- dance improvisation as an art

3-day workshop with Susanne Martin

Jul. 12 2024 – Jul. 14 2024

In this workshop we further our dance and improvisation skills. We study how, when and how much we influence or guide each other while improvising as a group. We watch each other improvise and figure out what helps or hinders, inspires or confuses us in doing and seeing improvisation. We play, learn, explore in solo, duo and group constellations, sometimes with, sometimes without touch, sometimes with, sometimes without a claim to composition, but always with tasks that (further) clarify and deepen our joy and interest in improvised dance as an art form.

My teaching draws on the knowledge and sensitivity of instant composition, contact improvisation, somatic bodywork and thirty years of professional dance and stage experience.

The workshop is aimed at artists and educators in the performing arts and anyone who wants to explore dance improvisation as a stage art form. Accordingly, previous experience in dance and/or improvisation is recommended.

Credit: Luca Siermann

Ausführliche Seminarinformationen

EMERGE Continuing Education // Somatics in Dance, Choreography & Performance

Concept: Heike Kuhlmann & Katja Münker
Lecturers: Andrea Keiz, Heike Kuhlmann, Susanne Martin, Katja Münker & Andrew Wass

Emerge // Somatics in Dance, Choreography & Performance is a 250-hour, modular, in-service specialization in Somatic Pedagogy for use in artistic, creative, performative & educational professions.

The sentient body and the experience/experiencing of oneself in movement and in interaction with the environment are the focus of this dance-choreographic advanced training.

The methods Body-Mind Centering®, Feldenkrais Method and Authentic Movement form the basis for movement trainings and aesthetic research. With improvisation and composition strategies, these experiences are made creatively creative and performative-artistic usable. This enables the development of individual dance abilities in their deep, embodied potential. Connected to the somatic experience, choreographic criteria and tools are taught. The participants are thus accompanied through an artistic development process in which they (further) develop their own present, powerful and subtle penetration of movement as an aesthetic form and conclude with a presentation.

For whom is Emerge recommended?

This continuing education is aimed at educators, therapists, teachers, dancers, dance/theater educators, choreographers and anyone who wants to implement creative action and relaxed, confident performance in their everyday life or profession.

What does Emerge promote?

Development of somatic-choreographic action through a strengthening of sensory reference in decision-making and in the use of choreographic strategies.
Unfolding creativity through training in strategies for shaping individual and collaborative creative processes, strategies for overcoming creative blocks.
Deepening embodiment through body awareness training (being at home in the body), strengthening the body's own resources and sensory reference in movement.
Performativity by strengthening individual and collective expressiveness, by strengthening sensory references in public performance, in solo and group performances and in application in individual areas of interest.

What does Emerge include?

The Emerge continuing education is modular. It is possible to join at any time. The completion is based on

participation in 250h compulsory & elective modules,
participation in 3h somatic & 3h artistic coaching each,
artistic contributions to the workshop-internal performance shows,
Documentation of the individual somatic process (max 5 pages) and
Documentation of the artistic process (max 5 pages) with follow-up discussion

Curriculum 2023-2024



Module 7	Aug 05-10, 2024 \| Connecting, creating, appearing // Somatic choreography & performance prroject with Katja Münker Training skills in somatic choreography with release technique, Feldenkrais method, somatic research, experiential anatomy and improvisation / instant composition Integration of dance technique, experiential anatomy & physiology, composition, improvisation, ensemble work & development of own choreography	760€
Module 8	Sep 13-15, 2024 \| Oct 18-20, 2024 \| Nov 01-03, 2024 \| Somatic choreography in Body-Mind Centering®, Contact Improvisation & Authentic Movement with Heike Kuhlmann Working out material together through Body-Mind Centering®, Contact Improvisation and Authentic Movement. Tuning in to oneself and the group, building a temporary community, decision-making process, sharing weight, finding expression, getting into action, developing together, finding structures and forms	1150€ These three weekends build on each other and can only be booked together.
Module 9	Nov 15-17, 2024 \| Expanding Project Unfolding // Tensegrity-principles & Fascia anatomy in dance with Katja Münker Training of lightness, strength, permeability, stability, change of levels and dynamics as well as modulation and articulation skills and thus ultimately joy and expressiveness in dance. Stimulation of the elasticity and adaptability of the fascia connective tissue for use in a variety of movement qualities and in dance training.	430€

