#Bartenieff Fundamentals
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Embodied Anatomy: Pilates Mat class with Lesley Powell
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#anatomy#Balanced body#Bartenieff Fundamentals#core#Embodied Anatomy#Joseph Pilates#Laban#Lesley A. Powell. Lesley Powell. Movements Afoot#pilates#Pilates Mat#Pilates teacher#Somatics
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Hi! You were unfortunately found by the overexcited dance teacher (also autistic). Yay dancing! Here are some things worth thinking about. 1. Yes, dance helps with proprioception. That said, I am a Professional Dancer and still have…questionable proprioception (I've been dancing my entire life, so who knows how bad it would be without dance, I don't really want to know). So, I will say, if proprioception is being a problem, it is also possible to learn how to cheat and do movement without functional proprioception. In Irish dance, I get a lot of feedback from how my feet touch the floor. There's also a lot of visual feedback and a lot of trial and error (for example, from my own experience, if I do a move and hit a fellow dancer, I will not do that again). And cheating is definitely a skill that contributes to how graceful I appear in the rest of my life.
2. Whether or not it is hell will depend a lot on the environment, people you're dancing with, and the teacher. Some green flags include being able to ask questions, teachers focusing on positive improvement, being able to get water without asking, and breaks in class. Some red flags include not being able to leave or sit out without teacher approval, expectations that everyone does something the same way, and teachers mostly giving negative or critical feedback. (Someday I may write an actual list of these)
Personally, I just walk out of class if I'm not enjoying myself these days (I've taken with too many bad teachers to do it again), but it sounds like that might be an option for you. In that case, if it is hell, I'd encourage you to find time to practice with yourself or others in a way that you do enjoy. And take the time to really have fun with it (it might take some experimentation). That way, you can have some positive experience to get you through the horrible hell class.
3) Balance and coordination is a learned skill! Even for the people who seem to have a lot of it. And, like proprioception, it's cheatable (I mostly just rely on muscle strength and repetition these days).
I recommend thinking about where you're looking. If you're looking at yourself in a mirror, try to lift your eyes so they're looking just above your reflection's head. This helps with posture and alignment, which leads to steadier balance. If you're trying to balance on one leg, look at one thing and nothing else. Personally, mirrors are weird so I need to look at something not in the mirror for that, but I know other people who can use mirrors, so who knows?
When doing a new movement, it might feel be super awkward and uncoordinated. My rule of thumb is to do it until I'm bored. Just repeat, repeat, repeat. You can also do it super small with your hands/fingers while waiting for a bus or attach words to the movements and repeat those over and over in your head. All of that helps build the messaging systems between the brain and other parts of your body, which is what is needed for coordination. (it's all very stimmy as well)
FINALLY, if you want to be an overachiever and prepare ahead of time, the main answer to anything around balance and coordination is core strength.
Bartenieff Fundamentals are loosely based on developmental patterns, so they help bring the body into how it organically wants to move: https://youtu.be/HeQgq7L9yOo?si=SSqJbCTsFeErUdOQ
You can also look up some gentle pilates exercises (not the silly "weight loss" bullshit, the stuff that's more lying on the floor and moving your limbs about).
Sit-ups are great, but they tend to use your surface core muscles, what you want for coordinated movement is the more inner core muscles.
For all of this, even though it usually feels scary, I recommend trying to throw yourself into doing the movement "full out" as soon as possible. This helps trigger your body and physical knowledge, so that less has to go through the brain. The more information bypasses the brain, the more it can build up your body's knowledge, proprioception, and movement capacity.
