Open (body) Space – Fall 2009

September 17 – Autumn Celebration – Anne Pitman 
Welcoming. Opening and holding space. Tonight we create the container for our fall practice. Through music and an exploration of our body-story in every moment, we’ll celebrate the beginnings of fall and the rhythm within.

September 24 –  Introduction to Somatics – Naomi Sparrow
Open (body) space is a series of classes, each one its own offering based on a practice of listening to our own bodies. We hope to free and empower our inherent intelligence, open new pathways in movement and mind, and tap into our embodied wisdom. This second class provides an introduction to the field of Somatics through the form of Body-Mind Centering.

October 1 -Sacred Circle Dancing – June Watts with Bob Minney 
Join us for a special night of dancing with June Watts (International Sacred Circle Dance Leader) to live music by Bob Minney (British Circle Dance composer) in a rare North American appearance. A unique treat that will take dancers deep into the Mystery. 

October 8 – Contact Improv and Moving Conversations– Alexis Andrew and Elizabeth MacKinnon 
This session will cover some basic contact improvisation skills with a focus on contact as a conversation as well as techniques for moving into and out of touch with clarity, safety and respect.  We will practice the capacity to listen with our bodies and our senses, and look at a variety of issues that come along with deepening one's understanding of the art and practice of contact improvisation.  It will also be fun. 

October 15 – Body-Mind Centering® Experiential Anatomy: Embodied Structure – Naomi Sparrow
There are many natural distinctions in the body, many layers, many selves. Layers of limits coexist with layers of endless flow. In this class we’ll explore the balance between connection and boundaries, the dance between that which flows and that which contains.

October 22 –  Moving Through the Five Elements – Wendy Philpott 
An exploration of the Five Elements as described in Chinese Medicine;Fire Earth *Metal *Water Wood.  The elements are considered to be primary forces moving through everything. We'll tune in to the movement of each, and let them flow in and through us. 

October 29 – Feldenkrais® - Christine Graves
Nurture awareness...move naturally. Find lightness and balance, fullness and stability in standing, walking and dancing. Know what you are doing and do what you want to do. We start with an Awareness Through Movement lesson and move on from there to what the group needs and finds interesting. Finding your structure in the skeleton as a means of improvement in moving, feeling, thinking and sensing is a good starting point.

November 5 – owen tuf
We begin with the body- finding a path inward to free stories and truths available to us there through voice and movement.  We will combine some exercises from Theatre of the Oppressed with improvisational dance to build a meeting place for our conscious and subconscious selves.  

November 12 – Playing with Patterns (and Trager® work) – Sandra Yanover
What is it like to feel “right” – to have a functionally integrated body-mind?  In this session, we will notice habitual movement patterns and play with opposites to find new freedoms. 

November 19 –  Qigong and Taiji Explorations – Pierre Huot
"In this course we will create a safe personal world where we can explore our authentic self according to qigong and taiji principles and nurture our true nature with the help of energy cultivation methods and techniques that can then also be applied in the rest of our lives 

November 29 – Authentic Movement – Judith Kerridge
Open the space, hold the space, allow yourself the luxury of moving exactly how you want to move, without judgement. Let the body move as it will and process the feelings that emerge.


December 4 -  Moving Breath - Alejandro de Maio
Breathing, breathing, breathing: we'll explore breathing, giving a little more space to attention and a little less to intention. We'll go from the lungs to the cells, and then to movement

December 11 – Body-Mind Centering®: Weaving the Threads – Naomi Sparrow
Exploring, integrating, cultivating curiosity. More details TBA.

December 17 – Winter Celebration – Anne Pitman
Wintersleep
The time has come to spiral inward and know the stillness potential of winter in us. Holding this and the bone-knowing of SunReturn in the depth of our darkness, we turn towards the light. Dance, move or sleep to celebrate the turn of the wheel.