Workshop

Sylvie Fortin is a professor in the department of dance at the Université du Québec in Montreal. She focuses on research and action, which has led her to use dance and somatic education to help numerous dancers, as well as children and adults with problems (fibromyalgia, depression, behavioural issues linked to food, degenerative neuromuscular diseases, strokes and drug addiction). She is interested in critical and sociocultural approaches to the body and in promoting health in the performance arts of the theatre.

Re-perceiving one’s body and artistic practice

This workshop has a dual aim linked to dance training and artistic expression. Through practical exploration, drawing chiefly on the Feldenkrais method, it will develop the participants’ capacity to deal with complex artistic situations that impact their physical and psychological wellbeing. The interaction between concepts of somatic education and principles governing muscular efficacy will be explored so that each dancer will be able to develop their own training ritual that best serves the creation and interpretation of dance movement. Regarding artistic expression, Sylvie Fortin explores the emotional, inner workings of somatic education, linking it to its theoretical foundations, making possible a critique of dominant social discourses.