a particular way of walking. For me, it's like art. It's very beautiful.”

Shelly: “The body is literally everything. It is. Bodybuilding requires the body, and it’s creating art – being creative using what I have, using all the skills that I've picked up. In bodybuilding, we have mandatory skills, so I'm able to use my gymnastics background, my ballet background, even athletics, because that covers endurance. I can get creative with that and be any character I want on stage. I absolutely love it.”

Nana: “I have always been inspired and drawn to movement, which has been a conduit for my mental, spiritual and emotional expressions. Movement in any form rooted in genuineness is art. It is what creates uniqueness, the representation of art. The representation of one's internal and external process as a curated piece in all its forms is something to be admired.”

How do your sport and training allow you to explore self-expression, empowerment and creativity?

Lea: “I've always been very creative. I studied design before throwing myself wholeheartedly into sport. I love creating and drawing, and inspiration comes from everywhere. My sport leaves a lot of room for self-expression. Our position on the competition chair, the release of our body in movement at full power, it's all very artistic.”

Shelly: “Every sport I've done, I've had to explore creativity…There was always an artistic component that they [the judges] look at – how smoothly do you move? How do you transition? If you're not yourself, it's not going to come across the way it's supposed to. I had to learn that you can't just look at someone else and be like, ‘I want to do that style’. You have to create your own style through movement, and the only way you can do that is by exploring your body.”

Nana: “Dance is expression in its rawest form. When I am privileged to be part of something that is liberal and for the happiness of others, I am empowered.”

This is training by FKA twigs. The new collection is available now.