Weaving Bodies, Senses & Community is a proposal from the encounter of Irene Álvarez, dancer and researcher in the arts of body movement and Rita Venturini, mover, dancer and researcher of presence, on the fertile grounds of Quinta Ten Chi, a place where earth and sky meet in the heart.
At this moment in time when it is so necessary to reconnect with our own nature as alive – human – social beings. A space/time to integrate the physical body, sensitive body, creative body, mental and spiritual body within the Self. A collective celebration of Existence and interconnectedness with each other and Nature.
To enroll in the next upcoming workshop (11th to 13th of June 2021) you can fill in this form!
4 weekend gatherings to dive into the Contact Improvisation (CI) practice in a quiet and natural surrounding, sharing Body Awareness and Community Practices and Celebrating the expression of the Self through body movement, Dance and Music.
Helping each other.
Trusting in ourselves and others.
Cooperating toward common objectives without competition.
Being responsible for our own integrity and respecting each individual freedom.
CI INTENSIVE WS – SOCIAL PRESENTING THEATRE –
SOMATIC PRACTICES – ORGANIC FOOD – COMMUNITY PRACTICES –
NATURE – JAMS – LIVE MUSIC – CELEBRATION
CONTACT IMPROVISATION
CI is a dialogue between bodies. It is a form of non form where patterns of movement depend on the sensibility & physical abilities of the practitioners, the effect of gravity, the inertia & the point of contact between the bodies.
There’s no right or wrong. It is an exploration. It has a very clear beginning but no end. It evolves in order to the people who practice it. In CI we are learning continuously, altogether.
SOCIAL PRESENTING THEATRE
Social Presencing Theater is a practice of being present with what is individually, collectively and universally.
How can we see what we do spontaneously as a way to become aware of what is present in each moment? We will practice how it is to be present with ourselves, in stillness and movement, and with the collective “body” of our group and its relationship with the big body of the earth. We will practice to stretch our awareness from each tiny part of ourselves to the largest whole.
SOMATIC PRACTICES
As we know, many of you have very rich skills and knowledge on somatics, we want to let open this space for a participant to share his/her energetical practice, and in exchange, have the ticket for half of the price.
If you find a resonance within your practice and the program, send us your proposal.
COMMUNITY PRACTICES
With gratitude and in practice, – we invite you to take responsibility both individually and as a group for meals and cleanup, caring for the space, the place and each other. Becoming aware if something or someone is needing attention, something misplaced, dirty or broken, we invite action or information sharing that will ensure collective responsibility toward ideal conditions.
Adopting this agreement adds more cooperation into the world as well as providing a daily practice out of which we build authentic community. Ten-Chi is committed to embody the principle that Work is Love in Action.
MEALS
Vegetarian organic food. The schedule and meals have been designed to guarantee a good level of energy during our journey.
Most organic local food cooked with love by Blue Venturini Bush
JAMS – LIVE MUSIC – CELEBRATION
The JAM is the space for free practice. Guest musicians will create the atmosphere in dialogue with the dancing bodies. Under the principles of Respect, Freedom & Responsibility,
Jams on Friday and Sunday will be open for people not attending to the gathering allowing the permeability and flowing of energy in and out.
TEAM
Irene Álvarez Coto _ CI facilitator
Dancer, Physiotherapist. Since childhood, she has been related to Dance. First it was Classical Dance and along the years she trained in Contemporary, Butoh, Dance Theatre, Contact Improvisation, Flamenco and Yoga traveling in Europe, Cuba and India.
She impulses the practice of CI in Portugal & Spain.
With Pedro Paz they developed ‘Oficinas de Corpo Inteiro’ (2014) in Lisbon. She has organized the ‘Asturias Contact Festival’ since its birth in 2015 and she teaches in Contact Improvisation meetings such as Paris Gathering, Cercanías Contact Festival, Apoteósico, Arrabida Gatherings.
CI is the perfect tool to explore human behaviors and relationships in a dance form. Also, to understand and enjoy body movement in space, affected by the universal forces.
Main Influences in this field come from dancers as Mirva Makinen, Cristiane Boullosa, Linda Bufali, Asaf Bachrach, Andrew Harwood, Emmanuelle Pepin, Olaf Kehler, Angelica Doni, Patrícia Kuypers…
Rita Venturini _ host & SPT facilitator
Rita starts her life as a wild dancer……from this place of loving dancing she became a Medical Doctor and a Cognitive Scientist, and found so many ways to bounce her will against boundaries so that she finally, in 1998 found her way back to dance, after having travelled across continents and ways of being. For many years Contact Improv was her life, and Improvisation has been her life for now 30 year.
From there she developed a constant pursuit of the question – what is to be present? What is the impact if I am, or not, present? What is possible if we are collectively present? This brought her to Lisbon in 2010 to the Champalimaud Neuroscience Programme in which she played with science, participatory arts and movement research to create many moments of explorations – like Autoscope a exploration around body awareness as a gateway to presence.
Many amazing people she met on her journey and from whom she has learned a lot – Carol Swann, Peggy Hackney, Bill McCully, Sten Rudstrom, Satu Palokangas, Hilary Bryant, Valentina Emeri, Arawana Hayashi, Anna Halprin, Ray Chung, Katarina Eriksoon, Poshu Wang, Louise Bertelsen, Pipaluk Supernova, Jan Burkhart, Simone Forti, Ruth Zapora, Keith Johnstone and just many many more….