axis syllabus
Yoga.
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How is the political made manifest in dance?
​The classes create an immersion into the body’s architecture and aims to respect the body in its political aspects and in its diversity. The Axis Syllabus, often described as a trans-disciplinary toolbox, gets inspired by a queer-feminist perspective to consider our bodyminds entangled in a cultural/social context(s). Bodies can be understood as effects of discourse onto which social conventions and understandings are described, as well as sometimes bodies are described as natural, physical entities. Does a dance practice, offer us an object of research, to reflect, question and reinvent social, embodied norms?
With a daily writing practice that accompany our physical investigation we’ll ponder around our understanding of the body from an unchanging object to a series of multiple processes and unstable positions.
What new stories do you want to tell about your body, identities, and experiences? What is a body? Can we create a space that embraces intimate, biographical questions of body, identity, gender and sexuality? What’s gender got to do with it?
Let's create a utopia in which vulnerability, empathy and consent can be discovered.
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teachings movement*activism
class excerpt of movement*activism
WORKSHOPS of movement*activism
creating a space where the investigation of biomechanics meets (queer-) feminism
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Dance-Workshops: focuses on contemporary dance techniques, contact Improvisation and partnering. As dance/and movement practices often tend to center form and aesthetics, the utilization of biomechanics, physics and anatomy might create greater freedom in one's own movement vocabulary and therefore enable different bodies and (training-) experiences to participate.
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Contact Impro for (queer-)women, trans and inter* only:
In this class we'll create a space which is focusing on Contact Improvisation using the Axis Syllabus as a reference. The sessions consists of 1,5/2 hours class/workshop, followed by a 2 hours CI-Jam, in a queer-/women, Intersex and trans centric space.
The group is exclusive for queer-/women, trans* and inter*folks to create a safe space, explore intimacy and our diverse bodies. Our meetings shall support a process to heal wounds made by a sexist, homophobic and trans*phobic society.
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'Reflect your practice':
Combines critical theory and spiritual practice: books, articles, and blog posts invite us to discuss issues such as racism, 'body-shaming', gender and sexuality. These sessions, which explicitly invites diversity in body, race, gender, sexual orientation, and social background, supports our search for empowered relationships between mind and body.
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*** (for all movement classes)***
In the context of the Axis Syllabus, we’ll discover the lived anatomy of the human body through movement, engaged discussions, and time to embody theoretical knowledge. The exploration will guide us through set movement material, both on the floor and upstanding, as well as improvisation, including elements of contact improvisation and partnering, to fathom the manifold anatomical structures. Its potentials and limitations will embrace the structure of the class.
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My research in Gender-Studies (which includes an interdisciplinary perspective based in queer-theory, dis_ability studies, intersectional feminism, post-colonial studies, studies of education, and more) supports the approach that our identity is always embedded in complex power situations. In the way each workshop is working with and presenting scientific resources, my aim is to be mindful and also open for debate, to establish a constant reflection-mode. That might be complex, confusing even at first, but also enriching and heartening.
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LINKS:
http://thinkmovement.net/2018/02/15/form-follows-function/
http://stanceondance.com/2018/01/08/movement-activism/
Illustrations: Henna Räsänen/ Pictures: Diana Thielen