Exploring the Unknown
An experimental contact improvisation journey to hidden places and spaces
*within – between – beyond ourselves*
a workshop with Fabian Lenze and Jasmin Scholle
16 & 17 May 2015
As an improvisational practice contact improvisation is, essentially, an adventurous undertaking. We never know what is going to happen – and when we think we do, we risk locking ourselves and our fellow dancers into the cage of our expectations. So a contact improvisation dance really can’t be anything but a journey into the unknown.
We think this adventure needs good preparation! So we will begin by cultivating our awareness of the space in our joints and the play of physical alignment; we will seek grounded stability and work on widening our range of movement; we will play with muscle tone, with losing and regaining our balance. Then, we will go discover places and spaces beyond our physical bodies: spaces beyond our visual perception, between moving bodies – behind our backs!
In this workshop we will focus on the sensation of falling and flying – the joy of seeing the world upside down. To address possible doubts and fears that might arise from this experience, we will share some physical, technical and emotional tools for departing from the safe grounds of the known, up into the unknown, back again and further on.
If you doubt your physical ability, please don’t stay away but contact us. We might find a solution together.
Jasmin Scholle, Marburg, Germany
Jasmin ‘studied’ improvisation as a social pedagogue, a clown and a teacher, in various familial and collective settings, and, not least, as a (contact improvisation) dancer, lecturer and researcher. Her current academic research deals with the relationship between physicality and social order. In both dancing and teaching she is interested in our mental and physical capacity to discover – through physical practices – new and hitherto unknown spaces of movement and action.
Fabian Lenze, Cologne, Germany
My professional background as a bodyworker and physiotherapist was, and still is, a major influence on my approach to the physical body and movement. Different somato-psychological learning processes were also important inspirations. Some of the topics I am currently most interested in are: inner and outer awareness; freedom, unconditionality and expectations; non-violent physical communication; exploring and protecting boundaries.
Schedule:
Saturday 16 May 10:00 – 12:00 and 13:00 – 17:00
Sunday 17 May 10:00 – 12:00 and 13:00 – 16:00
Fee:
Sliding scale SEK 500 (unwaged) SEK 750 (low waged) SEK 1000 (waged)
Venue:
Dansbyrån, Oskarsgatan 6A, 414 63 Göteborg, Sweden
To register:
Email danielmang@gmail.com
Accommodation:
Some sleeping spaces may be available at no extra charge for people from outside Göteborg