Workshop: Releasing the body as archive: Dance, somatics and the Bodenwieser Method

Abstract

This jointly facilitated workshop introduced participants to embodied investigations of the distinct movement patterns and forms that emerged through the Gertrud Bodenwieser Method in dialogue with the Bess Mensendieck system. The body as archive is explored through a re-inhabiting of movement sources from the work of Bodenwieser. Particular focus was paid to the use of breath to support movement, sequential patterning, mobility in the torso and pelvis and the dynamic actions of ‘Impuls’, ‘Welle’ and ‘Die Spannung’. In addition to this we looked at the documentation of Mensendieck’s movement exercises to explore the corporeal construction of the dancer in early 20th century Central Europ..