TEACHING

Upcoming Teaching: click HERE!

TEACHING STATEMENT

TEACHING STATEMENT
Karola Lüttringhaus

“The body in its construction and function claims priority as a starting point for any true understanding of how to move safely and well.”
Frey Faust, Author of The Axis Syllabus©

General goals in dance technique pedagogy: The physical and emotional well-being of my students is my first concern. Creating a respectful, inclusive, and supportive learning environment is as vital as staying current with movement science research and offering a diverse, decentralized view of dance. I see it as my duty to present my motivations, goals, and knowledge honestly and clearly. It is my joy to spark curiosity and inspire meaningful, self-motivated inquiry and enthusiasm about dance. I love to respond thoughtfully to students’ questions, and provide guidance that leads to educational success and deeper inquiry into movement’s multifaceted significance. I continually adapt my approach to help students achieve their long-term career goals. I seek to inspire, support, inform, and empower them to become well-educated, eloquent movers capable of making informed choices about their future, health, and creative risk-taking.

Dance touches us deeply and personally. Changing the ways we move and align can be both liberating and vulnerable. My approach BII: The Body’s Intrinsic Intelligence is informed by the principles that affect human movement as researched and compiled in The Axis Syllabus©, an accessible reference system for anatomy and physics in relation to training, rehabilitation, and performance. It outlines principles of joint function and tissue interplay that honor each student’s individuality while strengthening self-esteem and awe for their own physiology and abilities. BII supports the discovery of aligned and efficient personal movement pathways rather than imposing an aesthetic form. The goal is to work with, not against, one’s structure. Understanding anatomical principles allows for greater endurance, reduced soreness, expanded athletic capacity, and a joyful acceptance of our bodies. Teaching is my passion, and I remain continually grateful for all I learn from my students.

Individuation and diversity (bodies, backgrounds, practices): Individuation plays a foundational role in my classes, highlighting unique body-minds, each developing their individual physiological paradigm for harnessing their potential and distinctive artistic voice. Differentiating kinetic integration and motor control from style and aesthetic agendas helps in conceiving daily training protocols that align with the students’ goals. It is particularly important to me to teach material that does not treat one specific body type preferentially, but instead, I believe it to be a personal and social necessity to celebrate and invite all body types and ways of dancing to build a just and equitable society. Scientifically, the wonder of movement lies in the body’s adaptive, evolutionary responses to environment and demand and in BII classes, even with choreographed movements, the focus is not on replicating shapes but on developing proprioceptive and interoceptive skills, learning about and becoming more sensitive to the physiological relationships within each student’s unique body. The teacher’s body demonstrates articulation principles, offering a model rather than a mold.

Learning environment: Students thrive in a learning environment that is respectful, safe, inclusive, joyful, and curious—where they feel heard, seen, and empowered to collaborate, explore, and find personal relevance in class material while fostering important social connections. I include reading materials and discussions on learning and class structure in the syllabus, because understanding how and why we learn is as important as what we learn. Class is designed to encourage students to support each other's learning, creating a culture of mutual care and self-driven research toward shared and individual goals. In this way, learning and teaching continually enrich one another.

Examples from class: Each class begins and ends with a brief check-in circle to address daily challenges, joys, and goals. In my BII technique classes, students learn to explore and embody theroretical knowledge about alignment in ways that is tangible and applicable to dance training. Dance technique is transmitted in a wholistic manner that acknowledges the entire human being and focuses on anatomy, physics, bio-mechanics, and kinesiology as guiding principles for assessing and acquiring technical virtuosity. Students interact with class content through various methods: verbal and experiential movement analysis, class discussion about research and experiences, watching instructional videos, engaging with and building anatomical models, designing exercises, drawing, journaling, writing, and, most importantly: through dancing. I inspire my students to become more sensitive to how the many individual parts of the body collaborate with one another and orchestrate collectively to facilitate complex movements in dancing.
Mindful touch, interactive, and interoceptive movement practices help increase proprioceptive sensitivity and relational awareness so that the student can become more articulate, secure, adaptable, fluid, and efficient at harnessing kinetic energies. Class exercises are designed to challenge students to coordinate in a collaborative manner, practicing structured flow as well as unpredictable pathways that require quick responses and mutual care. Improvisation and structured improvisation are important practices toward developing adaptive listening and response skills for optimal skeletal placement. When working with choreographed phrases, which we do in nearly every technique class, the goal is not to build a movement vocabulary, or repertoire of movements with conditioned reflexes, but to teach the student to develop the sensitivity and response-ability toward finding new movement pathways spontaneously and safely within the proposed pathways of the choreography.

