ØSMØSIS X Ned Nicolson - Moving, Being Moved

ABOUT THE WORKSHOP: Full Day Contact Improvisation Workshop with Ned Nicolson
On being moved:
There seems to be a sort of essential joy in the human encounter with forces greater than ourselves.
In the dance of ci we delight in gravity melting us into the ground and momentum lifting us weightless through space.
Surfers delight in the huge swell of water that surges beneath their board.
Children delight in the arching fall and suspension of a swing.
Cowboys in the bucking horse beneath them.
Cyclists in the road streaming like water beneath their wheels.
It feels like I'm flying! We shout.
There seems to be bottomless potential for magic in simply allowing ourselves to be moved.
Why don't we talk about this?
On moving:
There is little pleasure in being swept entirely away.
Fear replaces delight when the waves crash mercilessly on top of someone who does not know how to swim.
The child must learn to kick out and lean back and slow themselves down when they swing too high.
The cyclist leans dramatically into the mountain's shoulder to balance the centrifugal force that would otherwise tear him from the road.
So perhaps the magic lies not simply in feeling these powers act upon our bodies, but in being in relationship with them. The feeling of being in collaboration, negotiation, dialogue, play, with what is bigger and more powerful than us. As nancy stark smith said, the earth is bigger than you, you might as well cooperate with it. We cannot control gravity, a fact which ci radically embraces. This workshop will focus on recognising the dance of forces acting upon our bodies, and how we can dance with this dance.
ABOUT THE TEACHER:
Ned first discovered contact improvisation at theatre school in Melbourne. She fell so hard for the practice she moved to Spain and studied full time there for three years at Espacio FCI with Cristiane Boullosa and Diana Bonilla. Contact was her first love and remains her primary practice but it has also lead her towards contemporary training, performance and creation work and solo improvisation research.
Now back in Victoria, Ned lives and dances in Anakie, teaches weekly contact improvisation classes in Torquay and occasionally also in Melbourne. She is also a ceramicist and creates movement inspired functional art pieces. In october she is performing in "Not A Jam" with Aimee Raitman, a contact improv dance piece to be presented at Dance House as part of Melbourne Fringe. She is currently particularly interested in performance as research and nature based improvisation enquiry.
LOCATION:
Renergy in St Andrews, VIC, 3761
This day workshop is held close to nature, in an enchanting 4 acre bushland, just an hour drive from Melbourne CBD.
TIME:
10 am - 5pm (1-2pm lunch break)
SUITABILITY:
In this workshop we will explore the balance and dance between moving and being moved in contact improvisation. All bodies and levels of ci experience are very welcome.
Feel free to get in touch if you have any questions if you want to understand if this workshop is for you.
PRICE:
$90 - please get in touch if finances are a hardship for you.
Message Ren for more info and to reserve a spot.
The space is intimate and places are limited xxx
https://www.trybooking.com/au/event/1654767