DANCE
My Approach
I have been dancing since I was a child, first by creating “after dinner shows” for my parents, then training intensively to embody the discipline and skill to perform on a professional, artistic level. For me, dance is a source of creativity and a place for self-discovery. It has been a life long, intuitive practice that I love sharing with others. Like yoga, dance frees the body and mind, through its groove, its sweat, the space it creates and the qualities it inspires. I offer a wide range of movement meditations, whether they be wild and uninhibited or refined and focused. I teach dance technique, but also enjoy guiding improvisational journeys. Efficient, clear instruction is the hallmark of my teaching style. My structured sequencing provides a safe space in which to explore new territory and take risks. Music plays an important role in all my dance classes and workshops. I consider music to be amongst the most powerful of art forms, because it touches deep layers of your consciousness. Whether it is a dance training, or an improvisational setting, you have the opportunity to become one with rhythm, dissolving personal boundaries into the vastness of sound and space.
Modern / Contemporary Dance
(weiss-mann technique)
The weiss-mann technique was developed out of my creative collaborations with Heidi Weiss. It is highly influenced by yoga, somewhat by the Alexander Technique, as well as several modern and contemporary dance styles. Its roots lie in modern dance, but its expression breaks past molds, becoming a fusion that is structured, highly physical, musical and dynamic. The first segment of the class focuses on arriving in the body, breath and space. The sequences that follow explore finding a balance between one’s technical skills and the capacity to flow and move through space freely. As the class progresses, the distinctions between these two categories begin to soften and fuse into one. Movements that are traditionally considered “technical” become more organic, more full of breath, life and volume. Contemporary movements become infused with more clarity, length and control. You are continually encouraged to experience your energy, and then to consciously direct it into space. Particular movement themes such as rhythm and musicality, quick directional and level changes, following initiation points (the fingertips, toes, hip, sternum, etc.), or floor work are explored. One is prepared for an uninhibited range of movement. All spatial levels are experienced, including jumps. You are challenged to take risks, to expand your boundaries, to build stamina and to cover more space. Soulful music, often performed live, motivates, inspires and supports the entire class.
What to expect…
You will feel aligned and strengthened, you will sweat, you will glow from an endorphin high, you will feel inspired by the live music and/or one of Jennifer’s awesome playlists!
The Group Motion Workshop
Collective Dance Making in the Moment / A Creative Practice
The Group Motion Workshop is a two hour long, non stop guided process of dance/movement improvisation with live music. Based on structures and scores created and developed by Brigitta Herrmann and Manfred Fischbeck, the Workshop combines highly refined structures of improvisation, movement meditations, and contact dance. It is an outgrowth of their work with the Group Motion Dance Company originated in 1971. It has been conducted regularly every Friday night in Philadelphia for over fifty years and has toured to festivals, dance centers, colleges and schools in the US and other countries including Japan, Taiwan, Argentina, Germany, France, Poland, Lithuania, Cyprus, Bermuda and Barbados.
This tradition is now being implemented and carried on by Berlin based teachers Jennifer Mann and Heidi Weiss. An ensemble of musicians supports this interactive space with live improvised acoustic and electronic music.
No previous dance experience is required. The Group Motion Workshop offers a space for interactivity and communication that is spontaneous, deep and direct, allowing for new channels of creative potential to open. It serves as a resource for creative and authentic expression through movement and sound, and can be utilized as a creative practice for all levels and all ages.
The overlap of participants from different backgrounds and ages fosters a powerful dimension of mutual learning and exchange and encourages the integration of body, mind and spirit.
The Group Motion Workshop explores play, curiosity and individual and collective experience in its structures. Compositions and choreographic patterns are created spontaneously. The practice creates a ritual space for building community.
Open for ALL LEVELS
The workshop is lead in English, with German translation when necessary.
More Info: www.groupmotion.org
What to expect…
You will experience a movement journey. On your way, you will encounter others, exploring spontaneous play, communication, and self-trust. You will sweat, you will run wild, you will become very quiet, you will practice listening and responding. You will find release and rest in your way of moving.
Live Music
(Steve R Lukanky / HOIST)
Many of my dance classes and workshops are accompanied by the live music of Steve R. Lukanky. He is a tubist for different Jazz, Balkan and Ska bands (i.e. Beat n’ Blow, Miss Platnum, Brassska), and explores with his solo project, “Hoist”, new directions.
His looped tuba sounds, mixed with percussive grooves and electronic atmospheres, create an exciting soundscape that inspires movement, self expression and exploration.
Steve also accompanies some of my yoga workshops. Subtle layers of sound gently support slower practices, deep relaxation and Yoga Nidra, paving a journey into deeper states of awareness.
More Info: coming soon !