Working with choreographic material but with an interoceptive point of departure, the honoring each student’s individual morphology, lays the foundation for breaking out of old habits, and toward recognizing what it feels like when proper alignment is attained and maintained. We explore fall management principles that are the foundation for athletic movements, inversions, tumbles, and partnering. I break down complex or difficult movements into manageable components guiding students reliably toward abilities they previously did not think they could achieve. Dividing students into smaller groups to analyze and experience creative movement assignments on their own is imperative to building group cohesion and self guided study ethics. Informal showings for peer audiences serve to familiarize students with the heightened state of awareness and interpersonal connection that comes from witnessing and being witnessed, while offering opportunities for meaningful and constructive feedback methodologies.

Grading and Assessment: Throughout the term, I assess student learning through quizzes, individual and group projects, discussions, process books, weekly writing assignments, presentations, and performances, emphasizing individual progress and depth of engagement. Clear parameters and consistent guidance ensure that grading supports learning rather than discouraging engagement. Evaluation remains proportional to student goals and university standards, which are clarified from the outset. For midterms, students both demonstrate and describe a short movement sequence in detailed kinesiological and phenomenological terms—analyzing shifts of weight, counterbalances, joint angle changes, muscular actions, spatial relationships, and biomechanical processes. This reveals their embodied understanding and growing self-guided inquiry, evident in both movement quality and the sophistication of their writing. Students maintain anatomy and practice journals to creatively engage with weekly content, and regular studio office hours provide personalized feedback, inspire new research, and support collegial, embodied exploration. In choreography classes I often ask students to write performance analyses of their own and other choreographers’ works.

Equality and fairness in choreographic projects: All students deserve equal opportunities to learn in class as well as in performance settings and I make sure that the roles I cast for choreographic projects are distributed methodically, fairly, non-preferentially, and non-hierarchically. This practice has led to high quality performances with exceptional learning outcomes and artistic growth.

BALLET APPROACH (and other codified dance styles such as Horton, Graham, Cunningham)

What is Ballet? It is safe to say that Ballet is understood as a historical practice, a training system, an aesthetic language, a cultural ideology, and a living art form that produces distinctive ways of moving characterized by long lines, a lithe and very flexible body, a gravity defying quality and dancing on pointe. Definitions of what Ballet is can be broad and contradictory depending on what tradition or history of it we are looking at. Ballet has not been immutable and in fact, it has undergone a number of quite significant changes from the times of the court of Louis 14th and Les Ballets Russes. Going into historical detail goes beyond the scope of this text, which seeks to discuss how we can adapt proven injurious training techniques to current anatomical and biomechanical knowledge about healthy joint function and parameters. Studies clearly show that Ballet causes injury, even disability. What do we do with this knowledge? How can we preserve Ballet as recognizable and change the things we know are not sustainable for dancer bodies?

Additionally, in many institutions, Ballet is still privileged as the norm and the foundation for dance education, from toddlers to professionals, encouraging uniformity, standardized practices, and hierarchy, which brings up additional cultural, societal, and gendered inequalities alongside the substantial physiological concerns.

When I first studied dance, I was told that becoming a professional dancer would require sacrifice and fighting my own body to bend it to my will. I was constantly injured. Strategic targeting of joint integrity and the spinal curves, training for hyperextensions and isolations, hyper-flexibilty and extreme external rotation took a toll on my body from the very beginning. Ballet becomes a life style. My identity became my dance training.
Often, these days, dancers of all ages walk up to me saying that Ballet hurts their body, but it is what they know and they generally seem apathetic to the effort it would take to change anything about it at all.

Ballet is distinct in all of it aspects from other forms of dance, and it is easily recognized as such. So, when changing injurious practices in Ballet, we need to first discuss if we seek to preserve this recognizability and which movements are part of this. We have to discuss what our goals are. How do we define Ballet? What do our students need from Ballet training? What are their goals? Are we willing to knowingly sacrifice the health and well-being of our students in order to help them achieve careers in extremely demanding practices or in order to perpetuate a so-called tradition? Are we willing to impose on our students commonly held beliefs that dancing requires sacrifice? No matter what our answers are to these questions, even by changing a few things, we can improve dancers' careers and well-being.

There are several approaches that can work. I will not list them all, but I will propose my approach based on what we did at Salem College when we founded the major in Movement Research.

