AWARENESS THROUGH MOVEMENT^®

with MARGIT GALANTER

Wednesdays 6 – 7pm, March 7 – April 4 | Mission Creek Pilates

The Feldenkrais Method^® can connect you with your natural abilities to move, think and feel. Through the unique Awareness through Movement (ATM) classes, one develops efficiency and vitality in movement that uses the whole self. Feldenkrais ATM classes can improve your overall well being, relieve chronic pain, and bring you more engagement in your daily life.

We improve our well-being when we learn to fully use ourselves.

Full series for $75, or drops-in at $18. RSVP.

margit@physicalintelligence.org * (510) 761 – 6097

“…my practice and teaching in the area of theatre and somatic education continue to teach me that, fundamentally, human beings cannot achieve total freedom and fully become creators without this constant recognition of their habits of movement in the gravitational field, of their behavioural preferences, of their own way of doing and perceiving. And this, not to run away from themselves and conform to some ideal model, both inaccessible and unreal, but to make peace with themselves and take ownership of who they are and what they do. The awareness of one’s neuromuscular patterns is fundamental and fosters not only the improvement of what one loves to do but also brings to it creative variations that can even be qualified as profound behavioural changes.” — O.G.

Introduction to Feldenkrais

Wednesday, February 1, 6:30 – 8PM | Mission Creek Pilates

The Feldenkrais Method^® is for anyone who wants to connect with their natural abilities to move, think and feel. Feldenkrais is effective for transforming physical challenges, improving chronic pain, and learning new movement skills.

If you are curious about Feldenkrais, this workshop will introduce you to the Method’s group classes, hands-on practice, and foundational principles. Learning how we learn, we broaden our understanding of self and action in the world.

RSVP: margit@physicalintelligence.org * (510) 761 – 6097

Cost: $20 – Includes $15 off your first private session with Margit. Noone turned away for lack of funds. Mission Creek Pilates is located at 2130 Harrison Street, San Francisco 94110

MARGIT GALANTER’s unique practice, Physical Intelligence, helps people experience the innate clarity and vitality one can uncover through the potency of movement. Physical Intelligence incorporates Margit’s expertise as a Guild Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner^cm, acupressurist, qigong practitioner, and movement artist. www.physicalintelligence.org

Here is some news. News these days is brighter with the blossoming of connected autonomous zones around the country, so hopefully you associate news with good things. I am in awe of how each Occupy site has its own unique culture, through the conditions of its place and people. Indeed we make zones all the time. I am reflecting recently on what it takes to set up a space that can call itself. This sense of identity is a kind of fall/Metal aspect, how we make form through the life we breathe into things and the parameters we construct.  Here are a few of my offerings like this below. Warmth, mg

Y Peformance this Friday
November Snake Cultivation
Ongoing Wild Goose Qigong
Fall Elementals
Tuning with Karen Nelson in January
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*Y PERFORMANCE THIS FRIDAY
This Friday Night, Kadet and I will perform Y: Ope n i  n   g     (working title) at MILK BAR 11/11/11. Kadet Kuhne, live sound score and some key dramaturgicals; Margit, solo movement and conception. MILK BAR is a seasonal evening of arts with a rotating line-up of amazing performers…in OAKLAND! At the Sunshine Biscuit Factory, near the Coliseum in Oakland. Directions: http://www.milkbar.org/#directions . For more info about Y: http://margitg.wordpress.com/archive/y/ . Recent blog in prep for the show: http://margitg.wordpress.com/2011/11/10/a-letter-in-prep-for-y-at-milkbar-111111/

*SNAKE CULTIVATION – SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 20

Sunday, November 20, 3-6 at Subterranean Arthouse, Berkeley. Come join in for the second workshop in the monthly series. Snake Cultivation is an ongoing investigation to develop creative power through practice and research based in the subtle and powerful movements of our spine. You can join the whole series, or come for individual workshops. For more info, contact me directly or go here –  http://physicalintelligence.org/2011/09/30/snake-cultivation-movement-laboratory/ . Please register in advance. Single workshops sliding scale $30 – $50.

*WILD GOOSE QIGONG
Thursday mornings at 10:00 –11:30 am, Bushrod Park in North Oakland. An ongoing series in Wild Goose Qigong. Wild Goose is a beautiful set of movements based on the energetics and physicality of the goose, passed on through generations. Class will begin with qi warm-ups. Students will pay monthly fees, and check-it-out-one-time drop-ins are welcome. http://physicalintelligence.org/2011/09/23/wild-goose-qigong-starts-in-october-at-bushrod-park/

Also, our qigong class went and practiced a Occupy Oakland, which was an honor, a pleasure, and a great education in qi. Let me know if you would like to practice together there sometime!