I am going to be very suddenly taking up dancing (<- will be in very Dancy musical). I have a few questions for autistic dancers specifically (tho anyone else who struggles with proprioception, e.g. dyspraxics, is welcome to answer)
did dance help your overall proprioception at all? balance coordination etc. this is a question for PEOPLE WHOS PROPRIOCEPTION NATURALLY SUCKS I know if ur like Normal ur stuff will get better but I wanna know how it is with natural deficit as someone who has a chance of falling down every time i stand up
was learning to dance. hell. am i about to just put myself through hell with little benefit or improvement.
do yall have any like..... basic balance/coordinaiton tips or knowledge so I can maybe not look Incredibly stupid
#hi hello i saw your post and decided to ramble#hope you enjoy it?#I'm excited you're dancing!#I should probably stop procrastinating...
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Irmgard Bartenieff was born on February 24, 1900 in Berlin. She was a dance theorist, dancer, choreographer, physical therapist, cross-cultural scholar and pioneer in the field of dance/movement therapy. A Renaissance woman who enjoyed weaving disciplines together, she was always ready to investigate movement in a variety of fields—including child development, ethnic dances, nonverbal communication and physical rehabilitation.
A student of Rudolf Laban, she pursued cross-cultural dance analysis, and generated a new vision of possibilities for human movement and movement training. From her experiences applying Laban’s concepts of dynamism, three-dimensional movement and mobilization to the rehabilitation of people affected by polio in the 1940s, she went on to develop her own set of movement methods and exercises, known as Bartenieff Fundamentals.
Bartenieff incorporated Laban's spatial concepts into the mechanical anatomical activity of physical therapy, in order to enhance maximal functioning. In physical therapy, that meant thinking in terms of movement in space, rather than by strengthening muscle groups alone. The introduction of spatial concepts required an awareness of intent on the part of the patient as well, that activated the patient's will and thus connected the patient's independent participation to his or her own recovery. "There is no such thing as pure “physical therapy” or pure “mental” therapy. They are continuously interrelated."
Bartenieff’s presentation of herself was quiet and, according to herself, she did not feel comfortable marketing her skills and knowledge. Not until June 1981, a few months before she died, did her name appear in the institute’s title: Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies (LIMS), a change initiated by the Board of Directors in her honor.
Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at http://justforbooks.tumblr.com
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This is going to piss off a lot of c!Dream haters but hear me out:
One thing while being in acting school is that I have to learn a character no matter the morals. If I am playing a villain, I need to justify the character’s actions no matter what. Take for example the character Babe in the play ‘Crimes of the Heart’ written by Beth Henley.
Babe had shot her husband because (SPOILERS FOR THE PLAY) he had punched/slapped a 15 year old boy, and she also doesn’t like him. However, you as an actor have to justify that what she did was right…. ALL of it. No matter. What. Babe recounts to her sister, Meg, the events that unfolded leading up to when she shot her husband, Zackary, INCLUDING having slept with said 15 year old boy, Willie Jay, canonically twice. Meg, rightfully, is horrified because Willie Jay is only 15 years old, he’s but a child still compared to Babe’s 24/26 years of age. But still, Meg bites her tongue and swallows her pride and tries to get her sister to explain why she shot her husband to the lawyer.
Crimes of the Heart is extreme, and should not be read by the faint of heart. But going off that, an actress playing Babe would, no matter what, have to justify the character’s actions. And the actress playing Meg acknowledges this but has another ‘need’ in mind.
This is where I bring Uda Hagen’s six steps of characterization:
1) Who am I? (What is my present state of being? How do I perceive myself?)
2) What are my circumstances? (What time is it? Where am I?)
3) What are my relationships?
4) What do I want? (Objective, or need)
5) What is my obstacle? (What is in the way of what I want?)
6) What do I do to get what I want? (What are my actions?)
Uda Hagen wrote these six questions for the actor to answer as the character. Typically done after reading a script, the questions can be answered relatively easy.
Next, I want to bring up choreographer, Irmgard Bartenieff. A student under Rudolf Laban, Bartenieff was also a physical therapist for polio patients. Having never had polio herself, Bartenieff doesn’t really know how to treat her patients correctly. She does, however, puts herself in their place and sees that there is real struggle in moving when you have polio.
