The Embodied Musician
2 sessions
These two, linked sessions, explore essential aspects of the process of becoming fully embodied musicians.
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Session 1: Turning Up the "Volume" on Our Senses
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The path to becoming a fully-embodied performer begins with enhancing our awareness of self in relation to the environment in which we practice and perform.
In this session, I will guide you to a condition of expanded and continuously-shifting awareness that allows your music making to be informed by the sensations of your body in movement. In addition, you will gain a clear perception of your instrument and what is needed to play it, an active relationship with any other physical objects in your environment (the floor, chair, or prop), and a clear perception of your performance space and everything else in it (including your audience!).
Topics include:
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Awakening and enhancing your tactile and kinesthetic senses, the two senses most important for coordinate movement
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Claiming a big space for your performance in order to increase your movement choices and expand and clarify your artistic choices as well
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Learning to perceive and cultivate “micromovements” in relation to the large range of movements available to us in any moment
Session 2: All About Legs!
Starting with the premise that performing music is a whole-body activity in every moment, this session will explore the multiple roles of legs in practice and performance.
Topics include:
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The leg-torso relationship
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Coordinating the joints of the legs: a chamber music trio (or sextet!)
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Thinking like a quadruped: how arms and legs relate in every moment
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Our legs as first responders to musical impulses