A three-day intensive lab offered as a held space for restorative practices, listening to our bodies’ needs and feeling the support of the collective. Each day is led by a different artist specialising in movement forms that transform and re-enliven the ways we bring attention to ourselves, others and environment.
Day One is with Rosemary Lee and focuses on replenishment. In uncertain, unsettled times it feels important to give time for finding a sense of settlement in ourselves, without judgement. We will explore connections and pathways of flow and ease through the body, reaffirming ourselves as creatures of potential and expressivity. It will centre around finding ways of feeling at home in our bodies whilst at the same time reenergising ourselves, rediscovering and expanding our range of qualities. The day will be shaped so there is space and time to move more or less, as you wish, and time will be given for sharing and chatting with each other. Rosemary’s teaching is informed by her experience of various somatic practices, and her experience of working with hundreds of people of all ages over the last thirty years.
Day Two is with Simonetta Alessandri. With the Feldenkrais Method directing our attention to internal sensations, without judgment, we observe how we move. Opened to potentiality, curious about new possibilities, we identify habits and clarify choices to promote efficiency, freedom and a sense of ease that involve our whole self. This specific way of cultivating awareness will affect our capacity to be present and it will nourish the journey from inside out, from solo into group. We will find a felt sense of self that aims to be related to the others and to the environment, to be experienced and reinforced. It is this relationship with something that is bigger than we are, that constantly reframes and redefines the solo experience. The shared experience of being part of a group, the trust that this generates, reinforces our commitment to the excitement of potential changes in the configuration and constellation of the emerging group composition. While moving as an ensemble, we witness and observe the ongoing balance between individual proposals and group choices.
The final day, Day Three, is led by Yumino Seki. Shifting our attention from action to active listening, the day will start with un-doing. We explore and reflect the inner landscape where the body becomes mere ‘being’. Not moving but being moved. Guided by sensory feedback a new dialogue between the internal and external world of gravity will emerge. We will follow the details and depth of the body’s visceral expressions – darkness & light, rhythm & stillness, and progression & regression through experiential anatomy drawn from somatic practice and Butoh’s perspective, such as the concept of time & space and the exploration of the ‘shadowy self’. We will work individually and collectively using touch, breath & voice, imagery and improvisation. Reflecting on the present, the distant past and the future, the day will create an end of year gathering encompassing our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual body to nourish, restore, nurture and prepare for the next cycle.
Note from ID : In the interests of safety, we are encouraging everyone to take a Covid-19 lateral flow test before coming to the building to attend class.
Known for working in a variety of contexts and media, Rosemary Lee predominantly creates large-scale site-specific works, video installations and short films. Her work is characterised by an interest in creating a moving portraiture of the performing individuals and communities she brings together, whilst also exploring and highlighting our relationship with our environment.
Her most recent work includes Passage for Par (Groundwork, Cornwall) a durational work for 30 women slowly crossing tidal sands, Circadian (First Light, Lowestoft beach) a 24 hour durational intergenerational performance of comprising of 24 solos and its development Threaded Fine (Zfin Malta, Valletta Malta) a 5 hour durational work. Rosemary’s work is produced by Artsadmin.
Rosie teaches and facilitates in a range of settings. She is currently a Senior Research Fellow at C-DaRE Coventry University, Work Place affiliate artist and holds an Honorary Doctorate from Roehampton University and an Honorary Fellowship from Trinity Laban.
Simonetta Alessandri is an Italian dance artist and a somatic educator based in London. She applies the Feldenkrais Method in dance and movement training and in performance making. She teaches at Trinity Laban, Goldsmiths University and London Contemporary Dance School. Her work is informed by more than 30 years of dancing, teaching and choreographing. Her choreography has been for dance companies, student pieces, large scale opera, improvised performance, site specific and movement direction for theatre. She was one of the few dance practitioners in Italy who began working with Contact Improvisation in the 90s. She has been a guest teacher in Germany, Colombia, UK, Norway, Israel, France, Switzerland, Italy, Spain and Taiwan. Simonetta is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
Yumino Seki is a Japanese dance artist, Butoh practitioner and qualified somatic movement educator who performs, teaches and makes performances in collaboration with artists from diverse backgrounds.
After training in many dance forms she performed extensively in Europe between 1999-2009 in Butoh, predominantly with Tadashi Endo, Yumiko Yoshioka and Carlotta Ikeda. In 2012 she qualified in Voice Movement Integration Somatic Practice with Patricia Bardi in Amsterdam.
Since 2013 Seki has further developed her Butoh and somatic work and directed cross-disciplinary performances which include ACE-funded Hyakki Yakou (2013) and Manjusaka (2014-15). Key commissions include House of Crusoe (2019, Earl Street Creative Space (2016) and Artbeat Egypt (2012).
Expanding her work in theatre, music, film and visual art she collaborates with Zadie Xa on her ongoing projects including 58th Venice Biennale, Art Night, Dance International Glasgow and The National Gallery.