We will use the subtly powerful somatic approach of the Feldenkrais Method® to come into a state of refined sensory listening, emphasising inner connectedness and seeking pathways of ease, before moving into expansive improvisational dancing using solo, duet and group scores. The class aims to develop kinesthetic awareness, enhance existing movement skills and re/discover the pure pleasure of your moving self.

Jackie is a dancer and Feldenkrais Method® practitioner with 25 years’ experience of teaching movement. Having gained an MA in Dance Studies in the early ‘90s, she went on to study and teach various improvisational approaches, including Release Work and Contact Improvisation, and in 2002 she qualified as a Feldenkrais practitioner. After teaching movement and dance in a variety of adult education and university contexts in London for 12 years she moved to the North East of Scotland where she ran a Feldenkrais practice. In 2014 Jackie moved down to the South West and is now based in Frome, Somerset, where she offers classes & workshops as well as in Bath and Bristol. For more info: www.movetolive.co.uk.

A somatic based creative movement class, exploring different strategies into body awareness and their role in generating movement material as a tool to move, dance and choreograph in space, unravelling connections between inner and outer landscapes.

Rebecca is a dance artist based in Bristol whose work investigates the role of perception in shaping and being shaped by our environment. She has performed and researched internationally, often in collaboration with visual artists and musicians. More info can be found at rebeccamartadandrea.wordpress.com

In this class we may use a variety of somatic techniques in order to experience the skeletal system including; embodied anatomy, bone levering, bone bending, improvised movement and touch.

Alistair has been training in Somatic Movement Education with the School for Body-Mind Centering® for the past 2.5 years. studying with a variety of courses in the UK, France and Italy. He teaches regular Contact Improvisation classes in Bristol and has been dancing CI for over 7 years. Alistair also has a diverse interest in different movement practices including Hanna somatics, Feldenkrais, Qi Gong, martial arts, yoga and climbing.

Moving our cellular selves into exploring our expanding, contracting, overlapping and highly mobile kinesphere. This class will introduce the practice of cellular breath, the small dance of our bodies, before expanding out into our ‘skinesphere’ and kinesphere.

K’lo is a Somatic Movement Educator trained with the School for Body-Mind Centering® in America, France and Italy. She completed a year’s Somatic Performance training with Katy Dymok and Mark Taylor and holds a degree in Creative Arts - specialising in directing, devising, physical theatre, choreography and somatic practice. K’lo also facilitates Contact Improvisation and is a Shiatsu Practitioner. Her personal passion and continuing exploration is embodied play, improvisation and performance.

“The body for me is a place of wonder, which we spend most of our lives treating like a vehicle we ride around in, however we are our body and our body is us, the way we move reflects who we are. Somatic practices offer an opportunity to slow down and listen to our whole self, the billions of cells that make up the community of us. Whether it’s the cells, the bones, the muscles, the organs or our fluid selves - they all offer pathways of expression that can not only help rehabilitation and re-patterning, but can facilitate new creative expression. Somatic practice is a process and life practice, which gives the gift of yourself to yourself.”

The classes will begin with gently tuning the body through somatic awareness. We will continue to enliven the senses and imagination through guided improvisations, exploring and expanding our physical vocabulary, moving on our own and in relation to others. Opening our attention to compositional layers such as use of space, rhythm and timing we will deepen our understanding of choices available to us in each moment. Brenda's classes support a playful and intuitive creative process.

Brenda Waite is a performer, teacher and director currently based in Bristol. With an extensive background in physical theatre and new dance techniques her interest is the expressive potential of the body in performance. She has created and presented work in Australia and Europe for over 20 years in diverse settings from theatres to public spaces. Improvisation is central to her practice both as a creative tool and performance mode. She teaches regularly and facilitates improvisation labs, spaces for artistic exchange such as the Flummery Room, Bristol. Brenda participates in ongoing movement studies, research and is fascinated with how the body meets the creative mind, imagination and communication.

She has studied Dance and Improvisation with - Margaret Lassica, Rosalind Crisp, Tess de Quincy (Body Weather), Julyen Hamilton, Al Wunder, Meg Stuart, Sten Rudstrom, David Zambrano, Stephanie Skura. More information: brendawaite.blogspot.co.uk