I propose to first declare that the health of our students is our first and foremost priority, plus the absolute necessity to give them the tools for long and diverse careers in dance and movement. I suggest tailoring training to each dancer's career goals. In each class I can easily add challenges for more advanced students or those with concert dance aspirations while honoring those that major in other fields or are not interested in Ballet and take it as a requisite. Understanding who our student body is is foundational to successfully introducing adaptations. We can change how we train, and how we become professional dancers. We need to change the paradigm that Ballet is the foundation.

I envision a metadisciplinary approach that integrates anatomical knowledge and Axis Syllabus terminology to deepen understanding of the morphologgy and physiology of the moving body, and invite individuation rather than conformity.

Instead of privileging flattened and mono-axial external rotation, hyperextension, end-range positions, and a push toward joint laxity, this approach emphasizes foltation and osculation (two terms used in the Axis Syllabus to express the tri-axial characteristics of flexion, extension, and lateral flexion of the spine, hips, and shoulders). We can replace end-range practices with moderate ranges of motion, coupled with exceptional sensitivity to identifying and maintaining an alignment that establishes supportive relationships with integrity. This is based on working with the concept of joint centration and respect for ligamentous health. Rigorous commitment to individuation is paramount. Most of the lines typical for Ballet, as well as the length, height, and clarity of shape remain achievable without training hyperextension or compromising joint integrity. Mono-planar flexion–extension patterns and frontal orientation are replaced by tri-axial movement, soliciting and becoming aware of the complex and multidirectional kinetic chains that afford responsive lead–lag relationships that preserve natural curves and arches while cultivating fascial elasticity and resilience.

Rather than imposing a singular aesthetic ideal on all bodies, movement practice begins from the premise articulated by Frey Faust, the author of the Axis Syllabus:
“The body in its construction and function claims priority as a starting point for any true understanding of how to move safely and well.”
This reframes training away from “mind over matter” narratives and toward working with physiological realities, limits, and individual morphologies. In Design, limitations are the celebrated foundation for problem-solving and creativity; why not also in Ballet?

Furthermore, I suggest that codified repetition and hierarchical organization give way to improvisation, exploration, iterative variation, and more artful, expressive execution of unison work, by working with breath and internal rhythms instead of counting. Barre, that relegates the moving body to a single position in space, and center work (petite allegro, etc) that tends to stay upright and frontal, can be translated into extended space and into the floor, fostering multi-directionality, adaptability, embodiment of musical groove, diversity of qualities, and expanded proprioceptive awareness. We need to train for moving, not for standing in place.

Gendered roles, racialized ideals, and body-normative evaluation systems could be actively dismantled in favor of inclusive, de-gendered, and non-hierarchical learning environments. This can be achieved for example by engaging with the psychology of movement, through somatic studies which encourage the student to refine their sense of themselves through introspection instead of through outside affirmation. We can study the history of ballet and discuss scientific research as well as theories from Dance and Performance Studies.

In closing, I do not propose conventional Ballet practices as a daily training method, as studies show that higher numbers of training hours appear to correlate with higher injury rates.

I advocate training this revised and adapted form of Ballet less often (this applies also to other dance styles, such as Graham, Cunningham, and Horton Technique, for example) or for working with Ballet more as a repertoire-based practice, visited for its historical, aesthetic, and choreographic value rather than as the primary foundation of daily technique training. For any daily training practice, I recommend that the Axis Syllabus be consulted and integrated to create a more anatomically informed movement system that provides dancers with healthier, more sustainable foundations for long-term movement careers. The Axis Syllabus International Research Meshwork is the only group that I am aware of that offers a truly meaningful and action oriented pedagogy on how to integrate science and practice in a way that makes sense to dancers.

If some of the characteristcs of Ballet Technique, such as long lines, clarity of shape and execution, and formal precision are desired, these qualities can be developed outside of daily ballet training—without sacrificing structural integrity, adaptability, or embodied agency. For a more detailed approach to the individual Ballet exercises and how to adapt them, please contact me for more information or for a master class/lecture.

BII & Axis Syllabus©

BII - THE BODY'S INTRINSIC INTELLIGENCE

BII is a pedagogical philosophy and movement education framework that synthesizes principles from the Axis Syllabus©, improvisational practices, somatic and manual therapy traditions, and scholarship in movement and performance studies, alongside insights drawn from performance and choreography rehearsal processes. It is a responsive and flexible movement education philosophy that foregrounds individuation and real-time student learning. It incorporates experiential anatomy, touch-based inquiry, interpersonal connection, and improvisation-oriented learning processes, supported by visualization through sensing inwardly, palpation, and guided discussion, aided by anatomy apps and models to foster embodied and intellectual comprehension.

