Saturday & Sunday, 19th & 20th October, 2019
Bath Spa University
Sunday Public Workshop with Glenna Batson
10:30 am – 4:30 pm
Somatics is an educational approach to learning embodiment. But we are more than a body: The ‘soma’ embodies the world – a convergence of things physical and meta-physical, personal- and trans-personal. The transformative ‘agent’ of embodiment lies in honing sensory awareness – not as an end in itself – but as a means of perceiving texture and difference in relationship – relationship with ourselves, others and the world. Historically, Somatics evolved out of ideologies of the self, a construct that crystallized in a number of movement-based practices throughout the 20th century. Today, Somatics remains a powerful means of learning agency, creativity and activism.
In this workshop, our group will explore the interplay of two basic Somatic tools: touch and stillness Glenna, will guide simple movement- and touch-based activities. Together, the group inquiry will generate a sensory-rich landscape of expanded space and extended time. Whatever sensations, thoughts, and images arise, the inquiry will give rise to perceptions of difference – issues that surface from deep within our own embodied makeup and cultural imprint. It is here that we live the questions of our potency and fallibility – all that lies within our shared humanity.
Come join Glenna in this play of perceptual difference that renders each moment, momentous.
All are welcome to attend. No preliminary training is necessary.
Please bring something to write on (journal, e.g.).
Glenna Batson, ScD, PT, MA, mAmSAT
Glenna continues to find ways to expand the expressive envelope beyond the physical expectations of youth. Her life-long contributions to Somatics, dance and rehabilitation medicine have been trans-disciplinary and multiple in scope, as teacher, author, performer, and pioneering researcher in dance and Parkinson’s disease. She is an internationally recognized teacher of the Alexander Technique, who remains an independent scholar and Somatic practitioner, bridging between dance, science, phenomenology and Somatic studies. Major writings include Body and Mind in Motion: Dance and Neuroscience in Conversation (author) and Dance, Somatics and Spiritualities: Contemporary Sacred Narratives (co-editor/contributor). In this Fulbright residency, she is eager to share the power of movement as catalyst for meeting the challenges present in our world today. Glenna’s movement mantra: Embodied, empathic, emergent, and inclusive, movement effects change from both the inside out, and the outside in.