Bartenieff’s Fundamentals are used in acting when embodying a character. You don’t simply show up to rehearsal, pretend your the character, say your lines then leave. You show up to rehearsals, become the character, and the rest is up to the character.
Acting is being aware of your physical and emotional state.
Going back to the Dream SMP, before I explain this, I want you to close your eyes, breathe in deep, exhale and let go what makes you, you. Now place yourself in c!Dream’s shoes.
You have this mentality that what you’re doing is right. You have this set of rules for your world and you expect people to follow it. You are then confronted by someone who breaks these rules, and another that wants independence. YOU don’t want factions to break off. What YOU want is a family.
Breathe in and exhale. Continue.
You are reluctantly thrown into battle before finally stopping after an offer was made. An offer that was to gain the freedom of this ‘nation’ and you take it. It was an offer. Key word: offer. You allow the nation to prosper and rejoice and expand, and lay low for a few days.
Breathe in and exhale. Continue.
Suddenly you find yourself meeting with the very same people that were against you, and you are giving them resources to survive after they were exiled from their ‘home.’ You help to your best ability while also remaining in the shadows. You had full intentions of joining them, until there was an offer.
Breathe in and exhale. Continue.
The offer is life and death for the price of your involvement. You take it. You are now on the opposing side. You and your comrades fight the people you swore you’d help. Then you surrender.
Breathe in and exhale. Continue.
After explosions and death, you suddenly find your sanity cracking. The seeds of chaos was planted in you, and now that one obstacle was gone, you needed to get another one out of the way.
Breathe in and exhale. Continue.
You’re not free anymore. Bound to a dark box surrounded by lava with nothing to eat but raw potatoes, you are visited by former friends who bark at you that you deserve to be here. You still think you can escape the inescapable. Then someone begins to visit you daily, and tortures you for information that’s keeping you alive. This goes on for months. Your only way out is also in prison with you, and the torture doesn’t cease.
Yet.
You are still considered a villain.
Despite the fact that you are being tortured in far worse conditions for longer than you had exiled a kid. A kid that still had the world at his will, and food to cook and eat. You?
You are tortured on a daily basis for four + months for information that is keeping you from losing your life for good and someone you’re still to blame for everything?
It doesn’t make sense.
You are only human despite yourself.
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Free Dance Day
Thursday, May 21, 2020
Events at 12pm, 2pm, 4pm CST hosted online via Zoom
All events are FREE
Find videos from all Free Dance Day sessions HERE
Join Synapse Arts for FREE dance-centric events! In the past this day has been chock full of in-person activities. This year we are reimagining Free Dance Day for virtual space, with three main events intended for all ages, abilities, identities, and incomes.
Learn about the Synapse Arts - New Works program in a Q&A session with former New Works artists, take an intermediate/advanced workshop with Kristina Fluty, and have young artists try a ballet class. All events are free and open to the public. Zoom codes available by registration or request. See event info below for details.
Schedule Overview
full descriptions below
All times CST (Chicago)
12pm-1pm New Works Information Session with past New Works Artists
Ideal for anyone who is interested in how the Synapse Arts - New Works program works, how new performance pieces are made, or intends to apply to the program in the fall of 2020.
Direct Message (DM) Synapse Arts on Facebook to receive the Zoom code
**The session will be live captioned and recorded for later use at your own pace.
2pm-3pm Phrasebuilding Workshop with Kristina Fluty
Join Kristina Fluty of Molly Shanahan/Mad Shak and The Theatre School at DePaul University for a quick creative process class. We will build and investigate a long-form phrase of movement. All are welcome though this workshop may be best suited for intermediate/advanced movers.