MAJOR TOPICS

I use the terminology of the Axis Syllabus©. Some of the major topics that are addressed in BII classes include:

joint function: spine
joint function: hip joint (pelvis)
joint function sacro-iliac (proposing the leg as quadruple pendulum)
joint function: atlanto occipital articulations
joint function: shoulder and arm
joint function: foot and ankle (leg)'
arches of the body (foot, hand, lordoses, kyphoses)
undulations & spiraling pathways
walking mechanics
ramping (getting from standing to laying down to sitting and back up to standing)
rhythmicality and polyrhythms of the body (and music)
rolling and crawling
falling and rising
tensegrity (fascial system, soft tissue, biotensegrity)
every-day tasks (picking things up, sitting at the desk, etc)
the heart
breathing
alignment and dynamic posture
aging
effortlessness
chronological bio-architecture
gentle waking (warm-up practices and principles)

BII: THE BODY'S INTRINSIC INTELLIGENCE
My primary focus in dance technique lies on movement science and the study of anatomy, kinesiology, and biomechanics to create class materials that deepen dancers' understanding of the body in motion. This knowledge serves multiple purposes: enhancing virtuosity and sophisticated articulation in dance, supporting rehabilitation and injury prevention, optimizing kinetic energy use for efficiency and endurance, increasing athleticism, and promoting lifelong health and vitality, and maintaining agility through the aging process. I sum this work up under the title of BII – The Body’s Intrinsic Intelligence. BII is strongly influenced by the compendium of movement principles and concepts compiled under the title of the AXIS SYLLABUS© and I continue to deepen my research through active engagement with the Axis Syllabus© community and attending relevant conferences and workshops in movement and dance science.
Current research interests in this area include:

Alignment: studies of the chronological architecture of the body in motion and continuously refining a definition of alignment within a scientific context and outside of dance aesthetics.
Falling and rising: how to negotiate entering and exiting the ground with ease and spontaneous creativity.
The fascial network and how it supports movement
Tone modulation: tensegrity (integrity through tension, the modulation of muscle tone to facilitate smooth information and force transfer through joint structures, focus area for this research is the C7/T1 juncture and the shoulder girdle, for its particular complexity and applicability to people of all walks of life: shoulder and neck tension and movement restriction.
Joint composition and joint centration: understanding safe joint parameters and how to detect wear and tear, examining the hip and shoulder axis arcs in particular
The anatomy of the jump, looking at foot, ankle, knee and hip anatomy, compensatory movements, fascial involvement, finding rhythm and rhythmicality in your body and in relationship to music and the role that tissue elasticity plays in rhythmicality.
Spinal mechanics: exploring the complexity of spinal function, differences in construction and function of the different spinal areas, cervical, thoracic, lumbar, sacral, major motion centers and how the spine and the periphery interact with one another to create locomotion (walking and more)
Walking: walking mechanics, gait cycle, implications of footwear on the gait cycle, walking as a spinal affair, walking mechanics as the foundation for all other movement coordination
Digestion: Most recently I have become interested in starting a new research project on movement for digestion and how the organs and digestion are affected by movement and vice versa.
Dynamic Bodywork: manual therapy is applied in combination with BII movement to increase proprioception, interoception and encourage lasting functional change and musculo-skeletal interplay. 1) manual therapy/bodywork modality with an actively moving recipient, exploring the theory that movement is needed to integrate soft tissue changes more functionally and with more lasting results. 2) Investigating touch for refining proprioception and spatial awareness and as teaching tool for movement technique.

BII - THE BODY'S INTRINSIC INTELLIGENCE
Effortlessness, Alignment, Experiential Anatomy, and Dynamic Posture

EFFORTLESSNESS

BII classes look at anatomy, bio-mechanics, and physiology of movement. The approach is creative, experiential and prioritizes individuation. There is some overlap with somatic practices and mindfulness training. My movement research and teaching is strongly influenced by the Axis Syllabus© and the amazing individuals, teachers, and artists that explore diligently with passion and creativity the fascinating and life changing world of the body in motion. It is my overarching goal to achieve a sense of EFFORTLESSNESS in movement that elicits a feeling of 'swimming through space', full bodied, gentle, fluid, spontaneous, adaptable and articulate expression and cooperation. BII aims at facilitating dancers to become articulate in word and body, responsive, versatile, confident, well informed, adaptive, and expressive.

BII forms the foundation for my movement technique classes with college students, professional dancers, and non-dancers. The topics explain the focus of the class and the activities are tailored to the level and goals of the participants.

While exploring the shared paradigm of the human body in motion, I always begin from the underlying premise of individuation. Each person's level of experience, their abilities or disabilities, injuries, and emotional capacities and changing needs will be taken into consideration.

