pavleheidler (they/them) (adhd+autism)
“It all comes down to the stories we tell (ourselves).”
LACE #4: Fractalising Touch
hospitality, integration, & the interstitial
JULY 27-31, 2026
at ImPulsTanz — Vienna International Dance Festival
This year, curators Deirdre Morris, Sylvia Scheidl, and pavleheidler, engage with embodied practitioners working across genres to explore themes commonly associated with the notion of the interstitial.
The interest in the elusive, the tensegral, the emergent, and the relational arises spontaneously (some would say: organically) as we work towards the final instalment in a four-year-long arch dedicated to exploring a range of socio-political, professional, artistic, and therapeutic aspects of touch at the intersection of art, academia, and activism.
More info coming soon!
The LACE Symposium is a practice-based symposium. At LACE Symposium we don’t simply invite artists researchers to describe their work or report on their discoveries. At LACE Symposium artists researchers engage the public in an experiment, and disseminate their observation through action.
LACE Symposium is part of the Interlace: Art and Action in Contemporary Dance Education project funded by the European Union, Erasmus+. LACE & INTERLACE are supported by ImPulsTanz — Vienna International Dance Festival.
information
type: symposium
date: July 27-31
time: 10AM-6PM
place: Vienna
context: part of the ImPulsTanz — Vienna International Dance Festival
facebook event: click here
BMC® and Body-Mind Centering® are registered service marks of Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, used with permission.
2026 © pavleheidler
standards
aboutwork stuffThe Celestial Body Seriesdance concertsdetailsglossaryworkblogKindle Librarywork + collaborator databases
2024 Dance Limerick shared document2025 KNN studio grant additional materialteaching documents
2025 pedagogyregistermeditation2024 UL shared document
2024 IPT workshop shared document2024 vilnius shared document
2024 vilnius shared documentBMC® with pavBMC® at Rymndenreport Uppsala2024 Ella Cleft Lip & PalateportfolioThe Big Bang Practiceexperiment:
upcoming:
news:
past:
Fields of Tender
is coming to London’s Southbank Centre this February!
“Fields of Tender is an enchanting, playful, dance performance, which immerses you in an imaginary world of tenderness, affection and love. Within this awe-inspiring, sensual world, the extravagant and peculiar events interlace with ethereal and gentle ones.
Across its extended duration, spectators are welcome to enter and exit at their leisure, fostering a fluid and personalized journey through this mesmerizing landscape of emotion and exploration.”
— Dalija Acin Thelander, choregrapher
For tickets, click here!
morning meditation
This session will be hosted via ZOOM on Tuesday, January 13th, at 9.30AM CET and will last for about 40 minutes. (30 minute meditation, 10 minute check-in) Register HERE. What to expect? I will be keeping time by telling you a story about a molecule of oxygen whose death creates the conditions for the birthing of a molecule of carbon dioxide. In BMC®, this story is known as the story of cellular breathing.
Come as you are! Join if you’d like. I’ll be there, telling the story, and breathing. ALONE TOGETHER, TOGETHER ALONE.
next:
NOVEMBER 9 >>> contributing to LIAISONS with a performative lecture I called from BMC-inspired, through BMC, to BMC®, a dancer’s changing perspective on the potential use of BMC® in professional dance training.
LIAISONS is a “a three-day online event that spotlights some of the many ways in which BMC has been applied to a range of disciplines and helped shape cross-exchanges between BMC and other (somatic, creative, educational, and therapeutic) approaches and disciplines.” (BMCA 2025)
NOVEMBER & DECEMBER >>> both Fields of Tender and LiP Laughter in Process are being performed in controlled environments, where art meets health and education.
Fields of Tender’s final 2025 appearance at Tittut will take place in November. Tittut is an incredible organisation that offers professional help and networking opportunities to carers or parents of children (aged 0-2) who have been diagnosed with a genetic variation and/or a disability. The parents get to socialise, educate themselves, and bond with their children while attended to by Tittut’s staff. When immersed in Fields of Tender, the carers or parents often experience their child’s response to stimuli in a way that will be surprising. I’ve never seen my child move so much or laugh this way! It’s an incredible thing, exposing the carer or parent and child to intentional affect-oriented non-verbal communication.
DECEMBER >>> I’m going back to the UK, to continue my journey towards BMC® Practitioner certification. As part of this module, I will have to deliver a presentation where I describe what I’ve been working on recently. I have decided to present one of my current special interests, the question of use of BMC® in dancing. The performance lecture I’ll be delivering at the LIAISONS conference is part of that thought process.
