Open (body) Space – Winter 2009
January 15 – Naomi Sparrow – BodyMind Centering
“The mind is like the wind and the body like the sand. If you want to know how the wind is blowing, you can look at the sand” -Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen
Body and Mind dance around each other, each has the capacity to transform the other. Where you put your attention is a potent leader of your experience. This class will be a gentle introduction to the world of experiential anatomy, and the multitude of emotion, images and sensations that arise from within.
January 22 – Naomi Sparrow – BMC – Intro to Organs
Find fullness and immediacy in your movement and mind. Surprise yourself with new ways of moving from within. Learn some simple ways of supporting your vital essence through movement, hands-on and playful conscious intention.
January 29 – Bob and Marlene Neufeld – Planetary Walks
Explore the use of breath, intention and attunement by embodying elemental and planetary energies. Learn to use different breaths, and ways of walking to move deliberately from state to state. We will be walking and breathing the elements of earth, air, fire, water and ether as well as sun, moon and some of the planets. This work was pioneered by American Sufi master and originator of the Dances of Universal Peace, Samuel Lewis in the 1960’s.
February 5 – owen tuf – Stories in Body and Voice
Dive into the stream of consciousness of our own body and the stories held there. Invite the stream to open by connecting voice and movement as a way to allow our truth to move us and through us into the world around us.
February 12 – Alexis Andrew – Movement and Contact Improv
A blend of open dancing and some contact improvisation, this session will open your reflexes, tune your instincts and release your body. We will explore perceptions and how the body organizes around them.
February 19 – Sandra Yanover - Intro to Trager
Based in the Trager Approach, this session will shift our body/mind into ‘hookup,’ a delicious experience of being centered and present, alive and at peace. By asking comparative questions while the body is in motion, we gently challenge the non-conscious patterns that are entrenched in the body/mind. What could be easier?
February 26 – Elizabeth MacKinnon – Moving Through Layers of Self
Explore movement from different “layers” of self, touching on the bodily systems related to these layers e.g. skin, muscle and bone. Using somatization, solo, and contact improvisation, we will look at how viewing the body and movement in these terms can shift awareness, sensation and expression. Move and breathe from the inside out.
March 5 – Marie-Lynne Sauvé – Song, Movement and Dance
Experience how music - organized sound – can act as an organizing principle in the body. Beginning from simple balanced melodies and rhythms, we will explore how the music and the body interact.
March 12 – Jude Kerridge – Authentic Movement
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.
March 19 – Anne Pitman - Spring Springing - Equinox
Celebrate the turning of the wheel, breathe in spring. A joyous evening of seasonal dance and yippee!
March 26 – Naomi Sparrow – More BMC!
April 2 - Christine Graves – Feldenkrais
Play with the movements in oft ignored parts of ourselves. Is the skeleton a set of dominos when stood in perfect balance? Yes! And so the smallest move at one end reverberates throughout. Discover how this movement is efficient, effortless, and esthetically pleasing! Bring a few folded bath towels for comfort and support.
April 9 – Anne Pitman – Intuitive Dance and Yoga
How does movement and dance inform yoga postures and how does yoga move? Explore both dance and yoga and the play within them.