I offer a somatic, experiential anatomy approach to teaching Contemporary Dance, Contact Improvisation and Choreography and Composition. My teaching includes attentional training and ecological work with touch and imagery to enhance biomechanics, performer presence and expression, as well as phrase work, improvisation, and a lot of play. I have been informed by my training in Body-Mind Centering, Authentic Movement, Skinner Release technique, Axis Syllabus and a diploma in Integrative Bodywork & Movement Therapy. I have background training also in Capoeira since 2014, and African Dance techniques in Senegal, and with Natasha Noack, a renowned teacher of traditional Nigerian dance. My Yoga practice of 15 years also informs my teaching in which I integrate elements of mindfulness, acrobatics, principles of rhythm and alignment together with contemporary and release technique.
I have taught in UK universities for professionals in training and at Independent Dance in London, at Freiburg International CI Festival, Contact meets Contemporary, at Earthdance and CI50 at Oberlin College in the USA, at Contact&Flow in Mexico, at Touch&Play and numerous other events and festivals. Besides hosting weekly classes and Contact Improvistion jams currently where I live in Berlin, I offer a more intensive 3-month CI Touch Training program at Tanzfabrik, and lead outdoor dance retreats such as Groundwork and Moving Landscapes, that take place mostly in the UK. From time to time I host also residential long-jam formats such as PJAM at Ponderosa in Germany.
I am excited to share JUST FOLLOW, a short film about Contact Improvisation(CI) made by Simon Garbe. The film feature's myself and the voices of other CI dancers that attended PJAM, a 4 day dance residential which I hosted together with Katja Richter at Ponderosa in 2022.
Just Follow premiered at Tanzfabrik, in Berlin on 21st June 2024. Thank you to everyone who attended and contributed to making it!
REGULAR CLASSES
Contact Improvisation Mondays Class *7-8.30pm, Jam *8.30-10.30pm @ Schonfließer straße 7, Prenzlauerberg, Berlin €10-15 (with rotating facilitators Vega Lukkonnen and Katja Richter)
Touch Lab : In these somatic movement sessions I am sharing the vocabulary of touch emerging from my PhD research on Touch as an encounter with Otherness and the dance form Contact Improvisation. €5-15
Contact Improvisation Wednesdays Jam with warm up *8.15-11pm @k77 Studio Kastanienalle 77, Berlin (with rotating facilitators)
CI in the Future Thursdays *4-5.30pm @K77, Studio, Kastanienalle 77, Berlin. Starts Jan 4th 2024. A Somatics approach into Instant Composition, Ensemble Thinking and Contact Improvisation. In this class we will work with dance as a 3D art making practice, introducing techniques of touch, sensation, imagery and drawing to invite curiousity and receptivity towards the worlds we are always already moving into. Led by Rosalind Holgate Smith and Katkatarzyna Brzezinska. €10-15 sliding scale
Everyone is welcome to drop in to any of the above sessions, if you have questions or accessibility needs please contact me for more information.
WORKSHOPS
Water Dance-Swimming under the Skin workshop 26th March & 9th April 17.30-20.00 Lichtenfelde Oct, Berlin
Hugging Holding & Squeezing, a Contact Improvisation workshop in Dresden, Germany, 13th May 2023
March, May, June 2024
Focusing on touch, this dance training offers an opportunity to develop a strong CI skill base and Contemporary Technique. Introducing a vocabulary of touch we we will work somatically, technically and anatomically, focusing on themes of Listening, Gravity, Weight, Fluidity, Momentum, Spiralling, Fascia and Flight. Some basic CI experience is required. The 8 day course is spread over 3-weekend modules: March 15th-17th, May 18th-19th, June 21-23rd 2024. You may sign up to modules separately or participate in all 3 for the full course and its progressive content. For full details & registration