2025-09-18 update
the fall has officially begun. i’m back in stockholm, taking stock (taking stock in stockholm) of what’s happening over the next couple of months, big things. after years of enjoying the privilege i’m having to hand my Dansalliansen contract over to the next person. i hope this contract will help another dancer find their ground and power. meanwhile, i’m working towards BMC® Practitioner certification, starting on another year with the LACE Symposium, and looking to teach in places i’ve not taught before.
i’ll keep you updated, my darlings
pav
OCTOBER 12-18 >>> Team LACE Symposium is meeting at MARC in Knislinge. We’re staring our work on LACE #4, the 2026 edition of the Lace Symposium for Dance and Other Contemporary Practices. (link)
OCTOBER 25-27 >>> Fields of Tender are playing at the Egg Theatre Royal, Bath, UK. (link)
BMC study circle
On November 22, 2025 between 10.30am and 1pm, I will be hosting a BMC® study circle.
As wintertime approaches, I’m noticing the environment around me becoming busy with questions like, What can I actually do to support my immune system? I would like to focus this Study Circle on the question, What can I actually do to support my immune system? I think that’s a really good question.
The joy of a Study Circle is that it takes place in the circle. The circle is a space of and for being, a space of and for exchange, and a space of and for community. Like Study Circles past, this too will start with time for arrival, or a check-in, when questions can be asked, experiences shared, concerns voiced, and agreements made. Which is a roundabout way of saying that although this Circle is hosted by me, it is conjured for you. So bring your questions, and join the community looking for answers. What to expect? Stories to be told, pictures to be shown and/or described, and guided (movement) meditations to be experienced, and dreams to be dreamt, and drawings to be drawn, and soundings to be sounded, and singings to be sung, and talkings to be talked. Please dress comfortably.
trees & dogs & dogs & trees (class) Vienna, AT
description
have you ever been on a walk with your four-legged companion, eager to enjoy yourself but they’re in a mood. maybe they’re pulling on the leash, or changing directions erratically. you’re struggling to stop yourself from yelling their name seven times in a row when something in you releases and you find yourself imagining telling your companion; what if i’d let you choose where to go? what if i’d let you lead? where would you take me? where would we end up?
this class is about those incredibly inspiring moments that arise within the bonds we make with non-human critters, moments in which a sense of a different world order becomes imaginable. be prepared to meditate, touch trees, play with dogs, and learn a thing or two about human anatomy. this class may be particularly interesting to those who share an interest in interspecies communication, eco-somatics, science-fiction, and experiment-based protocols. please dress comfortably. and if you have a companion, bring them along.
dates
this class will be held as part of the public moves programme
at ImPulsTanz — Vienna International Dance Festival
more info coming soon
LACE #3: Materialising Touch (symposium) Vienna, AT
Hospitality, Integration, and the Interstitial
LACE Symposium for Dance and Other Contemporary Practices is curated by Deirdre Morris, Sylvia Scheidl, and pavleheidler.
dates
July 14-18, 2025 LACE Symposium
July 21-25, 2025 LACE Extended
Vienna, Austria
BMC Study Circle Stockholm, SE
meaning as an emergent phenomenon
One of my most recent obsessions (I say this lovingly) has been to think of “meaning” as “emergent in relation”. This is meaning as an emergent and a relational phenomenon, not predetermined, not assumed. How does something become meaningful? What does it take to transform anything meaningless into something meaningful? Can the experience of meaning be insisted upon? Can it be practiced? Is there technique in evoking the experience of meaning?
Voila. Following this tangent, instead of teaching a conventional workshop I suggest I host a study group. To each session, I suggest bringing a selection of materials to be explored; some visual, some descriptive, most consisting of a meditative component. The protocol could consist of the following stages:
- an introduction,
- (theoretical context, presentation of selection of materials, context & selection evoked sensorially during a guided somatisation);
- a storytelling round,
- (where you share your experience, interest, questions, inquiries, reflect on your practice, emotional, spiritual, intellectual, professional);
- an experiment,
- (where, relative to your contributions, i’d suggest exploring a selection of the materials on offer in a moderated experiment-based context. this step could include but not be limited to hands-on exploration, movement-based exploration, drawing- or singing-based exploration, conversation-based exploration. i suggest moderating this aspect such that you could choose who to work with and how, thereby addressing your specific interests and referring to your specific practices);
- closing circle,
- (where we’d come together in pairs, or as a group, to share experiences, reflect and integrate and rest together).
