2016 SERIES – SOMATICS IN ACTION – Presented by Fogbeast & Carol Swann. Practice and Participatory Conversation
Feb. 28, 2016 – Carol Swann (Alexander Technique) and Hursey Baker (Rosen Method)
March 20, 2016 – Carol Swann (Alexander Technique) and Daniel Bear Davis (Axis Syllabus)
April 24, 2016 – Carol Swann (Alexander Technique) and Cathie Caraker (Body-Mind Centering)
May 29, 2016 – Carol Swann (Alexander Technique) and Joy Cosculluela (Tamalpa Life/Art Process)
Sliding scale $45-$60
To register,emailfogbeastdanc
In this series, we will examine “Movement Re-patterning” somatics by teaching specific exercises through the lenses of various somatic systems such as: Body Mind Centering, Laban/Bartenieff Movement Studies, Alexander Technique, Feldenkrais Method, Embodied Anatomy, Developemental Movement and others. The two teachers will each teach an exercise in the system from which they are presenting.
After the practice sessions, Carol Swann will facilitate a “participatory” conversation on somatics. Carol will lead off with a very short presentation and participants will then be invited to share their perspectives, experiences and curiosities on somatics. We intend these dialogues to encourage co-operative learning and an exchange of information that elicits collective wisdom and serves community networking. Please wear loose, comfortable clothing and bring a notebook for notes if you would like. Everyone welcome.
CAROL SWANN (RSMT, RSME, CMT, NASTAT) is a teacher, private practitioner, facilitator, performer and activist. Her work is focused on contributing toward a more socially just and connected world. She has been teaching Voice, Somatics, Alexander Technique, Authentic Movement, Contact and Improvisation for over 35 years in the U.S., Latin America, Europe, Israel and Russia. She is Co-founder/Co-Director of “Moving On Center, School Of Participatory Arts and Somatic Research” (1994-2015). She has a private practice in Somatic Psychology (Hakomi/Process Work), is a registered Somatic Movement Therapist/Educator RSMT/RSME, Alexander Technique (NASTAT), Voice and is a Group Process/Conflict facilitator. Her work is informed by her extensive studies in Body-Mind Centering, Process Work, Roy Hart Theatre, Laban/Bartenieff, Release Technique, Action Theater, Theater of the Oppressed, Social Somatics, nature and everything else in her awareness.
HURSEY BAKER is a Rosen Method bodywork practitioner based in Berkeley with practices in San Francisco and Santa Cruz, California. Since the spring of 2006 he has co-taught workshops on Rosen work with Marion Rosen, the founder of Rosen Method and Jane Malek, the founder of the Monterey Bay Rosen Method Center at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, CA. He has also assisted in the teaching of new and advanced Rosen Method bodywork students at numerous weeklong Intensive training courses since 2004 including an 8 day course in Oslo, Norway in May of 2010. Hursey says: “I believe the ability to follow the breath is paramount in achieving and maintaining our well being, which is a key component of the Rosen method. Without a full awareness of the breath we may have a disproportion of energy distribution for movement and work, thus limiting the ability to heal and maintain our health”. Hursey sees the Rosen Method as a natural way of life represented by the connection experienced when receiving and giving sessions, which includes insights that open up for client and practitioner and the sense of peace that comes with the full relaxation that is enhanced by the work. Hursey lives in Pleasant Hill, California with his wife Irene, worked at the Eastbay Municipal Utility District for 29 years as a Water Treatment Supervisor, and served on the district’s Water Quality Committee. Hursey teaches Karate and Tai Chi. He currently conducts martial arts classes at the College of Marin and meets with a group of advance Karate students in the San Ramon Valley and at the Pleasant Co-housing complex where he lives. He is currently training to be a Rosen Movement teacher. He also enjoys participating in the annual Bay Area Dragon Boat competition and deep-sea fishing with friends and co-workers from the water district. Hursey can be reached at (510) 295-8229 or hbaker@myabmp.com
DANIEL BEAR DAVIS is a choreographer, performer, and movement educator driven by awe and wonder for humanity and an equally poignant curiosity and respect for the more-than-human world. His performance work prioritizes content over genre, weaving text, dance, video, music and new media. He considers all work to be site and context-specific and is interested in mobilizing audience agency through interaction and unconventional use of space. He has been teaching Axis Syllabus since 2013 and has been studying since 2006. He has applied and adapted learning from these physical inquiry practices in activity as diverse as body work and acrobatic stilts. Whether teaching physical skills or compositional practices, his intention is to foster tools for informed choice and increased possibility. His interest in the human experience has recently brought him to work with the real stories of under-represented people offering up their unique experiences as a site for connection. He has directed this work with EchoTheaterSuitcase project in collaborative ensembles of veterans and non-veterans as well as while assisting in the choreography of a performance of The Artistic Ensemble created and performed by inmates at San Quentin Prison.
CATHIE CARAKER is a dance maker, performer and teacher. She has been developing her approach to movement research, improvisation and embodiment training for 25 years. She trained as a practitioner and teacher of Body-Mind Centering® (BMC) with Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen and was on the faculty of the School for New Dance Development in Amsterdam for 10 years, where she applied aspects of BMC to the choreographic process. She has shared her work widely at dance institutes and festivals across Europe and the Americas. She holds an MFA in Dance from Bennington College and has a private practice in Pilates and Gyrotonic. Her writings on BMC in dance education have been published in the Belgian dance journal Nouvelles de Danse.www.caraker.com
JOY COSCULLUELA is a dance practitioner, performing artist, and movement educator. She has danced with Anna Halprin’s company 2007-2013 (including Spirit of Place, Parades and Changes, Seasons) and performed at YBCA, Intersection for the Arts, San Francisco Art Institute, Stanford University, Goddard College, and Cultural Center of the Philippines. She has collaborated with various Bay Area artists in Women on the Way Festival, Dance in Revolting Times, CIIS/ University of Chichester Summer Workshop, and NextNow Festival. Joy is A Filipino immigrant working with themes of identity, colonialism, and social and ecological interdependence. She founded the Wayfinding Performance Group, a multicultural ensemble in San Francisco and directed Homing Devices, a performance exploring stories of home. Joy works as faculty at Tamalpa Institute in Kentfield. In this somatic seminar Joy will offer a brief introduction of the Tamalpa Life/Art Process, a movement-based expressive arts practice that is grounded on the philosophy that life experience animates art-making and art-making animates life experience. No dance training needed. Art materials will be provided.