Dynamic Connections – CI Workshop at Goldsmiths University

Dynamic Connection – Contact Improvisation Workshop  Sat 9th May 11am-5pm

For this day workshop we’ll set the ground for a more explorative and dynamic dance with ourselves and with others. Early developmental movement patterns, movement puzzles and partner explorations will bring us into our dancing body, with a specific focus on differentiating and connecting our center and periphery. We’ll spend time with our fascia and the felt sense of our connective tissue, and how this shapes our dance and keeps us present in the unknown during lifts. Particularly I’d like to slow lifts down, so that we can override our fear responses from a place of groundedness, and explore the subtle shifts of tone and placement that offer new directions and possibilities. From this detailed and attentive place we’ll find our way back into a more embodied improvisational space through scores and practices where technique can soften, and where dancing feels grounded, safe and genuinely playful.
The work draws on the gentle, listening qualities of Body-Mind Centering® as a foundation for more dynamic exploration, and is open to all levels.

Mark Rietema teaches Somatics and CI in London and abroad, and offers workshops, lectures and group facilitation around embodiment, dance and mental health in places such as King’s College, the NHS and grassroots groups. He works as a psychotherapist and somatic movement educator, having studied Process Oriented Psychology and Body-Mind Centering®. His previous background is in community arts projects and performances (UK, US) with an MA in Community Arts from Goldsmiths. He teaches as faculty for Embody Move UK, Institut Prozessarbeit Deutschland, and as a guest teacher in various institutions. www.markrietema.com