In my preliminary schedule, I imagine starting at 3PM and working for 3 hours. This could, of course, be negotiated. My main motivation to thinking in three-hour increments is to provide us with enough time to slow down. If nothing else comes out of these sessions but an opportunity to rest with fellow embodied practitioners and their allies, then—I think—we’ve done a lot.
dates:
June 24, 3—6PM senses & perception & interoception (Axelsberg)
June 27, 3—6PM embryological development, cell specialisation and primordial tissue (Axelsberg)
June 30, 3—6PM the life of a cell, pluripotent stem cells & cellular breathing (Axelsberg)
July 3, 3—6PM the porous membrane, spontaneous vs managed processes (Axelsberg)
July 7, 3—6PM muscle bone and connective tissue, muscle as fluid content (Axelsberg)
July 8, 3—6PM muscle bone and connective tissue, how do they coördinate? (Axelsberg)
link to facebook event :)
Donation based!
Children, parents, friends, non-human companions welcome!
Hägersten, precise location coming soon
I am a professional member of BMCA (Body-Mind Centering® Association), a registered Somatic Movement Educator of Body-Mind Centering®, and a Practitioner in-training.
BMC® and Body-Mind Centering® are registered service marks of Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, used with permission.
MereHobbyists at the PSi Conference (online)
MereHobbyists working on our 4th book and preparing to finish it LIVE with Dot Dot Pop Up virtual performance- exhibition space as part of PSi constellate next week - come along and chat to us as we work and become part of our book!!! 7am NZT 5 June 3 pm EST 4 June 9pm 4 June Sweden time … we’ll share the info properly in the next day or so….
date:
the following are the same time in three different zones.
June 4 at 3PM EST,
June 4 at 9PM CEST,
June 5 at 7AM NZT.
link coming soon
Tanztage Ingolstadt (hosting) Ingolstadt, DE
An exciting new opportunity. I’ve been invited to host the space before and after select performances at TANZTAGE Ingolstad by the festival curator Yahsmine Lamar.
more info soon!
dates:
16.05. with “HUSH”
17.05. with “HUSH” and the Opening of the Festival
18.05. with "SPIEL IM SPIEL"
19.05 with "SPIEL IM SPIEL"
21.05. with „K.I.ND OF HUMAN“
23.05. with "FUNDURA”
check the complete program here
UNTIL DEATH DO US PART (post-performance talk) Stockholm
credits:
Sanna Blennow, Simone Gisela Weber, and me
written by MDT:
After the run of UNTIL DEATH DO US PART on Saturday, 15 February 2025, choreographer Sanna Blennow will be in conversation with dramaturge and work-partner Simone Gisela Weber. The talk will be moderated by movement-and-word artist pavleheidler. Free entry. The talk will be held in English.
date:
February 15, 18:00h performance, 19:30h post-performance talk
for tickets, follow link
individual sessions — Stockholm, December
The goal of the session is to support you, via the study of BMC® and its principles, in developing your inquiry in an embodied sense.
You may have a question that you don't know how to answer, or a feeling you don't know how to process, or stiffness or pain that you don't know how to soften, move with, or survive; you could have come to a realisation that you don't know how to integrate or have grief that you don't know how to sit with.
Alternatively, you may (simply) want to know more about how your body works, where your liver lives, or what the difference is between thinking, feeling, and sensing.
Generally speaking, as a result of this work you may develop the capacity to distinguish between sensations, thoughts, emotions with more precision, become able to orient yourself better in relation to your experience of the world, and find it easier to organise yourself, within and without: emotionally, intellectually, spiritually; psycho-physically.
In the context of an individual session, you benefit from receiving undivided attention, and having your questions addressed in specific instead of generalised ways (as is often the case in a workshop or a class setting). Most significantly, in the context of an individual session, you are in charge of the time, the pace, the tone, and the atmosphere.
“You don’t have to be alone.” — Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen
This session does not have a predetermined form. It is developed in dialogue. Apart from dialogue, this session may include guided meditation, movement exploration, and/or hands-on (touch-based) assisted exploration. The methods will be chosen in response to your desires, needs, and/or wants.
You may want to book a session with your partner, or a loved one.
Payment via Swish or bank transfer. Receipts available.
Please dress comfortably.
If questions remain, please send me an email.
This session is educational, not therapeutic in character.
book an individual session
pricing:
- 60 minutes > 700 sek
- 60 minutes > 300 sek (student, unemployed)
- 45 minutes > 250 sek (1st session, orientation)
- if you’re interested in receiving an individual session, but are unsure of the content or else cannot afford the rates above, please write to pavleheidler@pavleheidler.com
Fields of Tender (performance) Malmö
credits:
Choreography and overall design: Dalija Acin Thelander
In collaboration with and performed by: Noah Hellwig, Jimmie Larsson, Jilda Hallin, and me;
Music: Thomas Jeker;
Digital animation and interactive technologies: Filip Mikić
Supported by: Menų spaustuvė/Arts Printing House (Vilnius, Lithuania), Kulturhuset Dieselverkstaden (Stockholm, Sweden), Muzeum Susch / Art Stations Foundation CH (Susch, Switzerland), LaSala (Sabadell, Spain).
