The body ‘re-percussion’ method I use for my workshops with students encompasses my Japanese ancestry where the state in-between is not an empty space; it is a way to see the collective instead of individual selves; and the percussion of Nigeria, ancestrally the polyrhythm of my movements like percussion. ‘Re-percussion’ also refers to the impact of the outside happenings in my dancing body. By doing so, the dancer claims, on a metaphorical level, the social identity, the identity as a dancer, as well as the imaginary identity invented by imaginary landscapes.

The workshop will address the development of movement phrases from the choreographic expression of Andressa Miyazato. These sentences will then be (de)constructed, drawing the dancers’ attention to different layers that build the movement. So the action will always be in transformation and not as a goal to be reached. The process delves into aesthetics as a framework in which participants can explore different corporealities. Furthermore, instantaneous compositions challenged the dancers to find immediate solutions to adapt the body to new corporeal proposals. Starting with the warm-up, the dancers will navigate through their bodily roots, working with deep attention and awareness of their physicality. The introduction will consist of working with the principles of roots and dynamic curves, concentrating on the fascia’s elasticity and connectivity. Rooting the feet, the hips and mobilizing the rib cage, strengthening and stretching simultaneously. This new corpo-reality creates a state of body awareness and alertness to the dynamics in which the body is involved. The intensity of floor work patterns and vertical combinations will be adapted to the group’s level.

Dance Theater workshop

What does it mean to dance from the soul? The dance Theater workshop is inspired by the work of the Butoh dancer Kazuo Ohno. We will focus on the body’s relationship with its environment as a source for poetic movement. Participants will be introduced to methods for working with the multidimensionality of the body. Theatrical spaces will be unfolded and explored through movement. Besides, dancers will explore everyday gestures and reactions in a state of transformation. Participants will experience that a simple gesture contains poetic expressions that communicate from the soul. In the final phase, participants will be shown a way to work with metaphors. How to transfer or translate words and language into fictional spaces where the body can interact.