How to move?

Somatic practitioners believe that the body contains and displays abstract, symbolic and direct metaphors. For them learning happens when attending to the felt sense of moving. Movement happens when one lets it happen. It is about attending to one’s physical sensations as opposed to superficial imitation and visual perception.

Bowl-Work is an exercise used in dance improvisation as a way to aid in attending to momentary existence. It uses water imagery to facilitate efficient and free movement. It suggests that all movement originates from the spine.

We invoke this here as a way to explore the body as a point of departure for knowing and interacting. For this exercise you need a body and a space. You can read out loud the following “instructions” to a group of people. Pace it according to how participants engage with it. Conclude the exercise through sharing, in any form, how it was for each one of you? what surfaced? how can you build on this together?

For this excercise you will need some space -could be indoors or outdoor - colours and a sketch book.

Searching For Water Qualities by Sharaf & Areej