SI JOINT: THE LEG AS QUADRUPLE PENDULUM

This class focuses on the sacroiliac joints and proposes the leg as a four-part pendulum to illuminate how minute localized movement facilitates the eloquent orchestration of the entire system. Students investigate coordination as a process not only of neurological organization but of the response-ability of all participating tissues—bone, ligament, fascia, muscle, etc —working in dynamic collaboration. Through studying the undulatory and helical nature of movement transfer through articular relationships, students learn to recognize their body’s unique parameters, negotiate risk, and make informed movement decisions.

"I LOVE WALKING: THE COMPLEXITY AND MAGIC BEAUTY OF THE GAIT CYCLE"

Walking is the most common of movements we do every day. But is it fun, rejuvenating, and nourishing, or do we focus on 'getting from A to B'? Let's explore how to elevate a simple activity to an enriching and creatively fulfilling one. This workshop addresses intellect and spirit at once: while using walking as a tool for mindfulness we analyze human movement, both in theory and practice. We will examine walking mechanics, the gait cycle, and the three dimensional, multi directional interplay of the body's structures. We will look at anatomical models, imagery and explore walking physically. We will be slowing movements down to analyze individual components and the forces acting on our bodies. Through walking we revitalize the spiral movement patterns that are genetically embedded into our structure: A well coordinated walk allows for mobility in all joints, which reinstates the constant ebb and flow of tension and relaxation that helps us maintain a healthy and vivid dexterity into old age. Discovering the beautiful complexity in something so seemingly simple, we can then play with the transition from walking to creative walking and dancing!

The first class meets at a movement studio and subsequent classes will meet at interesting outdoor or indoor locations to walk on flat and irregular surfaces.
Day one: theory and basic principle exploration
  Day two: grassy surfaces
  Day three: steps and slopes
  Day four: beach
  Day five: concrete surfaces
  Day six: Creative walking and dancing

"TOUCH: MOVEMENT, PROPRIOCEPTION, AND CONNECTION"

This class explores the definitions and phenomena of touch for movement training. We touch the air, our clothes, the floor. The skin gives us important feedback about where we are and how well or poorly aligned, and how efficiently the various parts of our bodies are tensioned or stressed. We pay attention to what our skin tells us.

We move on to touching another person. We explore their musculo-skeletal system, and by observing and touching them as they move, we learn about what bodies can do, how they move, and how they solve movement challenges. We tune in and attune to our movement partner.

Touch gives helpful feedback where sensation is hard to obtain. For example, movement at the joints in our thoracic region is hard to perceive, and through touching the spinous processes one by one helps us become more present in our awareness of these structures, of small, tiny movements.

We talk about different kinds of touch, their intent and how they can assist our movement studies/experiences. Accompanying and supportive touch are significantly different from manipulative touch. "Listening touch" offers to give proprioceptive feedback, "accompanying touch" accompanies a mover, witnesses their journey, "supportive touch" offers and is ready to share some of the weight of the masses of the body, "communicative touch" can encourage us to re-evaluate the amount of muscular effort we are putting into certain areas. "Manipulative touch" gives direction and impulses for the mover to respond to, "oppositional touch" offers more resistance and increases the muscular and emotional effort of the mover. "Overload touch" increases the movers sensations and confuses their tendency to focus on specific parts of the body, offering opportunities to let go of habitual patterns. "Isometric compressive touch" massages body parts without provoking movement, relaxing tense muscles and lowering resting tone. Very light "tingling touch" heightens the movers awareness of all the receptors in the skin. There are many more.

Location and times will be announced on the event calendar.

"ROLLING, CRAWLING, FALLING & RISING: EFFORTLESSNESS IN NEGOTIATING LEVEL CHANGES"

This class focuses on horizontal locomotion as well as how to get down to the floor and back up. As babies and children we use our bodies more three-dimensionally, we tumble, slide, crawl, roll. It is rejuvenating and healthy to re-discover these movement patterns, physically and psychologically. Crawling and rolling gives us trust in our abilities to manage our bodies in creative and reliable ways. It challenges our arms, hands, and shoulder girdles to support our bodies and locomote. Crawling and rolling is wonderful for the spine and the entire fascial system, re-balancing our tensional system.

The falling and rising portions investigate effortless ways to get into and out of these crawling and rolling positions. If we have fallen how do we get back up. If we are afraid of falling, how can we practice it and develop strategies for negotiating sudden and slower intentional level changes.

Be prepared to gain new confidence in yourself and in your physical strength.

Location and times will be announced on the event calendar.