upcoming dates:
NOV 30, 2024
SKÅNES DANSTEATERS DANSLÅRDAG
Malmö, SE
past dates:
OCT 13-14, 2024
FRATZ International Festival for the Very Young
Berlin, DE
OCT 16-20, 2024
BABORÓ International Arts Festival for Children
Galway, IR
blue sky, a dance nexus (practice sharing) Stockholm
description:
This project is initiated by Omer Keinan, a student in the New Performative Practice MFA program at Stockholm University of the Arts. 𝐁𝐥𝐮𝐞 𝐒𝐤𝐲 is part of his ongoing study, 𝐀 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞, which you can read more about at omerkeinan.de/interface .
An invitation to 𝐁𝐥𝐮𝐞 𝐒𝐤𝐲: 𝐚 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐮𝐬
This is a format for workshopping dance practices in collaboration with fellow practitioners. It is a place and time for coming together, trying things out, and attending to the craft of dance through communality and specificity.
In each session, a different practitioner will facilitate a practice (exercise, score, activity) they are deeply engaged with. We will then experiment within and on this practice, unfolding and nourishing the body/world it activates through our various investigations and desires.
𝐋𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: Graciously hosted at ccap, Körsbärsvägen 9 nb, 114 23, Stockholm.
Feel free to simply show up, and please arrive a little early so we can start on time.
This encounter is intended for experienced movers and those attuned to artistic research. That said, it warmly welcomes practitioners of diverse backgrounds who see themselves in relationship with embodied and performance practices.
written by Omer Keinan
dates:
𝐓𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟒, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒, 𝟏𝟖:𝟑𝟎-𝟐𝟎:𝟑𝟎: Practice from Omer Keinan
𝐓𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟖, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒, 𝟏𝟖:𝟑𝟎-𝟐𝟎:𝟑𝟎: Practice from Anna Biczók
𝐓𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟓, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒, 𝟏𝟖:𝟑𝟎-𝟐𝟎:𝟑𝟎: Practice from pavleheidler
Improvisation (morning class) Eskilstuna
description
The way I understand it, to work with improvisation one must work with the unknown, with not knowing. To improvise and keep improvising, then, one must keep not knowing. But how do you keep not knowing when improvising? As you’re experiencing the world and learning more about it, how do you remain unknowing without getting disoriented, or lost? Better still, how do you remain unknowing and make art along the way?
This class will be developed in dialogue with those in attendance. My special interests include anatomy (through the perspective of BMC®) and storytelling; I like to tell stories about different aspects of human anatomy to create a sense of real, material, bodily possibility in the sometimes magical, sometimes non-verbal space of movement, and dance.
I also like to be conscious of context. Since these classes will be taking place at the beginning of a working day for me and the team of Laughter in Process, some of the principles explored in the performance might show up and be explored in class.
dates:
November 14-15, 2024
9 AM - 10 AM
Eskilstuna, Sweden
Laughter in Process (performance) Eskilstuna
credits:
choreography: Jannine Rivel
dance: Amanda Billberg, Stine Marcinkowski Pettersson, Elinor Tollerz Bratteby, and me
musik: Hannah Tolf & Xenia Kriisin
light: Åsa Holtz
dramaturgy: Márcia Lança
producer: Mer Dans åt Folket
Dance Limerick (workshop) Limerick
Making Dreams Come True
i like to say that, as a dancer, my job is to make people's dreams come true.
whenever i think or say a version of the aforementioned statement, something in my body-mind softens and i become conscious of the brilliant, relational sensitivity originating in or from cellular existence and/or consciousness. *** with my process temporarily decentralised, social and economic stressors lose something of their value, affording bodily materiality to step into the spotlight and transform or influence the way “i” can now be aware, of myself (my selves, my cells), of others, and the world.
when i started recognising this shift in consciousness and my state as dancing (as artistry), i was forced to reconsider the idea(l)s i’d collected up until that point about the purpose of art and artistry in the west, and, more significantly, about the function of practice in the life of an artist. through a series of embodied experiments, i would like to share some of the observations i’d made since i started reconsidering my idea(l)s, and engage the participants of this workshop in a creative, embodied conversation revolving around two questions or centres of gravity; what perspective does having the experience of art-making afford artists? and, how do we argue for its value in these dire times?
BMC® and Body-Mind Centering® are registered service marks of Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, used with permission.
date:
Oct 25, 2024
Dance Limerick
Limerick, IE
this is a movement-based workshop informed by my life-long study of dancing, and of Body-Mind Centering®. no previous experience with Body-Mind Centering® or a developed interest in human anatomy is needed to participate in this workshop.
if drawing, or writing, or playing an instrument are essential to your practice, please bring whatever tools you need to practice.
hands on week 39 (individual sessions) Stockholm
- currently booking week 39 in Stockholm or online!
