This workshop focus on how to locate and train that moment in performance which is the holy grail to anyone within the performing arts; where the ‘magic’ of live theatrical performance resides, that state of mind associated with peak performance presence.
Towards Vivencia uses the extreme engagement of the body as a gateway to exploring the whole spectrum of what it means to own one of the most powerful machines in the entire universe: your body.
You will be pushed into a unique performative state of mindful awareness and therefore pushed to exercise what is at the core of your performance: your own state of mind.
A powerful body as a gateway to an even more powerful mind.
For years you have learned different movement vocabularies and styles; you have delved into codified techniques: ballet, gaga, Graham, fighting monkey, etc; along the way you have trained coordination, strength, flexibility, speed and you have learned countless exercises to improve these basic human skills to master them and incorporate in your practice. As a byproduct of all that learning, you have heard of resilience, playfulness and performance presence, but…
- How do you train such foundational trades which are at the core of any performing career?
- Which youtube or facebook video shows you how to work something as essential as ownership in 90 seconds?
Over the last 2 decades advances in neurosciences, anthropology and phenomenology have allowed us to pin down the non-ordinary state of consciousness associated to peak performance presence. In this Towards Vivencia workshop we will touch briefly on how your nervous system works, but we will mainly jump, run, dance and climb to explore the limits of our bodies to train resilience, we will work on apnea to push our frights and insecurities, we will spin for more than 20 minutes to experience how it feels to fly and we will play so hard that we will understand how to transform any class, rehearsal and performance into a game.
Towards Vivencia trains the mindful awareness of the performers to transform all their actions into one: PERFORMING
Where has it been implemented?
This programme has been successfully delivered and continues to be in high demand in the UK, Norway, Greece, China, and Canada. I am currently working alongside the British Council in order to bring this project to the Middle East and South America.
Dance Companies & Festivals
- Akram Khan Company
- B-motion
- Carlos Acosta Dance Company
- V8
- Golitz Tanz Teatre
- Kalamata International Dance Festival
- Wayne McGregor | Random Dance
- Zfin. National Company of Malta
- National Company of Wales
- Pencca
- Balletto di Roma
- Fre3 Bodies Barcelona
- Punchdrunk
- Rambert Dance Company
- Scottish Dance Theatre
- Skånes Dansteater
- nunArt
Universities
- Beijing Dance University
- University of Kent
- Goldsmiths University
- Falmouth University
- Universidad Europea de Madrid
- Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance
- Latvian Academy of Arts
- Chichester University
- De Montfort University
- Derby University
- Roger Williams University
- University of Malta
TO KNOW MORE:
Towards Vivencia is designed to equip participants with strength, stamina, and resilience of both body and mind.
Drawing from competitive sport and by utilising factors such as exhaustion, spontaneity and chance, participants will be forced to act in the moment triggering a unique state of mindful awareness. Consequently, participants will be pushed to exercise the key element of any performance: peak states of mind.
The ethos of this class is to create an environment where the concept of performance presence is central to everything we do. The movement language will be born not from a particular aesthetic but from the pragmatism of the actions and the principle that each of us own, control, and inhabit a unique super-tuned machine: our body. During this class participants will explore the limits of that machinery, participants will be challenged to find their purpose, you will feel exhausted and re-energised, confronted and liberated, you will adapt and discover…
Class begins with time to re-focus on yourself and your body – How do you feel today? Who are you today? The focus and commitment established here will be carried through both the class and the rest of your day.
Our signature MASA warm up follows. This playful section combines anatomical and physiological principles in order to work safely. An intense training, you are encouraged not to stop but to play and support each other in order to find and refine your physical limits. Through the exhaustion of the body, we’ll build a hive-like entity of many bodies and one mind.
We’ll continue with a series of dynamic drills to allow you to create the right neuro-pathways to move in and out of the floor with speed and efficiency. Learn to fall, be upside down and to use your upper body skills with confidence and artistry.
Through highly physical and playful sequences, the latter part of the class will continue to improve your orientation on the floor along with your memory, speed and stamina.
Towards Vivencia uses the extreme engagement of the body as a gateway to exploring the whole spectrum of what it means to be human.
[1] A vivencia is a particular episode that becomes integrated within the consciousness of the person who experiences it. A vivencia marks a ‘before and after’ – whether dramatic or subtle, it always indicates a change.