Photo by Bryan Snipes (Breanne Horne, Karola Luettringhaus)

"CONTACT IMPROVISATION: RESPONSE-ABILITY"

I teach a beginner/foundations of contact improvisation class for people who are totally new to this practice.
We engage with concepts of touch and connection before actually touching. We discuss consent and try things out slowly and gradually. Some of the best Contact Improv sessions I have ever had were slow motion practices, so I believe in the teaching power of slowing things down which helps us feel more in control and also makes visible the moments where we tend to skip steps between our ideas of what we want to do and the actual execution of a movement. We have to remain in the present moment in this practice.

Of course we also look at the biomechanical physiological reality of our bodies: How do I engage with my partner in ways that do not hurt them or myself, how much range of motion is too much, what sorts of movements can the shoulder joint execute and where do we increase our injury potential?
Timing is crucial, and this leads us back to being in the moment and ensuring that support structures can be in place to keep us safe.

See the calendar for upcoming classes/workshops.

CONTEMPORARY PARTNERING

My partnering classes explore the mechanics and response-abilities of how to lift and be lifted off the ground. Classes are designed to inspire confidence and trust. The goal is an intuitive understanding of the physics of dynamic cooperation. Touch, the connection to another human being, teaches us tremendously much about how we move as individuals. Both share the same principles. We look at the importance of timing, breath, musicality, proper alignment, listening to one self and the other for coordinated take off and landing. Everything is done in duet format, starting with the warm-up to across the floor phrases and combinations. We will build our repertoire of lifts from non-physical connections and unison work via simple weight-sharing, to complex and athletic lifts. Students gain inventiveness, originality and spontaneity with a sophisticated and intelligent approach to lifting that practices technical strength and anatomical understanding. This class includes some improvisational and creative exercises as well as the learning of repertoire. We address the psychology of touch. This class is not gender specific, everybody will be the 'lifter' and the 'lifted', as long as the weight/strength ratio is appropriate for each individual.

"THE POLYRHYTHMIC BODY"

The polyrhythmic body is a fun cardio class for musicality, rhythmicality, and high energy expression. I propose steps and movement sequences to the group and we do call and response and other movement games. We sense the affect that music has on our bodies and we allow the beats and melodies to propose movements and play. With live percussion.

"WIGGLES & WAVES: SPINAL FUNCTION"

WIGGLES & WAVES focuses on Spinal function and the oscillations and undulatory waves that radiate from the spine into the periphery due to the tensegritous nature of tissue connections and joint expression.

This class introduces and explores the concept and physicality of the BIOTENSEGRITY of our bodies. We are not compression structures like houses. And we don't have roots. We are multi-directionally functional tension structures, within which semi-rigid compression elements are spatially delineated with a tensile web of soft tissues, such as fascia, muscle, tendon, skin, nerves, etc. in other words: our bones float in a web of soft tissues.

Wiggles and bounces are particularly helpful for conditioning this soft-tissue system, training it for elasticity, resilience, and response-ability.

Location and times will be announced on the event calendar.

SWIMMING THROUGH SPACE: BODY RESET & EFFORTLESSNESS IN MULTI-PLANAR MOVEMENT

Investigating our pelagic evolutionary roots, we explore similarities and differences to movement in water as well as exploring movement with imagery and concepts of fluidity and watery-ness. This class systematically goes through all of the joints in the body, slowly
re-restablishing "middle-path" range of motion to gently address the areas we forgot about during the day, or overused and abused y sitting at a computer or lifting or gardening, etc. The goal is to find fluidity and balance, a sense of effortlessness.
Movements take place standing, sitting laying down and while rolling across the floor and they flow from one to the other.

We might go swim, too...

FLUIDITY FOR LIFE: ARTICULATION, ELASTICITY, AND RESILIENCE IN AGE

What is it that helps us stay young in our movement? This class addresses tissue elasticity and joint mobilization. We will discover some of the major principles and actions that are important for maintaining flexibility and response-ability, dexterity, reaction speed, and fluidity of movement through old age. We look at how to cultivate and maintain as sense of effortlessness, bounce, resilience, rhythm, and complex coordination.
We train the elasticity of our tissues to keep that spring in our step. We have fun exploring, dancing, and exchanging experiences.

This class looks at the challenges of aging and gives opportunity for discovering the vitality of our bodies in spiraling and undulating movements that feel good and reaffirm trust in our bodies.

People of all ages can benefit from this class. Aging doesn't happen over night, even though it sometimes seems that way.

