Gravity Happens: Principles of Movement

This workshop is dedicated to al beginners who would like to get a better understanding of their body. The first step will be to become friends with the floor - and gravity!

We'll explore sensory development, flexibility and strength. In your own rhythm you can discover new things and integrate them into your dance. We will analyse movement patterns and create an understanding for movement. The body will learn how to think! Reflexes will be trained, agility and grace happens by itself, and the pleasure of movement sings the background vocals.

There will be opportunities to try things out, to learn choreographies and to develop them yourself, to improvise on your own or with a partner.
Rolling, falling, movement sequencing, letting go of unnecessary tension, articulation of the spine and a range of expressive qualities will make up for the vocabulary. Your body will feel changed after this workshop.



Myoreflex Training: The Psoas Connection
Power, ease and relationships throughout the body

Myoreflex therapy works with the muscle sensors as a tool for regulation, thus reaching through this deviation the control centre – the brain.
This physiological connection can be used to perceive specific muscles and to activate them in movement. Our brain’s capacity to discern, to modify and to complement is almost infinite. In this way we create new opportunities to translate our internal experience into movement.

The muscle Iliopsoas reaches from the thoracic spine to the pelvic bone and to the femur (thighbone). It is a deep torso muscle influencing strongly many body systems: spinal erection, knees, feet, breath, throat & jaw, organs in the belly, the nervous system and emotions.

By releasing and activating the iliopsoas muscle, related muscle groups and kinetic chains we develop a powerful tool for injury prevention, increase the functionality and power of the body systems mentioned above and influence chronically weak or painful areas in our body in a positive way.

Alternating between sensing and moving, we will work alone and with partners and use specific anatomical information to reorganise our movement system subtly and deeply.
This class is suited for dancers and non-dancers interested in specific work, and will provide exercises and tools to use in any movement practice.



Kerstin Kussmaul
Kerstin Kussmaul is dance maker and Somatic Movement Educator. Her artistic focus is on music/dance projects and the development of new formats for the mediation and investigation of movement, such as "Vexations: we call it work", a music/room/performance installation which was premiered at ImPulsTanz 2009. She studied Pedagogy of Music and Dance, Somatic Movement Education and TCM in Berkeley/USA, Myoreflex Therapy and Yoga and teaches in Europe and the US. She is founder and director of IDOCDE (International Documentation of Contemporary Dance Education) a two year long project with 12 partners which is supported by the EU.