AWARENESS PERCEPTION PRESENCE:
Moving from the Fish Body
February 5-7 2010, Vilnius, Lithuania

Malcolm has spent the last five-years developing a body of work called Awareness Perception Presence in which he combines the Feldenkrais Method, Experiential Anatomy and other specially-devised material to enter into a physical dialogue with ourselves and our environment. In this particular series, we'll explore the Fish Body (axial skeleton) taking some of Steve Paxton's Material for the Spine as our reference.

Each class begins with a guided exploration/ lecture/dialogue in which the specific theme of the class is introduced through movement and associated anatomical details. Then follows a Feldenkrais (ATM) class which aims to clarify some aspects of the theme and generates a more general state of self-awareness. The final part of the class is spent in self-directed exploration taking the references movements as a starting point. The set material is simply standing and walking so makes no special demands physically.

These workshops are a practical exploration of how somatic movement practices can be applied to the performing arts as a kind of “invisible technique”. While they do not necessarily teach any performable material, somatic practices can enhance how you perform, your ability to learn new skills and suggest new movement vocabulary. They also offer a way to deal with longstanding aches and pains, and your ability to recover from or, better still, avoid injuries.

Malcolm Manning
I am a somatic movement researcher, educator and performing artist – movement is life and just about any situation can be analysed in terms of what moves, how, where, when and with what quality – I am fascinated by how people move and by how I move, both alone and in relation to others .

I have been based in Finland for the last eight years where I am currently a part-time senior lecturer in the dance department of the Theatre Academy of Finland (Finland's highest level dance education) and have helped to develop and teach around two months a year on the one-year Dance And Somatics education in Joensuu. I also tour Europe teaching, at various venues including TanzQuartier Wien and ImpulsTanz. For more info visit www.movetolearn.com