FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT WORKSHOPS, DAILY CLASSES,OR WHETHER I AM TEACHING IN NY, PLEASE CHECK THE CALENDARS, located to the right.
Tuesday and Thursday 10-12, Tuesday 6:15-7:45 at 537 Broadway – Eden’s Expressway. These classes are Sponsored by Movement Research. THE MORNING CLASSES – ONGOING -through the year till August.
Saturday Morning 11:30-1:30 at 63 Greene Street #402
Friday Morning 10-12 at 100 Grand St…Bill Young’s Studio. This is a movement class aimed at the integration of movement/dance with the principles of the stretch and placement classes – efficiency, articulation, grounding, clarity.
Classes (and workshops) focus on and provide the tools to support movement of all styles of dance and other activities, including everyday life. The essential premise is that the postural and movement support of the body is the same in all activities. The purpose of the “stretch and placement” class is to re-educate one’s body with an interweaving of theory and practice on a physical, intellectual, and organic level. The result is a clarity and sureness of movement, and a new level of understanding the innate intelligence of the body. It has its roots in 30 plus years of investigation and teaching the essentials for efficient body use.
I bring to my classes the perspective, understanding, and experience of working on my own movement re-education. I understand the time, effort, patterns, and obstacles we may have or encounter when moving on from something old, and no longer needed, to something new, and efficient. We are not just a body or a mind. The work done in class to change function goes deeper into the inner workings of ourselves as a whole; as a moving body with spirit and intelligence. The path is is process oriented. Time and space are necessary for integration and growth. Students work and integrate at their own speed. In classes and workshops, the focus is on the pelvis, the keystone of support, with attention to the four major muscle groups which support the pelvis on top of the legs- the hamstrings, external rotators, psoas group and the pelvic floor, and their integration into movement. (Specific definitions of the working actions of these muscles can easily be found in “Gray’s Anatomy”). From here we are grounded, connected to the earth, and from this grounding, we push into the earth for both uprightness and movement. We find our power. With the pelvis on top of the legs, the upper body and spine is free to move with ease and expression. We move from the level of the bone, the deepest and densest tissue in the body, which conducts the most energy and force (gravity). We work on letting go of the outer muscles which hold our bodies and minds in misalignment, and misconception, inhibiting our function, creativity, and well being. The shoulder girdle, and the connections between the upper and lower body are addressed, and broken down into their component parts. These connections are interwoven with a deeply supportive pelvis and its upright relationship to the legs, and the floor.
Although I practice the work almost daily, and work to integrate it into my moving life, outside of just my dancing body, I still need bodies/people with which to work and teach in order to grow, as both a teacher and a mover. I learn from my students, my students learn from me. This holds true whether one is in a group class, private class, a dancer in rehearsal, or on the table.
I have been studying since 1977, teaching 1983- present.
photo-Julie Lemberger
