Strata - Autobiographical Movement

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Strata: The Process Lens

16th - 20th May, 2020: VIRTUAL/ONLINE ONLY
THIS WORKSHOP IS FULL

It is being run again in virtual/online format in June and in the real world in October 2020.
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See details of the June 13-17, 2020 virtual/online event​
See details of the October 3-8, 2020 real world event
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For anyone wanting a sustained period of time to attend to their own movement practice as a resource for professional and personal development.

STRATA is an opportunity, through the art and practice of movement, to get a new perspective on the stories you tell yourself about yourself.  

Take five days, moving in or wherever you can near your home, to be curious about your ever-changing self, to interrupt habits, to receive feedback, to appreciate the sheer joy of movement, to embrace the unknown and to allow creativity to emerge from your life experiences. 

Strata is a workshop that prioritises ‘location’ and recognises the different types of movement that different locations afford us: both in terms of our movement vocabulary and in terms of the memories and associations that each location evokes.

In early May, before the workshop, I will email participants some preparatory work and ask you to select 3 or 4 different environments for your journey, which you will move in during Strata. (If you are restricted to a small space, you can still find 3 or 4 distinct ‘environments’ - some or all of these can be indoors, if necessary.)

I will create a ‘journey’ or score for us each for the 5 days of the workshop, to include:
  • clear movement tasks to follow each day for a specified amount of time
  • witnessing each other in movement (online pairs)
  • individual and/or group online feedback once during the day (with more guidance/mentoring from me available as needed)
  • time for your own improvisation, connected to the task of the day
  • time for you to document of your material
  • time to share with the rest of the group the autobiographical piece that emerges from this creative retreat. In these unusual circumstances, this will be a piece based on movement but can include other media as necessary and may be shared however you choose, in a way that best represents the context  you find yourself in. More ideas/suggestions to follow.
There will be a maximum of 12 people for this workshop.
Through movement scores and simple activities you will :
  • Stop. Feel your position. Relax. Move following the sensations of your body.
  • Experiment with different lines, angles and points of view.
  • Play with proportion and perspective.
  • Learn to commit to a movement for as long as it takes.
  • Receive impressions  and initiate actions through movement: movement reading.
  • Practise noticing what you notice and giving it value -- the particular qualities, textures, landscapes and movements that hold meaning for you.
  • Play with balance and off-balance.
  • Find the ever-shifting threshold between spontaneity and awareness.
  • Become aware of yourself as part of your composition in movement. You are a part of life’s movements.
  • Experiment with new rhythms and sounds in movement.
  • Exercise somatic awareness .
  • Become aware of the muscle of atmosphere.
  • Be in a condition of witnessing, feeling, listening and moving.
  • Becoming your own guide/an involved witness through this creative process.

Costs 

Cost: £130.00 or by donation
Although the costs of a virtual workshop are significantly lower than usual, there is more work than usual in imagining, preparing and holding the creative process before and during the event.
To reflect this and the uncertainty of all our shifting economic situations, I suggest the price of  £130.00 for the 5 days as a guideline but I am happy with any donation that suits your situation if you would like to participate. This is in line with my movement practice where I invite you (and myself) to ‘find our position for dialogue.’

​THIS WORKSHOP IS FULL
"The degree of stimulus and the depth of reflectiveness I am left with after the completion of the workshop is testimony to the exquisite quality and richness of the work. I can sincerely say I find this work transformational."