Somatic Practices With Dance

This course will expose students to a variety of
Somatic Practices, through direct experience,
discussion, and ancillary materials. In the
increasingly demanding field of dance, these
practices serve as a platform to support holistic
growth and embodiment as both, dancers and
moving, feeling, thinking human beings. Somatics
also act as a road map in understanding healthy
movement skills that bridge the often challenging
gap between different dance forms. Subjects to be
explored in this course will include; Franklin
Method, Imagery for technique and performance, Qi
Gong, Structural Integration, Somatic
Experiencing, Feldenkrais Method, Alexander
Technique, CI Training, Craniosacral therapy,
Body-Mind Centering, Authentic Movement, and
Continuum.

For nearly all aspiring dancers with high
ambitions, it is extremely common to develop
imbalanced habits of pushing beyond productivity,
ironically stunting growth. The pressure and
drive to achieve very specific goals often
becomes too great to allow for the space to
develop an internal listening process that keeps
one present, authentic, and creative. Often
times, burnout, injury, and even emotional
distress ensue and serve as the catalyst to look
for alternative routes. The incredibly expansive
filed of Somatic Practices has over time, become
an especially popular consistency in order to
effectively create or change habits.
This class will focus on building a practice from
which a dancer can reconnect to their body in the
present moment, building on skills of intuition,
grounding, and positive movement habits. The
various practices and experiences themselves will
help to shed a light on understanding movement
and embodiment on deep and subtle levels, with
specific emphasis on the application to dance
training.