Masterclass

Dance, imagery, sound, drawing and painting enrich one another in a creative exchange. Through somatic movement practice we tune into our sensory perception. Music stimulates vivid images, which we make tangible in creative drawings and paintings. In vibrant dance improvisations we translate the pictures and drawings into movement.

A lively, attentive and respectful exchange on the individual ways of perception and sensory processing takes place artistically as well as verbally throughout the class.

This multi-art form masterclass centers around synaesthesia, a fascinating phenomenon where the senses blend. At the centre of the class is the abstraction and transformation of sensory stimuli. The students practice creativity by flowing from one medium to another, absorbing a sensory stimulus and translating it into a medium of their choice – drawing, painting, film, text, photography and movement. In cycles of perception and expression, the individual processing of sensory stimuli becomes tangible and serves as a basis for artistic creation.

The masterclass is open to participants of diverse backgrounds in movement, dance, fine art, film, photography, writing or music. It specifically invites participants who are new to this kind of work and who are interested in exploring the relationship between movement, sensory perception, sound, drawing and neurodiversity in a vibrant setting.

Example for a cycle of listening – drawing – moving

We activate our hearing through various exercises in order to differentiate the acoustic environment. As we listen to a soundscape, we combine images, shapes, textures and colors in a synesthetic way. Out of these associations arise vivid paintings and drawings, which we individually and collectively translate into motion. The process evolves into an open improvisation in which dance, sound and image inform one other synesthetically.

Example – Training methods and influences

The body is the basis for the work. The class starts with a warm up of the layers of our body – muscles, flesh, bones, tissues, the senses. Exercises from Qi Gong, somatic practice and meditation heighten the awareness of our perception. We intensify the physique through breathing exercises, shaking and elements from body weather training and Butoh.

The warm up transitions into improvisational exercises in the space where we work with the density between our bodies and the spatial forms that they create. The bodies form a web in the space, which constantly evolves and creates new constellations.

Each Masterclass is individually designed for the target group. Depending on the time frame and resources, the masterclass can also include working with video projections and installations.

Upcoming and Past Masterclasses

2020

Empathy in Motion

Online Superclass for Bath Spa University (UK) – June 15 & 24

Creative Studio

Bethanien – Studio 142 Berlin (GER)

2019

Synaesthesia Close Up – Creating sense based Scores for Filmmaking

SPA WEEK @ Bath Spa University (UK)

OFF FOCUS as a place – in filmmaking and performance

MA in Dance @ Bath Spa University (UK)

2018

Synaesthesia in Motion