Particularities of Moving | contemporary technique classes
Central to the work I propose is the understanding that both engaging and disengaging places in the body, releasing and intensifying, set the body in motion. From this perspective, the class drives towards experiencing movement’s parameters as scales; the range of possibilities, of fine measures of difference within specific framework. To support that, the class integrates various approaches to enhancing somatic awareness, body connectivity and sensibility towards the multiple procedures that occur while we are moving.
The class begins with body work that relies on moving with minimum effort while drawing attention to specific body connections and articulations, to the separation and integration of body parts. Working individually or with a partner, it brings into focus topics such as shifting weight, measures of engagement, specificity and precision of movement and touch, the connection between the limbs and torso, traveling in-between planes, the musicality of dropping and catching, while highlighting the three-dimensional asymmetrical organisation of the moving body. The class advances by carrying the resonating sensations into dancing while exploring and studying movement material. Playing with parameters such as timing, volume, duration, etc. we practice various ways of accessing the material, articulating it differently, enter a dialogue with its coordinates. Doing so, we establish a deep relationship and understanding of the material, develop sensibility towards its fine attitudes, towards what makes it specific and when it begins to differ.
Photo: Tamar Lamm
The class is inspired by concepts and methods from release based techniques, contact improvisation and Feldenkrais method.
In-light | a workshop on the integration of body, light, sound in performance
In this workshop, we will consider the possibility of being simultaneously performers and technicians, instruments and instrumentalists, and explore situations, in which body, movement, sound and light meet. We will develop visual and sonic images by working mainly with flashlights as light sources in relation to movement, the sound of movement, and architecture.
Acknowledging light as the main condition for seeing as well as for shaping what and how we see, this workshop highlights ways of illuminating performative materials as an integral part of the making-process. During this process, we will observe as well how the presence/absence of light makes us differently conscious of sound and therefore, enhance and work with our awareness of sound created by the moving body. Doing so, we will discuss bodily, visual and sonic possibilities of revealing and withholding as choreographic devises.
Photo: danceCO
My Words Are Doing | a workshop on the relation between verbal and physical articulations in creative processes
Contemporary dancers and choreographers are required to verbalise their artistic interests in various situations; when applying for dance jobs, project funding, studies and scholarships, and also when leading creation processes, workshops and classes. The workshop MY WORDS ARE DOING facilitates the process of verbally articulating one’s artistic (movement, choreographic, performative, etc.) interest, in speech or writing, as an integral tool for refining, informing and transferring it to others. It aims to refine both physical and verbal articulations by investigating ways, in which they feed into and expand one another.
The workshop evolves around the participants individual interests, which will be developed practically in the studio. Through verbal reflection, which disregards personal taste and preference, we will analyse the participants’ works. We will start with describing the factual aspects of what we experience and from there will draw the line into sensations, images or thoughts that might have appeared while observing the works. The process will provide more precise information to the participants about their works, which they will utilise to further developing their proposals. In addition to that, each of the participants will explore verbally guiding others as well as talking and writing about his/her artistic interest. As a result, we will come closer to crystallising our artists interests and enhance its modes of articulation.
Photo: Lisa Bensel
Ways of Materialising | between an idea and form
Inquiring into the notions of matter and form, working with sensation, perception and imagination, we will engage in an explorative process of movement materialisation. We will explore various manifestations of an idea in movement addressing various “fields” of movement (i.e. functional - poetic movement), framing of movement (i.e. detail in the body - whole body - body in space) and matters of movement (i.e. movement of an object - body).
Observing the materials we produce, we will physically refer and reflect on them. Thus, we will engage with the reversed procedure, in which movement inform us on ideas embedded within it. Opening a range of possible formulations of an idea in movement, as well as the multiple ideas present in a single movement material will enhance our body-mind elasticity, and ways of approaching and expending materials. Looking as well at the interrelations between materials, we will get in touch with the metaphorical relationship between compositional units, and unravel the implicit logic they propose.
Photo: Gadi Dagon
Ballet for Contemporary Dancers
The class gives an entrance into investigating the connection between the formal ballet aesthetic and the anatomical structure of the body. It promotes understanding ballet not only as a set of positions and steps but through the connection between them; the pathways they enforce and ways of engaging with them. It drives the participants to become conscious of the way they practice; directing their body to fulfil formal requirements while being highly attentive and observant towards their body and movement.
Integrating body work alongside the bar and centre ballet exercises, we will embody functional alignment and movement principles when performing ballet vocabulary. We will tune into gravity and work with our body weight, while emphasising traveling through space. We will learn musically challenging phrases that stretches our dynamic capacities and body coordination.
