The foundation and primal concept of this workshop. Divided into 3 main parts which aim to provide a wide base for several physical practices.
 

Part 1 - Warm-up
 

Our concept of warm-up is based on the mover’s need to tune into a clear and subtle quality before their practice and execution. 

The warm-up starts from meditation and is guided by the fundamental physical principles.

The routine Tom follows and teaches is inspired by concepts of Chi Kung, Tai-Chi Chuan and Chaya (Shadow) Yoga and particularly the “Balakarma” series (stepping into strength). All of those bodies of work have been integrated and interpreted into a unique combination that Tom has been practicing and teaching for over 10 years. The warm-up routine emphasizes the opening of the darkest parts of our bodies - our legs, which are also the most distant from our eyes. Demanding postures alongside gentle flow with circular motions and spirals will be introduced to provide better awareness of the lower parts. The second principle Tom wishes to unfold is preparations (or introduction) to low movement while maintaining the gentle functions of the wrists and neck as tools for balance, sensing the space and organically digesting physical information - internal and external, creating a ritual that optimizes the space within the practitioner and their ability to sense the space around them.

 

Part 2 – Creativity and Technique

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Our practice always starts with a creative research which we call 'Clean Paper'. This is an approach to define the personal motives and inspiration for movement. Deconstructing what 'moves' each person and only then moving on to which 'moves' to choose to train and express.

Our technique serves as a “risk management” mechanism which ultimately, leads to freedom in a much larger scale than usually experienced by performers of a single discipline. We introduce dynamics of falling, rolling, collapsing, flipping and melting down in order to reduce and eventually eliminate the type of actions we usually refer to as “failure” in dance, athletics and martial arts. The practice is composed both of simple, almost “daily” actions, alongside “complicated” acrobatic risks without distinguishing between them or judging what’s important and unimportant. This approach allows a blend of influences from the Animal Kingdom, Capoeira, Gymnastics, Contact Improvisation, Tae Kwon Do, Parkour, Brazillian Jiujitsu, Judo, Tango, Bboying, House Dance and more to become possible expressions.

The integration of 'Clean Paper' and technical research is our proposition of a long-term, personal, challenging and rewarding creative practice that can adapt to the constant changes in one's life.

 

Part 3 – Partnering

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If dancing alone is a relationship with imagination, dancing with a partner is a relationship with reality.

We believe that these two skills are fundamental and relevant for each other but if we practice one without consciously looking for the creative connections with the other, it is hard to sense and experience the actual benefit.

In that sense, virtuosity and skill will appear when the line between imagination and reality slightly fades away. And then, solo dance and partner dance becomes inseparable.

It will lead to questioning the communication and the dialogue, which has endless developments and a very large potential.

Another topic will be how we read the space, the other body, and the space of the other body. This does not necessarily mean changing the shapes or forms which we create with our own bodies.

Dancing with another person is constant acknowledgment of the unknown. This is actually not an abstract or spiritual concept but it's rather a technical and concrete understanding of the reality of partnering and collaboration through movement.

Understanding that no matter how good my technique is, I still need to make a space to re-evaluate the situation and listen to the ambitions and the needs of the other moving body. 

We believe that practicing this will allow space for applying appropriate techniques and hopefully propose new ideas which haven't been tried before.