Curriculum 2025-2026

Module 1	Nov 14-16, 2025 \| Time to move - Time to be still // Feldenkrais in dance, choreography & performance with Katja Münker The conscious and multifaceted interplay of skeletal movement, perception, nervous system and alignment in space form the field of play both in the Feldenkrais Method and in dance Stimulating movement presence with the Feldenkrais Method in order to modulate, vary and compose our dancing Always creating the choice to be in movement or in stillness forms the basic prerequisite for the development of individual expression and interplay in the ensemble.	430€
Module 2	Mar 28-29, 2026 \| Artistic research & documentation with Andrea Keiz & Susanne Martin strategies and forms of reflection from artistic research are applied to somatic processes/basics of Artistic/Somatic Research critical reflection of one's own somatic and creative process development of one's own documentation practice appropriate to the object of research	280€
Module 3	tba 2026 \| Authentic Movement as ressource for creative processes with Heike Kuhlmann Immersion into the not knowing How do I make decisions, how can decisions be made from within me? What role may the non-conscious play in the artistic process? How can we continue to work with material from the AM in creative processes?	250€
Module 4	tba 2026 \| Body-Mind Centering® as base for creativity with Heike Kuhlmann Getting to know Body-Mind Centering® - structure and stability vs. fluids and glands Editing and shaping somatic material without losing contact with the material	250€
Module 5	tba 2026 \| Ensemble Thinking with Andrew Wass Compositional exercises refine the individual's ability to perceive, initiate, and support collective action	430€
Module 6	tba 2026 \| Danceimprovisation as an art with Susanne Martin Testing your own dance and improvisation skills Researching, learning, playing in solo, duo and group constellations When and how much do we let ourselves be influenced? What helps, hinders, inspires or confuses us?	430€
Module 7	tba 2027 \| Connecting, creating, appearing // Somatic choreography & performance prroject with Katja Münker Training skills in somatic choreography with release technique, Feldenkrais method, somatic research, experiential anatomy and improvisation / instant composition Integration of dance technique, experiential anatomy & physiology, composition, improvisation, ensemble work & development of own choreography	760€
Module 8	tba 2027 \| Somatic choreography in Body-Mind Centering®, Contact Improvisation & Authentic Movement with Heike Kuhlmann Working out material together through Body-Mind Centering®, Contact Improvisation and Authentic Movement. Tuning in to oneself and the group, building a temporary community, decision-making process, sharing weight, finding expression, getting into action, developing together, finding structures and forms	1150€ These three weekends build on each other and can only be booked together.
Module 9	tba 2027 \| Expanding Project Unfolding // Tensegrity-principles & Fascia anatomy in dance with Katja Münker Training of lightness, strength, permeability, stability, change of levels and dynamics as well as modulation and articulation skills and thus ultimately joy and expressiveness in dance. Stimulation of the elasticity and adaptability of the fascia connective tissue for use in a variety of movement qualities and in dance training.	430€

Additionally, according to the individual focus or interest:

90h Continuing education	Recognition from advance training possible or optionally bookable in Body-Mind Centering® Feldenkrais Method Continuum Experiental Breath accordind to Middendorf Experiental Anatomy C.A.R.E Somatic childhood Environmental Somatics	varies according to selection or pre-training
Artistic Coaching	Optional with one lecturer of Emerge 3 x 60min	60€/h
1:1 Somatic session	Optional with one lecturer of Emerge Feldenkrais Method with Katja Münker Body-Mind Centering® with Heike Kuhlmann 3x 60min	60€/h
Documentation, feedback, certification	Both the individual somatic process and the artistic process	200€

Seminarleiter*innen

Susanne Martin

www.susannemartin.de

choreographer, performer, researcher, and teacher in contemporary dance.

She presents her work internationally in solo performances and collaborative stage works. Her artistic practice and research focus on improvisation, contact improvisation, critical practices and narrations of age(ing), artistic research methods, and improvisation-based approaches to knowledge production and knowledge dissemination. Festivals that presented her performances include: International Dance and Theatre Festival (Gothenburg), Aerowaves (London), Nottdance (Nottingham), Opera Estate (Bassano del Grappa), Tanec Praha (Prague).

Her PhD dissertation Dancing Age(ing): Rethinking Age(ing) in and through Improvisation Practice and Performance was published 2017 by transcript. In her postdoctoral research at EPFL, Switzerland (2018-2021) she examined dance improvisation in its potential to rethink and advance processes of learning and researching in a technical university.

credit: Frank Post

Kosten

Costs

430€ | single workshop

3900€ | continuig education Emerge, excl. 1:1 Somatic sessions, artistic coaching, certification and 90h continuing education (varies according to selection or pre-training)

All modules can be booked individually and do not have to be completed chronologically. The prices vary depending on the module and (guest) lecturers, see curriculum. A price saving results when booking all modules.

Dates

tba 2026 | Friday - Sunday | 10:00am - 5:30pm

Curriculum of the continuing education Emerge

Anmeldeinformationen

Zeiten
Jul. 12 2024 –
Jul. 14 2024

10:00am - 5:30pm

Veranstaltungsort
Berlin

Somatische Akademie Berlin
Paul-Lincke-Ufer 30
10999 Berlin | side building
1st backyard
4th floor

Preise

Full Price: 430.00 EUR

Zahlung Banküberweisung, PayPal

Hinweise

This Event is part of the continuing education EMERGE, and individually bookable as well. At any time it is possible to participate and entry to the complete training, because all modules are repeated cyclically.