- book or ask a question via pavleheidler@pavleheidler.com
- sliding scale
The goal of the session is to support you, via the study of BMC® and its principles, in developing your inquiry in an embodied sense.
You may have a question that you don't know how to answer, or a feeling you don't know how to process, or stiffness or pain that you don't know how to soften, move with, or survive; you could have come to a realisation that you don't know how to integrate or have grief that you don't know how to sit with.
Things may be going well, and you may (simply) want to know more about how your body works, where your liver lives, or what the difference is between thinking, feeling, and sensing. You could also want to have a moment to rest whilst being supported by a pair of warm hands. <3
Generally speaking, as a result of this work you may develop the capacity to distinguish between sensations, thoughts, emotions with more precision, become able to orient yourself better in relation to your experience of the world, and find it easier to organise yourself, within and without: emotionally, intellectually, spiritually; psycho-physically.
In the context of an individual session, you benefit from receiving undivided attention, and having your questions addressed in specific instead of generalised ways (as is often the case in a workshop or a class setting). Most significantly, in the context of an individual session, you are in charge of the time, the pace, the tone, and the atmosphere.
“You don’t have to be alone.” — Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen
Individual sessions to not have a predetermined form, they are developed in dialogue. Apart from dialogue, this session may include guided meditation, movement exploration, and/or hands-on (touch-based) assisted exploration. The methods will be chosen in response to your desires, needs, and/or wants.
BMC® and Body-Mind Centering® are registered service marks of Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, used with permission.
BMC® with pav
In the way I understand and practice it, Body-Mind Centering® defines an experimental principle-based approach to studying anatomy, where anatomy outlines and describes the conditions necessary for the emergence of movement, experience, and consciousness. The question is, how does it [anatomy] do that?
*
I like to organise my classes in dialogue with whoever's there. This is both to ensure that the participants get the satisfaction of having their specific interests addressed, and to create an opportunity for bonding. Additionally, it’s a way for me to learn about the context that I find myself in and the people that I’m relating to. Plus, it’s a fun challenge for someone like me who is both neurodivergent and a skilled improviser.
That said :)
Since we're approaching Midsommar and the world is in bloom, I suggest one topic of discussion be smelling. Smelling? Smelling. In a recent class, one person said they'd forgotten that smelling was a touch-based sense, that specific molecules had to get in literal contact with a specific membrane and trigger specific receptors for anyone, really, to experience the joy that is lilac in bloom. One of my favourite things is dreaming of smelling and, indeed, of breathing from the perspective of touch and touching. Which is why I suggest another topic of discussion be Cellular Breathing. I love telling the story of Cellular Breathing by tracing the trajectory that a molecule of oxygen and a molecule of carbon dioxide trace through the lifecycle of a single breath.
Voila.
Which leaves us with The Underscore, for those who recognise the term. These past few months–as Winter rapidly turned to Spring-Summer–I've been dreaming of (self-)regulation. If we choose to dive into the topics of smelling and breathing from the perspective of touch and touching, I will take that opportunity to continue dreaming of (self-)regulation. This might require considering the anatomy of The Nervous System, and telling stories of coördination between the sensory <> motor phenomena.
*
In closing, I would like to say that I like speculating, fabulating, philosophising, and above all, writing. In class, for example, I do a lot by way of storytelling. Storytelling is how I manage atmosphere, it is also how I navigate group dynamics through embodied dives. My relationship to and fascination with language and languaging is an integral aspect of my practice… but it is also evidence of my neurodivergence. I like to be conscious of that. This is why I’d like to make explicit that this class, although largely conducted through storytelling, is first and foremost based in movement, experience, and experiment. That is: your moving, your experiencing, and your experimenting; the extent of which I will encourage you to be in charge of.
What all that means in practice will be decided in dialogue. :) Which is, again, why I like to organise my classes...
BMC® and Body-Mind Centering® are registered service marks of Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, used with permission.
to prepare:
The standard class consists of the following steps;
- meditation,
- movement exploration,
- touch-based exchange.
This protocol will be adjusted each class to meet your expectations, interests, boundaries, and the themes or topics we will be discussing in that particular class.
Please dress comfortably.
If your practice includes an expressive medium such is drawing, please bring the materials you need to engage in that practice to our meeting.
dates:
April 6, 9AM-11AM at Folkungagatan 124
April 13, 10AM—noon > Aspudden metro
May 4, 10AM—noon at Fokungagatan 124
May 25, 10AM—noon > Aspudden metro
June 1, 10AM—noon at Fokungagatan 124
June 8, 10AM—noon at Fokungagatan 124
June 16, 10AM—noon at Fokungagatan 124
June 22, 10AM—noon at Fokungagatan 124
fee:
100 SEK for students and the unemployed
200 SEK for artists and the underpaid
300+ SEK for employed
Classes at Folkungagatan 124 are organised in collaboration with Studiefrämjandet.