RSVP required at this link: https://synapsearts.networkforgood.com/events/18542-phrasebuilding-workshop-with-kristina-fluty
Zoom code will be sent by automatic email once you register
4pm-5pm Ballet for Young Dancers with Ms. Katie
Join Synapse Arts’ own Ms. Katie for a fun all-levels ballet class. This class is aimed at students who have participated in Arts Partner Ballet classes at Loyola Park and Berger Park, but all young dancers ages 4-10 are welcome.
Contact [email protected] for the Zoom code
Accessibility and inclusivity notes
Synapse Arts events actively welcome individuals with diverse identities, including all genders, sexual orientations, races, ethnicities, religions, abilities, income levels, ages, parent/caregiver status, backgrounds, and household structures.
All sessions are relaxed and sensory-friendly. Some sessions will be captioned and recorded for later use at the user’s own pace.
Please note:
Selected activities from the original Free Dance Day schedule have been cancelled by the Park District or postponed indefinitely. These cancelled activities include:
All-levels modern dance class with Margi Cole
Synapse Arts’ performance
Student Troupe performance
All events are free. We hope that you will help us support the hard working artists who are bringing you this event by donating to our Synapse Arts Pandemic Support Campaign. With your help we can reach our goal of $5,000 and pay all of our artists for every single one of our spring events - even those that were cancelled due to COVID-19. Donate at https://synapsearts.networkforgood.com/projects/97355-dance-will-keep-us-together-synapse-arts-pandemic-support or at www.synapsearts.com.
Please remember:
Participate as you please - feel free to join or exit at any time
You can attend/watch/participate with or without being seen
All spaces support and include womxn and LGBTQIA+ folx
Full Details and Schedule
New Works program Information Session
Free, ages 18+, via Zoom, Direct Message (DM) Synapse Arts on Facebook for the code
Learn about Synapse Arts - New Works, a choreographic mentorship and commissioning program run by Synapse Arts in an informal setting. Join former New Works artists Christopher Knowlton, Maria Blanco (of LOUD BODIES), Amanda Ramirez, Nora Sharp, and Megan Rhyme for a Q&A session in preparation for the fall 2020 call for applications.
Are you curious about the application process? Want to know what support and resources are offered to New Works artists? Have questions about the challenges and triumphs of being in New Works? Converse with former New Works artists and Synapse staff members to answer these questions and more!
**The session will be live captioned and recorded for later use at your own pace.
Phrasebuilding workshop with Kristina Fluty
Intended for intermediate and advanced movers, ages 18+
Free with required pre-registration: https://synapsearts.networkforgood.com/events/18542-phrasebuilding-workshop-with-kristina-fluty
Join Kristina Fluty of Molly Shanahan/Mad Shak and The Theatre School at DePaul University for a quick creative process class. We will build and investigate a long-form phrase of movement inspired by the fundamentals of Laban/Bartenieff, the Molly Shanahan commitment to spiral, and a Feldenkrais-like idiosyncratic engagement with self and the space. We will start gently with guided and improvisational movement to warm ourselves into larger dancing.
This workshop is free of charge and pre-registration is required. This allows us to send you a Zoom code and support a quality experience for all. Please sign up to save your spot!
Ballet for young dancers with Ms. Katie
For ages 4-10, all levels of experience
Free, contact [email protected] for Zoom code
Join Synapse Arts’ own Ms. Katie for a fun ballet class! All young dancers ages 4-10 are welcome, especially students who have participated in Arts Partner Ballet classes at Loyola Park and Berger Park. This fun class will use music and movement to introduce students to classical ballet. The class will include material from Synapse Arts’ beginning and intermediate level ballet classes, such as the five positions, floor and barre work and basic dance combinations. Students are encouraged to wear comfortable clothing that allows movement, such as leotards or leggings, and to use a space in the house where they are free to move safely. Ballet shoes are optional.