*FALL ELEMENTALS
As the fall starts to turn to its later phases, the aspect of its energetics that are about expansion and contraction become even more evident. The season of fall/Metal is associated with coming in to the center. You can feel this very directly if you think about how you experience a chilly fall morning; the whole body appears to tighten, which is a magnetizing in, to both preserve energy and effectively get closer to the internal furnace. Contracting and expanding can be considered as one of the most basic elements of breath. Since Metal is connected to the organs Lung and Large Intestine, it is working with these fundamentally basic aspects of survival: what we take in and what we eliminate. As we get closer to the winter solstice, I find myself turning to a desire for fall cleaning – not necessarily with the exuberance of a spring one, but a more elemental desire to get to the essential, and clear out the excess. From turning, re-turning…  I’d like to schedule a day in early winter to go deep into movement and meditation practices for this turning into winter, and will let you know more soon. Let me know if this interests you, always a motivation.

*TUNING WITH KAREN NELSON! Save the Dates
January 18 – 20, Karen Nelson will be offering a workshop: Warmups for Tuning. This is a rare way to practice the fascinating multi-sensorial compositional research developed by Lisa Nelson with a master. Karen was a member of Image Lab, a long-term collaboration in Tuning Scores performance research, and is brilliant teacher of this work, as well as CI and other meditations. The workshop will take place Wed eve, Thurs afternoon and eve, and Friday late afternoon. More news to follow soon. Sponsored through MG by ART WORKOUTS!

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SNAKE CULT: An Ongoing Movement Laboratory based on Steve Paxton’s Material for the Spine, Taught by Margit Galanter

The spine is a physical and imaginal resource for clarity in dancing and depth of power.  In this ongoing experiment, we will investigate the architecture and function of the central axis, as well as the quality of movement that comes from intimacy with our spine over time. The foundational tools for this study will be Steve Paxton’s Material for the Spine, along with qigong, the Feldenkrais Method , and improvisational forms.

The goal of the Cult is collective and creative study that enriches our respective practices and brings new and brilliant movement into the dance habitat.

MONTHLY SERIES, OCTOBER – MAY  * THREE-HOUR SESSIONS, mostly 3-6 PM on Sundays. FALL DATES:  October 23; November 20; December 11, January 15, Oakland + SF. $149 FOR FULL SERIES by Early Bird Registration * SINGLE WORKSHOPS AVAILABLE. (Pricing set to accommodate for missed classes, and oh so reasonable if you attend all)

For more info, contact margit: margit@physicalintelligence.org * (510) 761-6097

EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION: $149 by October 15. Afterwards: $180

  THIS NEWSLETTER INCLUDES INFO ABOUT:

Art Workouts: Letting the Fox Go + Workshop
Snake Cultivation
Fall Upon Us
Qigong Classes
Late Summer Writings
Shingle is Up!
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*ART WORKOUTS
Performance: Letting the Fox Go  NEXT WEEKEND!– This upcoming weekend, September 30 + October 1, Abby Crain and I will be dancing with Adam Sonderberg in our evening-length performance piece, Letting the Fox Go at Subterranean Arthouse. It has been a fourteen month research and performance process culminating Please join us! Info: http://artworkouts.wordpress.com/2011/09/07/letting-the-fox-go-sept-30-oct-1/ ; Buy tickets here: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/200735                     

Workshop: Monday Night Art Workouts – Our fall intensive starts on Monday, October 17 and runs through November. 5 weeks of movement-based performance research bliss for people from all disciplines! For more info, look here: http://artworkouts.wordpress.com/2011/09/08/monday-night-art-workouts-this-fall/ , and contact Abby to register: abigaillilly@yahoo.com

*SNAKE CULTIVATION
Movement Laboratory Workgroup will meet monthly to find the creative power that is generated from in-depth experiential research from the spine. Meets mainly on Sundays 3-6, October – May. Starts October 23. For more info: http://margitg.wordpress.com/2011/08/22/snake-cult-movement-laboratory/ . It is highly encouraged that you sign up for the series, though you are welcome to attend one of the workshops. Early-bird date: October 15. Register in advance!

Snakey Workstudy Position Available – I am offering one work exchange position for the SNAKE CULTure series for someone who will help me out administratively. If you are interested, get in touch soon.

*FALLING
Despite the mysterious heat of the days, we have made it to Fall! Indeed, around us there are indications of collapse …of structural phenomenon such as healthcare, of environmental protections, of a list too long to mention. Yet, in the face of our challenges, we have resources from the cycle of elements; we can learn how to Fall – body-mind-earth. First of all, remember that we are in a season, and it cycles. From the perspective of Chinese energetics, it is through the Metal/Wind element, associated with the fall, that we connect to some of the most basic functions of living – breath and elimination. Through Metal harmony, we establish our sense of purpose, our boundaries, and our courage. So, it helps to breathe …  deep breathing, like what can come from movement meditation practices and the somatic arts, from being outside, and from tapping into what you are here to do, giving yourself the breath of space and time to absorb what you do do.

