PRESENCE IN MOTION is a training cycle in Contact Improvisation combined with training in Chi Kung, Tai Chi Chuan and Taoism.

It takes place one Saturday per month from 2:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the La Piconera studios in the heart of Montjüic.

Why attend?
To improve the quality of how we move and relate to each other in everyday life.
To improve our mobility, structure and body integrity.
To develop an open, relaxed and available state of presence, suitable for making decisions based on the personal confidence of being grounded, setting our space and boundaries at all times.
To relate more comfortably and confidently with the changing and unpredictable world we meet in everyday life and in Contact Improvisation spaces.

Objectives:
1. To expand our resources for the practice of Contact Improvisation through the study of disciplines and philosophies that enhance our physical, mental and emotional abilities.

2. To learn exercises and concepts that will be useful for our personal daily practice and thus improve our life quality in relation to the ways we move, think and relate to each other.

Design:
The Complete Cycle is designed to take us from an internal and subtle place towards empowerment, inner strength and integrity. The process then invites us to soften and find our own personal, intuitive and confident way of moving, dancing and opening to meet with others.

Quest: The quest is to increase our authenticity, care and creativity in the way we relate, both to ourselves, to the environment that surrounds us and to other people.

PRESENCE IN MOTION:
Formative Cycle towards Contact Improvisation combined with training in Qigong, Tai Chi Chuan and Taoism.

MODULE 1:

Chi Kung, Tai Chi Chuan and Taoism towards Contact Improvisation.
Consists on 5 meetings
Dates: 29/11, 17/01, 14/02, 14/03 y 18/04

The first module is inspired by the ancient Chinese worldview of life, health and movement. It draws on three great treasures of this culture: Chi Kung, Tai Chi Chuan and Taoism.

The program includes:

Chi Kung: a branch of Traditional Chinese Medicine dedicated to regulating and enhancing our vitality through exercises that combine our intention, breathing and movement.

We will study the "Mother Sequence" of the ITKA (International Tai Ji Quan and Kung Fu Association) system of Master Gianfranco Pace. This sequence focuses on developing six aspects of movement that will be very beneficial for both our health and our dancing:

1. Connection.
2. Expansion and contraction.
3. Oscillation in relation to the centre.
4. Spiral movement.
5. Spiral acceleration.
6. Movement on a point.

All these aspects coexist and will be a great resource for our movement awareness and for Contact Improvisation study.

Ba Duan Jing: The 8 Pieces of Brocade is a traditional Chi Kung series that works the entire body, integrating breathing with stretching and imagery. It is used to improve our vitality as a foundation for martial arts in both traditional Kung Fu and Tai Chi Chuan.

Its exercises are:
1. Holding the sky with your hands.
2. Aiming the bow at the falcon on the horizon.
3. Separating heaven and earth to regulate the spleen and stomach.
4. Looking back and repelling diseases.
5. Shaking the head and shaking the tail to regulate the heart.
6. Hands holding feet and strengthening the waist and kidneys.
7. Clenching fists with a fiery gaze.
8. Bouncing on heels.

Tai Ji Quan: Tai Ji Quan is a traditional Chinese internal martial art. It is based on Taoist philosophy and its essential principles are adaptability, integrity and the continuous flow of energy in regeneration through the connection of our centre with the Earth, Gravity and our Intention.
"Soft as cotton and firm as steel." In its postural organisation, TJQ integrates softness and listening to a subtle and empty touch with the latency of the explosive power of the centre, always available in connection with an integrated structure, the recirculation of forces with the earth and vital intention.
"Relaxed, Natural and Open" is the continuous state of bodily and mental presence that we seek to develop.
"Yi Qi Li" Intention guides our energy, our energy organises our body and our body expresses this force in movement. This principle seeks to maximise muscle relaxation in our movement and enhance our awareness by sensitively guiding actions in the present.

The concept of "Tai Ji" is what we know as "Yin Yang", where the manifest world is a continuous dance given by the interaction of simultaneous, changing energies that always complement and integrate each other in search of harmony and "least effort". This concept is totally correlative with the scenario we find ourselves in when we dance Contact Improvisation.

We will study:

Postural, Structural and Grounding Principles for economy in movement: Alignment of the structure, the 3 arches of the body, the 6 harmonies, the 3 Dan Tian, the Tree Hug.
The 13 forces: Expand, Deflect, Press, Push, Shoulder, Elbow, Separate, Sink, the 4 Directions and Central Balance.
Centre Exercises: to develop the connection from the centre to the extremities, both to the hands and feet and back to the centre.
Wu Ji and Zhang Zhuang: "Boundlessness or Stillness" and "Hugging the Tree" are two foundational standing meditation postures for developing mental state, bodily unity and a deep and subtle listening to forces and tensions.
Tui Shou exercises: Is a game where we try to unbalance our partner with a fixed rooting. It serves us to develop sensitivity, rooting and adaptability without losing integrity or sacrificing our posture and self-care. The most important skill is called "Ting Jing", which is "listening" through contact.

Tai Ji Quan creates a deep state of meditative presence with integrity, availability and body power that is very enriching for our daily movement as well as for Contact Improvisation dances.

Taoism: Taoism is the oldest traditional Chinese natural philosophy.
It is based on observing nature and recognising in it a natural "great way" of which we are a part and which contains, nourishes and accompanies everything, without demanding anything in return, in harmony, continuity and constant change.

It invites us into "Wu Wei" or "non-action/non-interference" and refers to the ability to trust and recognise what is happening in order to flow and adapt willingly to reality.
It refers to the evolved and connected person as the "Wise" person.
On it'ss greateast teachings remarks emptiness, stillness and humility.
It uses images from nature such as the adaptability of water, the fertility of the earth and the flexibility/tenderness of sprouts to inspire us with simple and profound teachings.

We will study specific chapters of the "Tao Teh Ching" related to movement priciples that are useful for dance, martial arts and everyday life.

This triad of disciplines, philosophies, and techniques will provide us with powerful, profound, and inexhaustible tools to organise our movement in a gentle, comprehensive, and powerful way.
They will inspire exploration and creativity in dance, as well as provide tools for listening, connection, and care in both contact and solo work.

Without a doubt, they are a treasure that the more we inhabit them, the more they gives us in exchange.

MODULE PROGRAM AND CONTENT:

Each session addresses specific aspects of movement, presence and connection, which will be expanded and entangled throughout the module.

On each session, the program is presented theoretically and practically, and it is explored and integrated both for individual practice and for Contact Improvisation practice.

The program has been designed to get it maximum profit by attending from start to finish.

A certificate will be awarded upon completion of the entire course.

Attendance at individual sessions is possible if there is the intention of joiing the rest of the module and subject to availability.