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I can elaborate if you're interested, but some quick thoughts from a dance teacher with incomprehensible chronic pain/fatigue:
if five minutes a day is what you can do, start there. I've had to build back a lot of my working out/rehearsal time in the past few months, and I did seriously start with five minutes a week.
similarly, this is still a "workout" or "fitness" for your body, which means following the same guidelines around when to push and not - stick to your baseline for a while first. If you can do 5 minutes a day, do that for a few weeks, then see if you can bump it up to 10. What to go for is a pattern that looks like a plateau and then increase, plateau and then increase, take time to figure out what pattern of that works for you
Bartenieff Fundamentals - these are based off developmental movement patterns (so what most bodies want to be doing) and core stability and are fairly gentle in terms of strain on joint and build core stability, and mostly involve lying down (and are easily modified)
Pilates - pilates is very much designed for physical healing (Joseph Pilates developed it for his own health difficulties). These days, it's often treated as Fitness (yuck), but the general concepts of core stability and connection are developmentally sound and can be modified to be fairly gentle, lots of lying down, etc.
Exercise suggestions???
I have chronic pain and fatigue, so most exercise is difficult for me to maintain. I can’t handle cardio at all, because it’s so painful. My doctor told me to try water therapy, but going to the pool makes me SEVERELY dysphoric.
The most I can manage right now is about 5 minutes a day (walking outside so that I can get some sunlight in too).
Any other Spoonies have recommendations for exercise ideas, and how to stick with it?
#i'm a dance teacher that can't shut up#feel free to ignore me if this doesn't work for you#and I'm happy to go more into detail in any of these and how it helps me etcetcetc#exercise is fucking complicated
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梳打埠實驗工場 @sodacityexperimentalworkshop 今年有好多關於身心的課程,希望疫情快過去,大家可以上課。 #舞蹈動作治療體驗工作坊 #芭特妮芙動作基礎訓練 #身心平衡技法入門工作坊 Soda-City Experimental Workshop, There are a lot of courses on body and mind this year. Hope the outbreak will gone soon, everyone can join the course. #Dance action therapy workshop #bartenieff fundamental #Introduction Workshop for Mind and Body Balance Techniques https://www.instagram.com/p/B-pFKdNBPU6bWQcpF5zovvFCanpeaN4CZb1Mwc0/?igshid=hiu9peoobde
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Please welcome our New Faculty Member: Nina Padilla @vignetteportraits She will be teaching on Wednesdays starting August 21st. Nina A. Padilla is an accomplished multidisciplinary artist. She is a dance choreographer, performer and published photographer specializing in dance portraiture and dance on film. Her classes are a fusion of the Erick Hawkins technique and Bartenieff Fundamentals which helps her students understand how to move organically and within the limitations of their own anatomy. With a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance Performance and Choreography, as well as a Bachelor of Science in Nutrition & Food from Texas State University, Nina has almost two decades of dance training in a wide variety of dance styles including Modern, Contact Improvisation, Ballet and Jazz. #cdwinc1976 #newfaculty #dancelessons #sanantonio #moderndance #jazzdanceclass #dance #moderndanceforadults #adultdanceclasses #satx (at Connally's Dance Workshop, Inc.) https://www.instagram.com/p/B07TPr5Jgo_/?igshid=1226oyzpk69wk
#cdwinc1976#newfaculty#dancelessons#sanantonio#moderndance#jazzdanceclass#dance#moderndanceforadults#adultdanceclasses#satx
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Works Cited
“Bob Fosse.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, www.pbs.org/wnet/broadway/stars/bob-fosse/.
“Dancers Teachers + Choreographers LUIGI.” OFF JAZZ - LUIGI (Eugene Louis FACCIUTO), Longstaff, Jeffery Scott. Bartenieff Fundamentals and Developmental Movement Patterns. 2004.
“History of Jazz Dance.” Jazz Dance - History of Jazz in a Dance Form, www.dancefacts.net/dance-list/jazz-dance/.
“Jazz Dance.” Dance Connection Rochester, www.danceconnectionrochester.com/dance/jazz-dance.
