After arriving and feeling what is present in our bodies, we’ll wake up our senses and tune into internal movements then open up our awareness to the external surroundings. Class includes time to allow the body to yield and for movement to arise from a still place and deep listening. We’ll respond to what emerges with input from an evolutionary biological perspective.
The session is laboratory for movement research, sourcing material from each individual’s interests and influenced by the collective and informed by experiential anatomy. The atmosphere is one of curiosity, not-knowing, open-questions and responding to change. Instruction will be tailored to who is in the studio. There will be space for witnessing composition, learning from each other’s explorations and appreciation of what unfolds.
17 June is approaching the Summer Solstice on 20 June, which marks the longest day of the year and marks the beginning of Summer. We’ll be aware of the placement of the moon as our class coincides with the moon phase Waxing Gibbous, which means with 77.83% of the moon is illuminated by the Sun. This last quarter moon happens at the same instant worldwide, it occurs at different times by the clock, depending on one’s time zone. We’ll draw inspiration from our relationship to the moon and the change of light and season.
As with all Monday Night Improvisation classes, this session is open to everyone and no previous experience of dance or improvisation is necessary.
Cancellations and refunds
Prices for classes are kept very low and are subsidised by ID in order to support artists to attend. To keep admin manageable for our small team, we don’t offer refunds if you cancel or can’t attend a class, and we can’t transfer your booking to a different class/event. We hope this is understandable. If a class is cancelled or changed by ID however, we do offer refunds/transfers to everyone who has booked.
Colleen Bartley is an interdependent dance artist based in London.
Her invisible disability informs her practice. She is an improviser, teacher, facilitator and works with a variety of disciplines. Her lineage includes contemporary and post-modern dance and somatics with teachers such as: Caryn McHose and Gary Carter (Experiential Anatomy), Susan Schell (Authentic Movement), Nita Little (Emerging Composition), Lisa Nelson (Tuning Scores), Nancy Stark Smith (The Underscore), Nina Martin (Ensemble Thinking), Sherwood Chen (Body Weather).
Colleen is active organizing, writing about, and documenting dance. She holds a degree in Dance and Education from Swarthmore College and a post graduate diploma in Community Dance from Laban Centre and years of experience with Somatic Education. She believes that it is everyone’s birth right to move, that people are inherently creative, and sees dance as a way to empower people, to effect social change and to build community.