‘Exploring the creative body’

From inner connectivity to outer expressivity:

Developmental Patterning

                         Breath –> Core/Distal –> Spinal –> Homologous –> Homolateral –> Contralateral

During a 4-day workshop, Roos van Berkel will introduce the 6 developmental patterns that children move through during the average first 9 months of their lives. As all of these patterns form the basis for our neuromuscular contralateral connectivity (think of your everyday walk), it is useful and interesting to revisit these patterns as adults.

The developmental patterns provide models for our basic body connectivity and invite the moving body to rediscover the stage-specific processes of differentiation - going from whole to part, finding the spine and relating upper to lower as well as left to right.

All workshop days focus on an experiential journey along the primitive body actions such as yielding, pushing, reaching, pulling as well as an increased understanding of the primitive reflexes that stimulate our body to move. During this journey we will start at the very restful first post-natal stage and arrive at the expressive ready-to-act contralateral stage, with an increased understanding of our basic body connections.

This explorative and playful workshop will focus on the process within and between each of the developmental stages - leading towards fully expressive dance movement.

Participants can vary from beginning to intermediate movers up to professional dancers.

Trained as a contemporary dancer at Laban London, Roos van Berkel completed her Movement Analysis studies at the Laban/Bartenieff Institute for Movement Studies in New York. She currently teaches at the Modern Dance department of the Theaterschool in Amsterdam as well as the department of Industrial Design of the Eindhoven University of Technology. Besides her faculty engagements in The Netherlands, Roos has recently taught in Brussels and Budapest. As a contemporary dancer, Roos creates own work and works as a freelance performer.