“Katherine Dunham - Katherine Dunham Biography.” Katherine Dunham - Katherine Dunham Biography, kdcah.org/katherine-dunham-biography/.
Semko, Elizabeth, et al. “Gus Giordano.” Dance Advantage, 10 Aug. 2015, www.danceadvantage.net/giordano-jazz-dance/.
Semko, Elizabeth, et al. “Matt Mattox.” Dance Advantage, 7 Oct. 2015, www.danceadvantage.net/matt-mattox/.
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Laban
Laban movement analysis is generally divided into four categories:
Space (Choreutics, space harmony)
Body (Bartenieff Fundamentals, total-body connectivity)
Space
Effort (Energetic dynamics)
Rudolf von Laban, also known as Rudolf Laban (Hungarian: Rezső Lábán de Váraljas, Lábán Rezső, Lábán Rudolf) (15 December 1879 – 1 July 1958), was a dance artist and theorist. He is considered as one of the pioneers of modern dance in Europe, as the “Founding Father of the Expressionist Dance” in Germany. His work laid the foundations for Laban Movement Analysis, Labanotation (Kinetography Laban), other more specific developments in dance notation and the evolution of many varieties of Laban Movement Study. He is considered to be one of the most important figures in the history of dance
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Balanced Body Movements Principles Online Course w. Lesley Powell
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#anatomy#Balanced body#Bartenieff Fundamentals#core#Embodied Anatomy#hand-scapula relationship#Joseph Pilates#Lesley A. Powell#Lesley A. Powell. Pilates#Movements Afoot#pilates#Pilates teacher program#Somatics#workshops for pilates teacher#workshops for pilates teachers
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Rudolf von Laban
Laban movement analysis is generally divided into four categories:
Body (Bartenieff Fundamentals, total-body connectivity)
Effort (Energetic dynamics)
Shape
Space (Choreutics, space harmony)
Rudolf von Laban, also known as Rudolf Laban (Hungarian: Rezső Lábán de Váraljas, Lábán Rezső, Lábán Rudolf) (15 December 1879 – 1 July 1958), was a dance artist and theorist. He is considered as one of the pioneers of modern dance in Europe, as the “Founding Father of the Expressionist Dance” in Germany. His work laid the foundations for Laban Movement Analysis, Labanotation (Kinetography Laban), other more specific developments in dance notation and the evolution of many varieties of Laban Movement Study. He is considered to be one of the most important figures in the history of dance.
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Pilates Training
Pilates is an exercise of low intensity that brings together a number of breathing techniques with stretching, and is ideal for all groups, regardless of age or health. It helps enhance the body's major muscles, including the back, belly, and buttocks, and also your posture, flexibility, durability and mental concentration. The particular Polestar Pilates teacher training program at Rutgers University or college is an exceptional program. After experiencing another Yoga training program and now comparing the Polestar program to it, I believe the Polestar teacher training program is superior to the rest. The information we receive is thorough, presented in a way that scaffolds and builds in richness and complexity, based on research and the proven connection with expert physical specialist and trainers, anatomically based, and founded on the Joseph Pilates Movement Concepts as well as on the Polestar Principles of Movement. Both Brent Anderson and Kim Gibilisco are inspiring teachers and so generous with there as well as knowledge. As Polestar students, we are encouraged to be creative, active members in our own education also to find our own unique teaching voices. The Polestar training program empowers us with the knowledge to effectively evaluate the bodies of our clients and properly work with special fouler and clients with accidents. The exercise on the reformer requires lie face through to the carriage without straining your body, for example, the spine, quads, pelvis, hip flexors, and legs should be relaxed, with the stress absorbed by the back of the legs and hips in a safe manner. With its main muscles that push the body, along with transportation backward and forwards or up and down. The core muscles get a great workout, greater than what they normally experience in the leg or belly crunches presses. Polestar is an international authority in Yoga education and Pilates certification, focused on whole body wellness, healing through movements modalities and mind-body-spirit online connectivity. Founded in 1992, Polestar today is comprised of an international community of highly- Pilates training professionals who seek to impact world health. Polestar has Pilates instructor representation in over fifty countries, and education facilities situated in almost 