BODY & LAND: a weekend workshop in the South Downs

BODY & LAND is a weekend workshop for anyone curious about exploring movement in relationship with nature, offering a chance to move, connect, and express yourself creatively within the beautiful chalk landscape of the South Downs.

No previous experience in movement-based work is required though experienced practitioners are also very welcome.

BODY & LAND will be co-led by four of the Sussex group Dancers in Landscape*: Korina Biggs, Mim King, Yumino Seki, and Clare Whistler, who will bring their distinct practices and long experience of facilitation in wide-ranging local and global settings.
We will be using the spacious East Dean Village Hall as a base for indoor warm-ups, refreshments and rest, and nearby locations for outdoor movement sessions, weather-permitting!

The weekend will include sessions in somatic practices* and improvisation which the facilitators are particularly experienced in - Alexander Technique* and Butoh* – and will draw on influences and inspirations from writing by renowned figures including the poet Ada Limón, botanist and author Robin Wall Kimmerer and environmental activist and scholar Joanna Macy.

Together we will be exploring how to move with ease, and how to feel grounded, tuning into where we are, and finding a sense of place through movement itself. We will attend to becoming more receptive through the senses, to noticing and connecting with the more-than-human, and to following creative movement impulses that arise through tuning in and responding to the land.

We will explore the rhythm, pace and terrain of the land, and the transient nature of the elements. Through guided improvisations, we will explore themes from nature, working with stillness, sense of presence, and ‘being’, rather than ‘doing’, discovering a natural rhythm, quality of breath, and awareness to all that is around, and that which we hold inside. This resonates also with Butoh concepts such as Ma (in between space), Wabi (humbleness/simplicity) and Sabi (process of decay).

In keeping with the spirit of Dancers in Landscape, this workshop will be shaped by a sense of community, playful curiosity, and responsiveness to both the group and the weather. There will be time for rest and reflection, and conversation over refreshments and food.

We look forward to welcoming you!

This workshop is part of LIVE EDITIONS, a new programme of movement, sound and performance in Eastbourne and the South Downs, supported by Arts Council England. LIVE EDITIONS is led and hosted by Nikki Tomlinson, an independent curator and producer.

*Dancers in Landscape have been meeting regularly in the Weald since 2010 to practice movement outdoors. This group formed out of an instinctive desire to dance in community, responding to, and relating with, the earth. Originally all based in Sussex, some of the core members of the group are now based further afield but continue to join sessions when they can. The full group is now Korina Biggs, Sophia Campeau-Ferman, Laura Gwynne, Mim King, Jo Shapland, Yumino Seki, Nikki Tomlinson, Clare Whistler.

*The Alexander Technique is a practice that enables awareness, ease and a letting go of patterns of tension that are getting in the way of freer movement, breath and support

*Butoh is a form of Japanese avant-garde dance which emerged from post-war chaos in Japan in the late 1950s when the country grappled with the clash between new Western technology and traditional Japanese values. Butoh became a new form of expression, neither an imitation of Western culture nor a traditional Japanese cultural practice.

*Somatic practices: a field of movement studies and bodywork that foregrounds inner awareness and internal physical sensations, perceptions, and experiences of the body

Physical access
East Dean Village Hall has step-free access to the hall space and toilets, and a wheelchair-accessible toilet. The outdoor locations we will go to are close to the village hall and are in the South Downs National Park. The grassy terrain is fairly even, and we will avoid steps, and steep inclines and declines. We have chosen them so that they are wheelable and walkable from the hall. To discuss any access requirements in advance, please contact the organizer

Getting there
East Dean Village Hall is 300m from 12, 12A and 12x bus routes which run every 15mins between Eastbourne & Brighton
10mins by bus from Eastbourne Station
20mins by bus from Seaford Station
1hr by bus from Brighton
Drivers are welcome to park in the free car park by the hall
Accommodation
If you would like recommendations for local places to stay, please get in touch