National School of Arts workshop. Johannesburg. South Africa.

Facilitated by Cécile Lassonde (FR) & Jessica Doucha (SA)

This workshop was developed in Iceland, Seydisfjordur, during their artistic residency at HEIMA,in January 2020. In February 2021, they re-designed the workshop to suit students from the National School of the Art in Johannesburg at the Nirox Foundation. It is a transdisciplinary exploration of three techniques, namely the Alexander Technique, DART procedures, Conscious release technique & contemporary dance improvisation techniques.

Jessica’s practice of the Alexander Technique and DART procedures revolves around a sense of conscious constructive control in active rest, stillness, “passive”, non-doing. This gives participants the opportunity to open and create new neural pathways from the stimulus given by haptic or verbal instructions. The Alexander Technique works on cognitive reprogramming, in which one discovers gaps in thought processes, moving from a fixed habitual state of action to subtle new experiences.

Cécile’s teaching is linked to the body in motion, by an active response of the body in response to these given indications or the work partner. This practice makes it possible to see and use the body in motion to perpetuate the movement, creating a space of freedom, releasing muscular tensions and giving the body new ways of responding to external stimuli, using the most natural way possible. . Working in pairs, the observer is there to facilitate new paths, to open up and widen the field of possibilities. This technique optimizes the perception of the body by developing body awareness. Each human body will discover an infinite flow of creativity where forms appear and disappear thanks to the haptic communication that takes place between the duo, the group and the inhabited outdoor space.