40 nations. As Pilates grows as a method, we provide excellent and thorough education of all Polestar Pilates trainers, producing the finest Pilates professionals in the world. Polestar in the USA supports the Pilates Method Alliance (PMA) and partners with reputable Pilates schools assuring the quality and integrity of the Pilates instructor certification (PMA®-CPT). Polestar has recently been an active supporter of the PMA since the inception in 2001. Not only does the PMA qualification provide reassurance to clients and studio proprietors about the level of an instructor's experience and understanding, but it provides the instructor with a supportive community to continue to grow and excel in their practice. Polestar Yoga has provided me with a holistic, evidence-based framework to apply in my personal motion practice and my movement teaching. The Polestar managing principles and associated apparatus exercises offer both specificities within a Pilates practice and adaptability in transference to dance and somatic practices such as Bartenieff Fundamentals. I’ve found Polestar Pilates to be a wonderfully multifaceted and integrative movement tool. The best part about yoga and Pilates is that in case you have very little time - as low as 15 minutes - you will still benefit greatly from adding it to your movements plan. The physical exercises of yoga and Pilates lead to your physical health, but the mental and emotional benefits are even more powerful.
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about (to) change
“The essence of movement is change. Change is inevitable: you will change, if you want it or not. The question then becomes how much you want to actively choose in which ways you will change or in which ways you will interact with the change.”
I would like to start my first post with this little quote from the book Making Connections - Totaly Body Integration through Bartenieff Fundamentals. (Click on the title to get the full E-book for free!) It was the first book I lent from the library at Northern School of Contemporary Dance. Coming to this new city, new academy, I was hungry for new information and experiences.
Bartenieff Fundamentals are movement techniques based upon basic coordination patterns that focus upon achieving comfort and ease in the body to increase overall efficiency, coordination and flow of movement. Although the book speaks about these techniques and exercises, it also has more philosophical passages about life, freedom and growth.
I loved this little quote because it is really applicable for this stage of my life I’m in. Being in my final year of studies and being away from home for so long has definitely made me experience a lot of changes within myself. Not only did I change of environment, I also changed my way of training (different dance techniques). My values changed. My friendships changed. The way I looked at my own body changed. Some days it all felt too much. I didn’t understand why some things had gotten harder. All of a sudden I was struggling with beliefs that had never crossed my mind before. I can say, with certainty, that I’ve had my darkest moments this past year and to be able to get over these I had to accept the fact that I was changing.
To go forward, you must leave things behind. So, yes, also your perception of yourself. Your self-image. You are different every day - so why try to stick to your experiences of yesterday? Do not get attached to the labels you put on yourself or other people put on you. This will hinder your growth and growing equals happiness.
This is what I learned this year: going forward equals letting go. Letting go equals allowing change to come into your life. If something is transforming, if some things you used to do every day aren’t working anymore... allow it to be and go with the change.
As human beings we want to be fully present, embodied, as we live our lives. We want to communicate who we are and what we stand for in action, so that our message reaches out to others. As we move, whether in dance, theater, sports or simply in being with others, we want to connect. In order to do this we need to find means to connect inwardly. To do this we must listen to our intuition and free ourselves from labels and attachment. Attachment to people, money, food, our career, passions, success.
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Dance Kinesiology, Second Edition Dance Kinesiology, Second Edition by Sally Sevey Fitt About Dance Kinesiology, Second Edition Dance Kinesiology reflects modern techniques and includes articles addressing eight important systems of body work: the Pilates Method, Rolfing, the Feldenkrais Method, the Alexander Technique, Ideokinesis, Body-Mind Centering, the Bartenieff Fundamentals, and Laban Movement Analysis.
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