An educator and an activist, Jane Elliott was the person who pointed it out to me—via a youtube video I was watching—that educate comes from latin root educere meaning to lead out. “An educator,” Elliott concludes, “is one who is engaged in the act of leading people out of ignorance.” One of the things I am drawn to in Elliott’s approach is the way she associates educating with leading, and education with leadership.
general reflections
i tend to start my classes with a circle. i find a circle in most cases to be the best way to situate the room. i usually open the circle with a brief introduction and a question formulated along the lines of a how are you?, and what are you currently working on?. i tend to come up with the day’s protocol after the responses to my question(s) have been shared and the circle has been closed.
there are several reasons why i choose to work like this. the most important has to do with situatedness. working as a freelance pedagogue, my time is often extremely limited. i’ve learned over the years that i can get the most out of the time i’m given when i situate my work within the context of the participant’s immediate experience (need, curiosity, or desire). when addressing the participant’s immediate experience, i’ve observed that participants tend to respond positively (A) because they feel seen and (B) because they’re offered access to skills that they recognise as immediately and specifically useful. as a result, the participants tend to feel encouraged and empowered and appreciated, which i care about very much.
regarding situatedness
i situate my practice within the expanding fields of dance and choreography, where dance and choreography are understood to be critical practices; critical as in critical for the development of the general field of body-based knowledge, and critical as in analytical and self-reflective. the expanding fields of dance and choreography i situate within the western tradition of staged dance and choreography, the development of which stems from the court of louis xiv and thrives in the present moment there where the artistic and academic modalities are encouraged to intersect.
one of my main areas of research concerns the notion of Cartesian dualism, i.e., the mind-body split. within my practice, i am observing some of the ways in which the application of Cartesian dualism in the West complicates the study of dancing, e.g., by forcing us to associate our thinking with a single part of our anatomy, thereby restricting our relationship to thinking itself with linear, language-based standards. most dancers have, of course, experienced thinking beyond the linear, and beyond the language-based. my question is, what happens when we consider all those non-linear and non-lingual experiences as cognitive experiences? how does our practice change when it becomes knowledgeable even when its, e.g., intuitive? i often identify my aim within this area of research with the term embodiment; i intend the term embodiment to represent the effort opposite to that of a split, i.e., the effort to integrate that which we traditionally associate with “the mind” with what which we traditionally associate with “the body” into a dynamic operative unit.
within the context of my research, experience comes first. this means that, by the time i come to reading, i am reading to help me understand how to relate to my experiences. most frequently, i find reason to read fantasy and sci-fi, black and diversity study, and memoirs written by queer folk. here is a short list of books i am very fond of and refer to frequently.
- Your Silence Will Not Protect You by Audre Lorde
- Cruising Utopia by José Esteban Muñoz
- Neuroqueer by Nick Walker
- Sick Woman Theory by Johanna Hedva >>> article
- all about love: New Visions by bell hooks
- The Feminist Killjoy Handbook by Sara Ahmed
- Living a Feminist Life by Sara Ahmed
- Staying with the Trouble by Donna Haraway
- Sensing Feeling by Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick
- The Undercommons: Fugitive Planning and Black Study by Stefano Harney and Fred Moten
- The Gentrification of The Mind by Sarah Schulman
- Artist at Work: Proximity of Art and Capitalism by Bojana Kunst
- Funny Weather: Art in an Emergency by Olivia Laing >>> VIDEO
- Meeting the Universe Halfway by Karen Barad
- Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimerrer
- emergent strategy by adrienne maree brown
- The Mushroom at the End of the World by Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing
- Everybody by Olivia Laing
- The Sandman by Neil Gaiman
- The Parable of the Sower & The Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler
- The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. le Guin
- Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal by Jeanette Winterson
- This Life by Martin Hägglund
- Modern Nature by Derek Jarman
- The Motion of Light in Water by Samuel R. Delany
- Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany
- Gender Trouble by Judith Butler
- How to Do Things with Words by J. L. Austin
body-mind centering® in the context of a dance class
when asked to feature BMC® in the context of a dance class, and when meeting a new group of participants i need to determine who of the participants has what level of experience with BMC® (or another somatic technique) before suggesting engagement in any specific activity. depending on the level of experience and the kind of experience participants may have, i will consider reflecting on the following topics:
- somatics in a dance class, a brief history of somatics and a note on ethics (what to pay attention when teaching and being taught somatics in the context of a dance class) + performativity (how do we “read” bodies when working with somatics in a dance class, procedures); (what is orientation?)
- basic structure of the nervous system: peripheral, central, and local, somatic and autonomic, sympathetic and parasympathetic + proprioception, interoception, and vestibular; sensory input and motor response; lower and higher cognitive processes, what is a reflex and how to recognise it; the macro and micro sensing apparatuses; (what is sensing?)