Drop-ins are welcome.
Children are welcome.
To sign up, please send me an email via pavleheidler@pavleheidler.com.
LACE #2: Mediating Touch (symposium) Vienna
Hospitality, Integration, and the Interstitial
ImPulsTanz Symposium for Dance and Other Contemporary Practices
curated by Deirdre Morris, Sylvia Scheidl, and pavleheidler
dates:
Symposium, July 26-28, 2024
Residency, July 29-August 2, 2024
Vienna, Austria
ImPulsTanz Dance Festival (workshop) Vienna
I. Am. An. Artist., an embodied approach to studying abstracts
In this week-long workshop, each day of the week is devoted to embodied study of a word / concept. I: Monday. AM: Tuesday. AN: Wednesday. ARTIST: Thursday. Friday is reserved for reflection, and integration. This work is as much about exploring one’s embodied experience contained by said words as it is about asking, What does it take to develop an embodied practice, when the focal point of the practice is an abstract (e.g., a concept, an idea, a socio-political standard).
In developing this workshop, I am relying heavily on my experience of studying and practicing BMC®. I am looking at what happens when I turn or apply those BMC® principles that were developed for the purpose of studying one’s experience of one’s anatomy to studying one’s experience of structures that are embodied, but not strictly anatomical? If I can study my experience of “liver” because I know it’s there—I can name it, I can see its image online or in a book, I can read and read about it—can I not study apply that same principle to studying my experience of other phenomena I can name, see an image of, or read about? Such are contained by the words “I”, or “ARTIST”, for example?
No previous experience with BMC® or other somatic standards is required to attend this workshop.
dates:
July 29 - August 2, 2024
at the ImPulsTanz Dance Festival
Vienna, Austria
booking possible from April 24, via impulstanz.com
This workshop could be interesting to those who have a desire to explore (somatically) the depth and the wealth of their experience framed by the words I, aman, and artist. This workshop could also be interesting to those who are looking for examples of intersectional, experimental work that draw its methodologies from multiple fields, e.g., the fields of somatics, pedagogy, and dance- and art-making. In either case, one should know that this is a dance workshop. Dancing will be the modus operandi, the primary mode of communication, and the main orientation device. Dancing here names an experience-based non-verbal form of communication, one that is critically aware of the context within which it is practiced. Namely, the context of the Western professional theatre-based dance and choreography.
Vilnius Summer Dance Intensive (workshop) Vilnius
making dreams come true, a Body-Mind Centering® workshop
“Summer Dance Intensive” is the biggest educational contemporary dance event in Lithuania organized yearly since 2000. It is dedicated to professional and amateur dancers. This intensive happens every August in Vilnius, Arts Printing House. Participants can take part in contemporary and classical dance workshops, creative laboratories, various lectures led by internationally recognized and inspirational teachers from all around the world.
The main aim of the project is to provide professional dance education through theoretical, practical and creative workshops led by acknowledged international teachers.
Project is partially funded by Lithuanian Culture Council and Vilnius city municipality.
Why study anatomy? What is, for example, the point of looking into the structure of a peripheral sensory neuron, or in examining different ways in which peripheral sensory neurons coördinate with peripheral motor neurons? What is to be gained from such detailed understanding of the ways in which bodies function? And why ever try and conduct any such study experientially? Embodiment must be a waste of time because you can never truly know that you’re not just making things up.
Before sharing the content of this class, I thought I’d set the scene. :) I wrote that first paragraph in a voice that is stand-off-ish, firm, sceptical, and resistant. I did that in an attempt to capture something of a tone I come up against frequently in my work. This tone evokes the type of discomfort one might experience when one finds oneself outside of one’s comfort zone. Another way to think of it is as the tone one is likely to experience when one finds oneself at the edge of reason. Reason here is not meant to represent a deeply nuanced, philosophical concept. Rather, it stands for something very ordinary. It stands for the known, the recognisable, the familiar; it is, you could say, the status quo.
A lot of where this class is going to be taking place is exactly at the point described above as “the edge of reason”. This is not a specific feature of my work, nor is it a specific desire I have to take us there. This, I think, is a feature of all work that is embodied, and that functions—even if partially—within the territory of the non-verbal. This is why I would like this class to be an opportunity to ask, how do we step into the unknown responsibly? How do we cross the limits of reason and live to tell the tale? And most importantly, how do we experience the world so deeply and intensely without losing the ability to care for each other and each other’s experience?