Searching for that moment in performance is the holy grail of dancers, actors and singers. It is where the ‘magic’ of live theatrical performance resides. Through this class we’ll begin to make this attainable.
Towards Vivencia trains the mindful awareness of the performers to transform all their actions into one: PERFORMING
Have you ever watched two performers on stage and wondered why you’re drawn to one more than the other? Difficult to explain but it is something that we all can relate to, right? This special something is known as presence, charisma, energy…. But why do some performers have more presence than others?
What is it?
Towards Vivencia is a practice, a training methodology aimed at locating and replicating the state of consciousness associated to peak performance.
The innovation of this practice lays in the simplicity of the exercises. The participants will experience a state of mindfulness state in such an unsophisticated way, that it will be very easy for them to identify it and ultimately, incorporate it into their practice.
This programme has been created not to only be current, but also to lead the way at the forefront of the 21st century performing arts scene.
How is it has been implemented?
By capturing the spontaneity, the immense concentration of being in the moment and competitiveness of sports through factors such as utilizing exhaustion (as tool), unforeseeable situations and chance, the performer is pushed into a unique performative state of mindful awareness and therefore pushed to exercise what is at the core of performing: his/her own state of mind.
Towards Vivencia is divided into nine different stages:
Entering performance
- Skill building (Physical Training)
- Team building
- Demystification of the act of performing
During performance
- Games are a serious thing
- Problem solving in real time
- Multitasking
Exiting performance
- Cooling down
- Meaning makers
- Retro-feedback
Examples of tasks used in this programme:
• (1.a) Skill building (physical training). Throwing and catching:
Towards Vivencia uses part of the training developed for my work ‘36’ which involves throwing, dodging and catching plastic bottles with 750ml of water inside – equivalent to throwing a hammer. In ‘36’, the bottles are thrown and caught approximately one thousand times over a period of 20 minutes, which means there is a bottle thrown every 1.2 seconds. On top of that the distance that the dancers cover during the piece is in average twelve kilometers, that is to say thirty times the length of an Olympic stadium. The creation of ‘36’ has led the way to a unique professional work practice that trains the performer holistically; using the same training methods we used to create the piece and specific games and strategies from the piece itself, the premise of throwing and catching bottles is taken to a whole new level. Click here see a short documentary
• (1.c) Demystification of the act of performing. Whirling dervish dance.
After training with Ziya Azazi back in 2005-6, I incorporated spinning into my regular training. Spinning provides the time to experience movement fully, and in perfect corporeal equilibrium: the simplicity of the gesture and the rhythms of the music generate an extremely pleasant flow. The difficulty of keeping ones balance and the exhaustion felt whilst spinning for thirty minutes to an hour, allow the spinner’s consciousness to remain grounded.
Towards Vivencia make use of spinning to help the performer to locate and therefore replicate peak experiences through physical actions.
• (2.c) Multitasking
Have you ever tried to watch the TV, while writing an email, while talking to someone else? Quite imposible, isn’t it?
Human beings do not have the capacity to multitask. Jumping from one assignment to the next is not multitasking, no matter how fast we can switch. However we have the incredible capacity to transform many tasks into only one. Typing is the perfect example. Typing is moving my fingers furiously and acurately across the keyboard; while making sense of my words; while looking alternatively between the keyboard and the screen; while checking for mistakes… but training made all this task become only one: typing.
Towards Vivencia trains the mindful awareness of the performers to transform all their actions into one: PERFORMING
Where has it been implemented?
Towards Vivencia provides a number of tools that will direct the performer towards discovering, tracing and finally training that ideal performative state of mind associated to peak performance.
This programme has been successfully delivered and continues to be in high demand in the UK, Norway, Greece, China, and Canada. I am currently working alongside the British Council in order to bring this project to the Middle East and South America.
For more information please visit our contact page
[1] Spanish word widely used to describe the way that unique dancers, particularly flamenco, perform. It could be translated as charm or mystic.
[2] Csikszentmihalyi, M., & Csikzszentmihalyi, I. S. (Eds.). (1988). Optimal Experience. Psychological Studies of Flow in Consciousness (1998 ed.). Cambridge University press.
[3] Varela, F., Thompson, E., & Rosch, E. (1993). The Embodied Mind. Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
[4] d´Aquili, E., & Rause, V. (2001). Why God won´t go Away: Brain Science and the Biology of Belief. Ballantine books.