Sophia Newton’s Dance-Wellness Project “Echoes of the Old Town,” Evokes Healing, Memory

Yinka Olatunbosun

For the UK-based dancer, movement artist, mental health advocate and creative educator, Sophia Newton, dance has always been more than just performance. It is a language of healing, a form of expression and a pathway back to oneself. This November, Sophia Newton brings that philosophy to life in “Echoes of the Old Town”, a site-specific dance and wellness experience set in the historic town of Budva, Montenegro.

The idea for this piece grew from Sophia Newton’s reflections on rest, travel and the human need to slow down. After years of supporting children, teens and adults through dance, creative education and emotional wellbeing work, she recognised how easily people move through life without pausing or listening to their bodies. “I wanted to create something gentle, something that invites people back into themselves,” Sophia Newton explains. “Movement reminds us that we are alive. Stillness reminds us that we are human.”

Sophia Newton is the founder of Express and Bloom (UK), a creative arts and wellbeing initiative that uses dance, storytelling and expressive movement to inspire healing, confidence and emotional growth. Her work blends artistic expression with mental health advocacy, guided by her belief that creativity can reconnect people to rest, awareness and inner balance. Through Express and Bloom, Sophia Newton continues to help people find their voice and embrace the power of movement to heal.

“Echoes of the Old Town” takes place against the timeless backdrop of Budva’s ancient walls, cobblestone paths and the soft sound of the Adriatic Sea. It is a creative wellness experience that combines expressive movement, gentle exercises, breathwork and reflective pauses. Participants are guided to release tension, reconnect with themselves and find moments of quiet presence. Sophia Newton describes the work as “an invitation to pause.” In a world that rewards constant motion, the piece offers a rare moment to slow down and experience the healing power of rest.

November holds deep meaning for Newton. It is the month she underwent a major surgery, a time that shaped her understanding of stillness and taught her how deeply the body remembers. During that season, she began writing Becoming Again, a healing journal that captures the emotions, reflections and gentle steps of rebuilding after pain. The journal became part of the inspiration behind this dance and wellness experience. It reminded her that the body carries stories of resilience, survival and hope. “The body does not forget,” she says quietly. “But it can be guided back into trust, rest and expression. That is what this piece is about.”

“Echoes of the Old Town” represents another step in Sophia Newton’s artistic and healing journey. Through Express and Bloom, she continues to create spaces where people can breathe, move, reconnect and remember who they are beneath the noise of life. Her message remains constant: In movement, we release. In stillness, we remember. In expression, we heal.