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Because I’m thinking of reason as a metaphor, I suggest dedicating this class to the embodied study of The Nervous System. The Nervous System is the perfect field within which to begin examining phenomena such is perception, orientation, sense-making, and communication. It is also a good point from which to embark towards the topic of consciousness. Since The Nervous System is terrifyingly complex, I suggest focusing the study on one topic per day. For example,
- Monday could be focused on sensory-motor phenomena, and the question of perception (how do we determine we’ve actually perceived something, for example? is it because the heart-rate changed or because the voice inside our head said so?);
- Tuesday could be looking at the coördination between the peripheral and the central aspects of the system (how does the nervous system actually collect information from our surroundings, and where is that information processed? and where am “I” in all that?);
- Wednesday could be a Q&A and an integration day, or the day we dive into the world of the cerebrospinal fluid and examine the way cerebrospinal fluid moves (with) the bones of the skull;
- and so on.
I say “could be” because I’d like to select daily topics in dialogue with the participants. This is both to ensure the participants get the satisfaction of having their specific interests addressed, and to create an opportunity for bonding. Additionally, it’s a way for me to learn about the context that I find myself in and the people that I’m relating to. And, it’s a fun challenge.
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The embodied study of The Nervous System will be organised according to the principles and practices of Body-Mind Centering®. No previous experience with Body-Mind Centering® is necessary to participate in this class.
I suggest this class be organised following the logic that organises the open level class with one exception. I would like this class and its daily topics to address concerns that are of specific interest to dancers. For example, assuming we’re engaging in the study of The Nervous System,
- Monday could focus on sensory-motor phenomena, but highlight the question of the role the inner voice plays in how we experience perception. The way I see it, educated dancers are specifically prone to associating perception with internal dialogue. I perceive, in other words, because I tell myself I do. So how do we learn to evidence perception physically and/or non-verbally? I get very excited by this question;
- Tuesday could focus on expression. In this class we’d explore expression as defined anatomically in BMC®. This exploration could lead us to reflect how the word expression is traditionally used in dancing and speculate as to why it’s often so badly defined, if at all.;
- Wednesday could be about the perception of weight, or the perception of time, which would ask us to look at those places where The Nervous System meets Muscle or Tendon;
- and so on.
Once again, I say these days “could focus” on specific topics because I’d like to select daily topics in dialogue with the participants. This is both to ensure the participants get the satisfaction of having their specific interests addressed, and to create an opportunity for bonding. Additionally, it’s a way for me to learn about the context that I find myself in and the people that I’m relating to. And, it’s a fun challenge.
In closing, I would like to say that I like speculating, fabulating, philosophising, and above all, writing. In class, for example, I do a lot by way of storytelling. Storytelling is how I manage atmosphere, it is also how I navigate group dynamics through embodied dives. My relationship to and fascination with language is an integral aspect of my practice… but it is also evidence of my neurodivergence. I like to be conscious of that. This is why I’d like to make explicit that this class, although largely conducted through storytelling, is first and foremost based in movement, experience, and experiment. Which means that as a participant you will be examining expression, for example, in movement, by experiencing different patterns that–in BMC®–define movement as expressive, and by comparing the difference between one experience of expressive movement you’ve had to another.
SENSING, FOR DANCERS
What is the use of anatomical knowledge for dancers? What difference can knowing we’re experiencing seeing with our brain and not our eyes make? Or that sensing isn’t something we do, but something that happens spontaneously—whether we like it or not?
This workshop revolves around the question of use. The question of use is meant to narrow down our field of vision such that neither somatics nor dancing can escape critical reflection. The way I understand it, it is when we assume either somatics or dancing to be useful – or not useful – “just because” that we start running into trouble. So how do we stop assuming value and begin developing new approaches to practicing somatics as dancers or dancing as somatic practitioners?
information
type: workshop
date: MAR 9
time: 18.00h
place: Alma Söderberg Studio, Malmö
context: part of the RESHUFFLING RELATIONS Festival for Somatic Movement, Improvisation, Dance & Performance curated by Tuva Hildebrand
tickets: click here
facebook event: click here
The Sun Practice
How many times can you repeat a word before the word melts off your tongue, like butter melts off a hot piece of toast? its meaning dripping from your lip, getting caught in your beard. Did you even know you could grow a beard? [pause] Staring blankly at the wall, you’re scared of touching your chin. Don’t be. Whether or not a beard is growing there, you are still here, you are still you. Plus, there are so many ways to remove unwanted hair off a human body. The more important question to consider is, what are you going to do about those extra limbs that, last night, you grew in your sleep? There are not so many people walking around with four arms sticking out of their shoulders.