*WILD GOOSE QIGONG ONGOING CLASS
Thursday mornings at 10:00 –11:30 am, Bushrod Park in North Oakland. As an experiment in depth and courage, I will begin teaching an ongoing qigong class in Wild Goose Qigong Set 1. Wild Goose Qigong is a beautiful pattern of movements based on the movements of the goose, passed on through generations. Class will begin with qi warm-ups. Students will pay monthly fees, and check-it-out-one-time drop-ins are welcome. http://physicalintelligence.org/2011/09/23/wild-goose-qigong-starts-in-october-at-bushrod-park/

*WRITINGS
Here are some blog entries I have been writing this fall:
-Performing Y in Santa Monica:    http://margitg.wordpress.com/2011/09/22/1078/
-Teaching Feldenkrais-into-Dance at SOMAFest:    http://physicalintelligence.org/2011/09/16/feldenkrais-at-soma-fest/
-The collaborative installation with Niki Ford at Buffet Flats:    http://margitg.wordpress.com/2011/09/15/invocation-station-a-living-installation/

*THE SHINGLE IS UP!
My integrative practice, Physical Intelligence Life Arts, is now located in two lovely Oakland locations: at Alley 49 Somatic Arts, and additionally I have opened up my home studio! I am also available for SF sessions.  Get in touch if you would like to set up a program to help you experience your physical clarity, grace, and creative power.
 

For those interested, this is a Kuira prayer tree – the traces of the wind movement in it is a beautiful illustration of the flow of Fall wind. Also, NB: the term “body-mind-earth” comes directly from Simone Forti who taught a class with this title I was fortunate enough to participate in last week at SOMAFest, addressing the whole picture so well.

Warmth, mg

Read here or read below – my endorsement of his Training:

Part of the impetus for coming to a Professional Feldenkrais Training can arrive from a desire to understand how it could be that the gentle and specific movements of the Method can create such clarity of attention, grace, and plasticity of thinking, and to experience this more. One wants to be able to impart this to others with confidence and understanding. Dennis Leri’s Training delivers.

The intelligence of the Method is embodied in Dennis’ approach; the Training provides a learning environment where the pedagogy so intimately matches the material that one experiences coherency. And this is immeasurable. It provides tools to approach teaching, learning, and to experience living with vitality one can only imagine. Even if you leave these tools in the shed for a while, they’re always there for you.

From the beginning of the Training with Dennis, Funkadelic’s words “Free Your Mind and Your Ass Will Follow” came to me like a joke, because with the invitation, it was clear that the inverse was equally true. This is a kind of revelation, and the facility of constructing thinking and moving only deepens over the course of the years of your training with Dennis and will continue to do so.

If you are a good match, there is really no better way to spend your time.

— Margit Galanter, MA GCFP is a movement educator, arts investigator, and dance poet living in Oakland, CA.

Here is a description  of the class I wrote months beforehand:

The Feldenkrais Method is a living, somatic system that ingeniously facilitates clarity of movement and vital awareness. In this workshop, we will develop the specificity and pleasure of our actions through Feldenkrais’ unique movement and touch; we will melt and reform patterns; and we will uncover new arising physical and imaginal landscapes through our live compositions and dance.

Through the workshop, we will practice Awareness through Movement®, which are calm, gentle, yet curiously rigorous movement sequences that reorganize our thinking, our breathing, our quality of movement, and our physical patterns. We will also work with hands-on movement, called Functional Integration®, integrating our action, connecting us to one another, and enacting the living environment.

The Feldenkrais Method offers a unique way to research movement – in quality, in attention, and in the expansion of choice of actions; it is an experimental process. What is so powerful about going from The Method’s somatic practice in through dancing and back again is that it offers ways to integrate the material in action with an exploratory mind, and in the context of improvisation, there is a forum for the spaciousness and awareness that comes through the lessons. Obviously from my writing, you can see this is not always so easy to explain! If Feldenkrais takes for you, it will effect any action you do, though with the right modes of embodied creative research specifically, the act of shifting between the Method and dancing can deepen the impact of experiment of the Feldenkrais work and expand the repertoire of one’s creative power and depth of reflection.

In the class, we oscillated on many levels; for one, literally we oscillated in different orientations (e.g., lying on the floor, standing up), in addition, the oscillations progressed from something to try without too much direction at first, so one could experience one’s own sense of it, and then changed throughout the lesson as the action clarified, and as we practiced new iterations. Then throughout the course of the class, oscillations became a mediating act – a way to find one’s center as  a concrete enaction. Throughout the workshop, oscillations were also experienced as an analog in terms realms of action, since we would move between media – from ATM to open movement, in and out of writing, of conversation, and hands-on practice. Oscillating was both a physical act, and an integrative one on the many levels of action and social interaction.

The ATM lesson came from Feldenkrais’ original San Francisco training, and was taught to me during my own training by Yvon Joly. To dive into Yvon’s generous and reflective teaching in prep was a fulfilling learning experience. Dennis Leri, who was the Educational Director of my training is brilliant and unparalleled. He will be starting a new Semiophysics Feldenkrais Training in 2012. If you have any interest in going through a Training, this one is not to be missed.

It was an honor to be in the room with the participants of the workshop. To see the beauty in the simplicity and richness of their actions moved me, literally. Thanks to Teri Carter at SOMA Fest, and onwards and upwards now to performances throughout the weekend!