- what is cellular consciousness, how does the concept of cellular consciousness challenge our understanding of cognitive hierarchies and the way we think of “self”, maybe even “personhood”, brief history of the mind-body split + the potential of this inquiry to inform our understanding and practice of democracy. (what is thinking?)
the question of ethics + performativity, how do we read bodies would potentially require some examination of:
- performativity in gender and queer theory, a brief introduction to the work of j.l. austin and judith butler;
- application of performativity to dancing and choreography, an introduction to reading dance history from the perspective of performativity studies;
- differentiation between dancing and choreography relative to the concept of embodiment and expression, a brief introduction to the treatment of expression in BMC® + affect theory;
- examination of choreography relative to writing and the concept of principle-based performative-practice.
please note, all these points refer to actions that can be performed as movement-based experiments in the context of a studio practice. experiment is the primary method i will be referring to in the studio. “experiment” will be defined in real time relative to all or any of the points above (how do you conduct an experiment when you’re both the observer and the observed?).
I. AM. AN. ARTIST., an embodied approach to studying abstracts (new)
next:
July 29 - August 2, 2024
at the ImPulsTanz Dance Festival
bookings possible from April 24 via impulstanz.com
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.
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.
book a workshop
to book a workshop, please write to pavleheidler@pavleheidler.com
The Process of Materialisation of Fiction
The Process of Materialisation of Fiction is: a developing answer to a continual questioning – and is: a self-reflective dance practice. This practice suggests a way in which to study the ability of the individual’s nervous system to translate information (back and forth) between the “felt,” “sensed,” “imagined,” “immaterial” and the “materialised,” “physicalised,” “moved,” “spoken,” “performed.”
In as much as the “felt” and “sensed” etc. is “inwardly oriented,” and so functioning in the realm of the invisible: the “intimate” or the realm of “internal dialogue;” so is the “materialised” and “physicalised” “outwardly oriented” i.e. “performed,” visible to the scrutinising gaze of the public eye. How these two worlds relate to one another is, in my experience, not always given. This practice is developing to look at the specific relationships formed between internal motivators and equivalent performatives in an attempt to understand the relation between: the intimate and the public; or between: the intended and the communicated – always within a specific context. Given consent, studied will be examples drawn from individual participant’s personal experiences.
book a workshop
to book a workshop, please write to pavleheidler@pavleheidler.com
The aim of this workshop is to tackle the following questions:
- How does one affirm their internal monologue as real, as sane, and argue it as work within the context of object- and objectivity, prescribed-value-oriented western culture of contemporary and experimental dancing, choreography, and art?
- How does one begin to articulate strategies for guiding attention and creating the circumstances within which to manage a precise exchange of meaning, successfully; especially when working with abstract or otherwise non-obvious mediums [such is dancing]?
This work is intended for those who have to work quickly, and transition frequently between aesthetic environments and organisational power structures. This work is intended to be rewarding for queers looking to articulate strategies that are to help maintain spaces of heightened or specific attention for as long as necessary; folk working to hold spaces of fluid but persistent non-violent resistance. It is also intended for those who love a good challenge or are interested in nuanced articulation and precise execution of movement, sound, dance, and word.
Some of the topics that will be encountered during the work week are: gender theory and theory of performativity / language, communication and the production of meaning / systems of valorisation (oppression + order/chaos) / relationality (history-present, reality-fiction) / the notion of scale, in psycho-somatic and socio-political terms / the importance of thinking contextually / psychology of responsibility and consequence / redefining the workings and the purpose of the inner judge / and reconstructing the mind-body split into a functioning body-mind; a thinking, feeling, and sensing organism capable of elemental transformation.
The Process of Materialisation of Fiction has been presented at the ImPulsTanz Dance Festival (Vienna, AT), at AGORA (Berlin, Germany), Earthdance (Plainfield, MA, USA), the Dovercourt House LOVEIN (Toronto, ON, CA), and Footnote (Wellington, NZ); amongst other places.
Body-Mind Centering®
In the way I understand and practice it, Body-Mind Centering® defines an experimental principle-based approach to studying anatomy, where anatomy describes the fundamental condition for the emergence of movement, experience, and consciousness. This is evolutionary anatomy; anatomy as has been felt, anatomy as has been sensed, and anatomy as has been known to each one of us in as much as we’ve already embodied something of our experience of having and being a body. This anatomy, of course, is not the only anatomy. There is also the learned anatomy. This is the anatomy of sciences, the anatomy of measurements, and the anatomy of competing values.
Assuming that we’ve been embodying our experience of having and being a body successfully—we are alive, after all—the question emerges: how have we done that? What have we done to embody our experience of having and being a body? How much of that have we done consciously, how much of that have we done intentionally? And how much of any of that brought us any pleasure? Furthermore, what have we learned about evolutionary and learned anatomies in the process? Have we learned where they differ from one another, and where they are similar, compatible even? Have we learned to relate to either in a way that specifically and critically co-responds to its conditions, and its limits? And transforms its resource from pure potential into the experience of actual, affective support?
BMC® and Body-Mind Centering® are registered service marks of Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, used with permission.
individual sessions
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; 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 from a certified educator, 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