By encountering contradictions in our bodies and in the world, we learn to harmonise tensions into engagement, to build a bridge between mind and body, between control and intuition, between past and present.
We live in a modern world of contradictions, conflict and difference. In the uncertain times we tend to disengage from the sources of our wiser selves. This could lead us into confusion and chaos, or it can hone us to go beyond a schematic perspective into greater awareness and balance.
By encountering contradictions in our bodies and in the world, we learn to harmonise tensions into engagement, to build a bridge between mind and body, between control and intuition, between past and present.
We will engage the body and use dance and movement practices as our primary modality of exploration and learning ‒ we will expand beyond traditional approaches into a practice that is intuitive, improvisational, emotional, therapeutic, and simultaneously expressive, participatory, performative and ritualistic.
Having such a broad and inclusive spectrum of what our bodies can do can enlighten our perspective on life and how we interact with the world around us.
Contradictions are not a limitation but rather, by focusing simultaneously on opposite ideas, they open doorways for the inner, primal sources of the body and mind to resonate and flow through voice and movement. Reasoning versus nonsense, spontaneity beside intentions, perfection and imperfections overlap reflecting our existence as a dynamic fusion of contradictions.
By tracing the movement of the body through this labyrinth of oppositions, we come to a deeper understanding of our individual physical and vocal identities, the different voices that mirror our own fragility and strength.
In this workshop, we will open the body to new impressions, to discover shapes and possibilities, and activate the imagination. The workshop develops and broadens the ability to express oneself, reintegrates body and mind, releases muscle tensions and limitations arising from critical self-assessment. At the same time, specific tools for physical and emotional self-care are passed on.
During the workshop, we use exercises and tools from the fields of dance, contact improvisation, martial arts, yoga and traditional massage techniques, as well as exercises created during my many years of research on body integration and artistic creativity as a performer at the Grotowski Institute.
We build each other on challenges tailored to everyone’s journey, regardless of the level of experience.
We will focus on:
- grounding through group and individual rituals,
- cultivating pleasure and freedom in movement and greater body awareness;
- sensitivity and listening through touch as a way of connecting to self and others through contact improvisation and traditional massage practices;
- cultivating and expressing our creative impulses through story and movement;
- creating space for mindful practices towards a greater awareness of our values and desires.
In this workshop we will focus on exercises which link techniques, improvisations and physical structures and on their transformation into potential storylines.
The aim is not to create bodies that are plastic devices in service to the storytelling of theatre but, on the contrary, to instill a practice that keeps the physical body a well-cleaned instrument capable of subtle and complex expression.
By engaging the entire body-mind, the body becomes a luminous reflection of the inner thoughts and the channel for the self.
Our artistry is driven by the question ‘Who am I?’ ‒ the conscious individual is consistently engaging in a profound questioning to live their lives with self-awareness and creativity.
Participants will be introduced to elements of:
- sensitivity and listening through partner and group relations;
- awakening the anatomy of the body to develop readiness for action;
- transformation from physical training into creative improvisation;
- composition of physical structures;
- group rhythmical pulse and body rhythm;
- the ritual of a respectful and focused working environment.
This workshop is suitable for anyone interested in allowing self-healing through movement, creativity and imagination, regardless of age, experience and professional ambitions. This journey will be physically and mentally rigorous inviting a deep focus from the group.