CHOREOGRAPHY

RESEARCH TOPIC 1: Tracing Gesture - Choreographing Meaning
RESEARCH TOPIC 2: Dancing the Virtual Real: Scenic Design and Dance with Projection and Virtual Spaces
RESEARCH TOPIC 3: Social Critique: Dance as Philosophical Endeavor
RESEARCH TOPIC 4: Scenic Design: Psychological Space
RESEARCH TOPIC 5: Improvisational Practices: Contact Improvisation, Improvisational Dance with Partners and Sound

SOMATICS

Somatic practices are important in dance education to help students gain a sense of themselves, instead of looking for external validation or feedback on how to move and why. Somatics strengthen self-confidence and address the student as a whole person. Somatics represent an influential career branch in embodied practices and offer new insights and open doors to careers in more therapeutic oriented movement practices. They also help dancers navigate injury and psychological stresses. Somatics and dance training go hand-in-hand.

SOMATICS I

Introduction to the development, lineages, history of somatic practices.
Students will develop a visual family tree and explore several key components of the different practices according to poignant characteristics, goals, target audiences, and modality categories. We will explore how these modalities relate to one another, how they differ, and how to arrange them on a relationship graph. Individual modalities will be presented in form of in-class presentations.

Collaborative project with Kerwin Barrington on the tapestry of relation at Earthdance 2025. Photo Karola Luettringhaus. Moving a fascia model into 3-dimensional space.

1. Classical Somatic Education Systems

Alexander Technique (AT) – focus on postural re-education, inhibition of habitual tension, and ease of movement.
Feldenkrais Method (FM) – awareness through movement and functional integration, neuroplasticity-based learning.
Body–Mind Centering® (BMC) – system-based exploration of anatomy, development, and consciousness through movement and touch.
Ideokinesis / Imagery-Based Approaches – guided imagery to influence muscular organization and alignment.

Movement-Based Somatic Practices

Laban/Bartenieff Movement Analysis (LMA/BFA) – movement observation, analysis, and expressive patterning.
Rolfing Structural Integration – deep tissue work with movement re-education and alignment.
Trager® Approach – gentle, playful movement and touch to release habitual tension.

Hannah Somatics– gentle, concepts of sensory motor amnesia, holding patterns, sensing into tension to re-sensitize ischemic areas, reciprocal inhibition, eccentric contractions, movement
Somatic Experiencing – trauma-oriented, body-based awareness and release.
Continuum Movement – exploration of fluids, vibration, and undulation for self-organization.

Developmental and Embodied Practices

Infant and Developmental Movement Re-patterning – reclaiming early movement patterns (e.g., BMC developmental sequences).
Rudolf Steiner / Eurythmy – expressive movement integrating breath, sound, and intention.
Authentic Movement – witnessing and moving from internal impulse.

Dance and Performance-Oriented Somatics

Axis Syllabus – biomechanical, research-based pedagogy (not strictly “somatic” but shares principles of awareness and integrity).
Gyrokinesis / GYROTONIC® – spiral and undulatory movements linking breath, spine, and extremities.
Contact Improvisation (CI) – relational, weight-sharing, and somatically responsive movement practice.
Trisha Brown / Postmodern Dance Practices with Somatic Emphasis – attention to proprioception, gravity, and skeletal efficiency.
Authentic Movement

Mindfulness & Breath-Oriented Practices

Yoga / Somatic Yoga – attention to breath, alignment, and movement integration.
Qi Gong / Tai Chi – slow, continuous movements with internal energy awareness.
Breathwork / Pranayama-Informed Practices – exploring movement and emotion through conscious breathing.

Hybrid & Contemporary Practices

Functional Integration of Performance Science – combination of somatic, biomechanical, and athletic principles.
Integrative Movement Therapy / Somatic Psychotherapy – movement as psychophysical awareness.
Dance Therapy
Ecological / Embodied Practices – combining improvisation, sensory perception, and environmental attunement.
Continuing Innovations – many contemporary choreographers and somatic educators blend multiple approaches into unique pedagogies.

SOMATICS II

In depth analysis of the major landmark somatic practices. SOMATICS II is a continuation of SOMATICS I and builds on knowledge attained there. Class can be adapted to students' specific needs/career trajectories.

In SOMATICS II we will research in small groups and structure class like a lab that offers students the opportunity to learn and teach hands-on.

My personal background lies in Hannah Somatics, Manual Therapy, Psychology of Touch, Watsu, Pilates, constructive rest, contemplative dance practice, dynamic bodywork, Ideokinesis, Authentic Movement, Trager, Tai Chi, Tracing Gesture (creative expression), Ecstatic Dance, and some Alexander Technique, Feldenkrais Technique.

Photo by Kyla Reddy at Salem College.