The Sun Practice celebrates the work of Judith Butler, J. L. Austin, and Ferdinand de Saussure, who all had reason to observe the relationship between the signifier and the signified, and call it arbitrary.
The Sun Practice is a principle-based performative practice. It was first discovered by a young person’s desk, on a sunny day in Bruxelles, in the Spring of 2011.
information
type: performative practice
date: MAR 8
time: 16.00h
place: Skånes Dansteater, Malmö
context: performed in the context of TEA SALON: ALL OUR RELATIONS organised by Marie Klawitter, part of the RESHUFFLING RELATIONS Festival for Somatic Movement, Improvisation, Dance & Performance curated by Tuva Hildebrand
tickets: click here
facebook event: click here
One person said…
(2023-06-21, at Abysse Sound Art Festival)
One person said it’s exactly like watching the clouds.
One person said at first I was like, what’s happening?! And then I was like, whoa.
One person said it was unexpected, you were so sweet and cute during your introduction and then so serious and focused during the performance! And then, suddenly, so cute again!
One person said, that was really… special!
One person said, you said we could close our eyes if vision became distracting, but I simply couldn’t! I had to see… the detail!
One person said it was stunning to see it happen against this messy backdrop, so bare. And then your voice just, you did it with the voice! Heroic.
One person said at a certain point your whole body was so still and the only thing that moved was your Adam’s apple, up and down! How did you do it? I don’t even know you knew you did it like that. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the Adam’s apple move like that, so much.
One person asked, is it improvised?!
One person said it was like a movie playing in my mind. I couldn’t say bow exactly what I saw but then, I just dropped in and wow. I don’t even know how that works.
- one person said… is a poem written from memory. more than documenting what was said, the poem documents what was remembered. reading the poem, one can speculate at what remembering tells about the one who remembers; about their interests, their capacities, their values.
Fields of Tender (performance) Stockholm, SE + Bath, UK
credits:
Choreography and overall design: Dalija Acin Thelander
In collaboration with and performed by: Noah Hellwig, Jimmie Larsson, Jilda Hallin, and me;
Music: Thomas Jeker;
Digital animation and interactive technologies: Filip Mikić
Supported by: Menų spaustuvė/Arts Printing House (Vilnius, Lithuania), Kulturhuset Dieselverkstaden (Stockholm, Sweden), Muzeum Susch / Art Stations Foundation CH (Susch, Switzerland), LaSala (Sabadell, Spain).
REVIEW of Fields of Tender by Berlin’s Inky Lee
Fields of Tender nominated for the 2024 Children and Youth Theatre Prize by the Swedish Theatre Critics Association!
upcoming dates:
SEPT 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 2025
Dansenshus
Stockholm, SE
OCT 25, 26, 27, 2025
The Egg Theatre
Bath, UK
more info soon…
past dates:
MAR 29, 2025
Multiplié dansefestival 2025
Trondheim, NO
NOV 30, 2024
SKÅNES DANSTEATERS DANSLÅRDAG
Malmö, SE
OCT 13-14, 2024
FRATZ International Festival for the Very Young
Berlin, DE
OCT 16-20, 2024
BABORÓ International Arts Festival for Children
Galway, IR
currently touring:
- Laughter in Process, choreographed by Jannine Rivel;
- Fields of Tender, choreographed by Dalija Aćin Thelander.
listen to wherever you listen to podcasts! just search for LACE SYMPOSIUM!
2025-05-22
I released a new podcast. The LACE Symposium PODCAST. I couldn't decide whether or not to make a NEW podcast, or simply re-purpose the existing one. But then I couldn't access the existing podcast, because where the f*** is my password, and so the LACE Symposium podcast was born!!! The LACE Symposium's inaugural episode with Yas Lamar (she/her), one of this year's LACE Extended hosts, is officially online!
You can listen to the podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Just search for LACE Symposium! Please like our episodes and subscribe to the podcast, every interaction will make it possible for the next person to find us more easily!
The aim of this podcasts is to introduce the LACE Symposium, the curatorial team, our mission, and the artist contributing to our efforts in a "real" way.
Meaning, we're not trying to pack the information nicely. Here's to real conversations with real people, with people who are doing their best to reach clarity. But do they? (they do, but not on cue, and certainly not when you'd expect it.) Expect surprising, expect meandering, expect passionate, expect difficult to language, expect deep feelings, and a love for the analogue, the interpersonal, the challenging. Come celebrate the art of dancing with us!
LACE Symposium is curated by Deirdre Morris (she/they), Sylvia Scheidl (she/her), and me. LACE Symposium takes place in July in the context of ImPulsTanz -- Vienna International Dance Festival. LACE Symposium is supported by Erasmus+. www.lacesymposium.com
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