TEACHING VIDEOS

TEACHING VIDEOS:
Dance & Choreography

Master Class in BII - The Body's Intrinsic Intelligence at UNC Wilmington, November 28th, 2023: video

The class is structured around the concept and experience of Effortlessness. A visual graph of the class concept is HERE.

BII class at UC Davis, explaining a phrase with level changes, zoom instruction, May 2022: video

BII at UC Davis, Lecture: Anatomy of the hip & femur with exercise, zoom instruction, May 2022 video

BII at Salem College master Class 'Introductory Series', short excerpt, 2015: video

BII at Salem College master Class 'Introductory Series', trailer, 2015: video

'BII - The Body's Intrinsic Intelligence' class, 2014: video

BII class, Dance Cooperative Wilmington, 2017: Theory at beginning of class: video

Choreography: Talking about process and choreography for 'adam-mah': video

Process and Performance: Documentary of Art in Education project with New Hanover County High Schools: video

Process and Performance: Documentary of "Terra Nullius": video

DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION

DIVERSITY STATEMENT

diversity_statement.pdf

Here are some bullet-points:

I attend diversity training self-motivated
I attend conferences on decolonial studies and indigenous approaches, disability studies, feminism, anarchy, critical race theory, racial capitalism, gender and women's studies, animal rights, etc
influenced by Sunaura Taylor, Judith Butler, Bell Hooks, Paulo Freire, Toni Morrison, Kim Tallbear, Robin Wall-Kimmerer, Vanessa Watts, Shiv Vishvanathan, Robin de Angelo, and many, many others
I am white: I am still digging my way out of all this conditioning
I am female: I can relate to some struggles and continue to experience misogyny and gendered oppression
I am gender non-conforming: I don't like gender categories and gender roles,...and I would rather people do not ask me about my pronouns or make generalizations or assumptions about me. I understand that for many people differentiation, categorization, and acknowledgment of categories are meaningful, respectful, considerate, and important and I offer safe spaces for sharing this information. Philosophically, I agree with Beatriz/Paul Preciado calling gender a regime that is worth dismantling altogether.
I offer and support the disclosure of gender pronouns if people desire to share. I do not put anyone under pressure to disclose anything about them that they do not wish to share or feel does not belong into the professionalism of the classroom environment. My primary responsibility is to provide solid education and safe learning environments for all of my students, and to accomodate individual needs as best as I can.
I encourage and am available for open discussion.
EDI is crucial in academia (for so many reasons)
Ableism, sexism, and racism continue to shape our spaces, our institutions, interactions, opportunities, and our educational structures.
I do my best to create a safe space in my classroom
I offer diverse art, and viewpoints, guests, readings, and experiences
I have the awareness of inequalities, biases, injustices, oppression in systems, institutions, society, myself and I am aware that I still have a lot of blindspots. I work to educate myself and seek to discover and remove my blindspots.
I support and practice (Marshall Rosenberg's) non-violent communication methods
BII-movement approach is essentially accepting people for who they are and how they are. I am trying to enable every student to move freely and powerfully and make them aware of some of the physical, emotional, and social pressures in movement education and in the performance world: I create possibility for making informed choices
I respect my students and I learn from them, we learn together
I decentralize power in the classroom, and in the moving body
I redefine dance
I listen to my students and respect their opinions and needs, their experiences and authority over their own lives
I create new language around movement that seeks to decolonize the body
auditions: I believe that auditions are a valuable method for showing students what auditions are like, but I disagree with the common practice of holding auditions to cast department performances. I accept everyone, because everyone has enrolled in the program and deserves equal educational opportunities. I distribute lead roles, chorus roles, on-stage and back-stage, evenly and fairly. I know how to and teach my students how to highlight a person's strength and unique charisma on stage, while also giving each student the opportunity to learn the same material. I can afford to do so because I believe in my choreographic skills to create excellent works with people of all levels of virtuosity.
choreography: I create pieces for everyone, no favoritism, or repeated lead roles to the same people, no classism in the studio, and I consult with students about the process, the topics and the casting process.
I coordinate and curate festival and community outreach, thematizing issues around Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion,
critical engagement around my theories of articulation & disarticulation in dance: recognizing and discussing the relationship between joint function, bone relations and oppressive dance structures and practices and decolonizing dance through allowing the body to articulate within its healthy parameters, starting from acceptance, care, passion, and love as opposed to elitism, competitiveness, discipline, obsession, and sacrifice. Imposition is not needed in dance education. The dancers that study with me improve tremendously and their technical ability flourishes quickly and with self motivated dedication to their practice.