First of all some information about the context of my teaching :

WHERE
The frame for my teaching activity is the Music School of a small town in lower Austria. Since 14 years I work there as Ballet teacher, travelling weekly between Vienna and Waidhofen. The dance class I write about took place in a spacious studio dedicated to P.I.Tschaikowsky and is, therefore, called Tschaikowskysaal.

WHO
A  group of 2 female adults and 2 girls at the age of 12 and 14 years, me as their teacher and choreographer=5 people

WHEN 
Our fascia-specific dance unit took place on a Sunday evening end of June, some days before the final school year performance. The rehearsal lasted 3 hours, short brakes included.

WHAT
Warm up and stage rehearsal  for „ 4 seasons of one year“ as overall program theme (with music from A. Vivaldi) and training for point-shoe dancing.

Since a couple of weeks we, the 4 amateur dancers and me, had already developed material, set the dances for the stage and felt ready for a run through .(=Rehearsal PART 1)

As the girls want to dance in point shoes soon, I decided to introduce a careful preparation for point shoe dancing to them - „how to be safe on top “ - (=Training: PART 2)

In this essay I use the perspective of fascia speaking from itself through me as a „medium“. And how focusing on fascia influenced the whole process.

The rehearsal story of fascia  Part 1

And this is what it said:

Rehearsal PART 1- ….

Hello, reader, my name is fascia and at the moment I am still hanging out doing nothing around the bones of the women I live in. She, known under S., is waiting for the dancers to come, dressing, preparing the studio, putting things in place, wanting to do everything right and that makes me feel tense - I hold myself together quite tightly, I need space, breath and motion! …

Oh, she starts yawning now, stretches her whole physique, wiggles me about, circles her joints. I enjoy getting moved out of the everyday box, that wakes me up, triggers my attention and prepares a readiness to move and get moved-as I cannot do this by myself I need my boss to take me out regularly: like a dog needing his walk…

The dancers arrive, MrS.  S.“ needs my support to change her energy level and tone as she starts moving, observing and speaking at the same time. What a multiple tasker she is! my contribution is just following her everywhere  and be around!

I easily find contact to the fascial tissue of the other dancers and we, as a team, create a field of energy, yet, not even have physical contact! Now, all bodies bend forward to come on all fours - and that takes quite a while to accommodate for me, as S. is unfit today: she spent her day until now just standing, walking, sitting upright and talking on the phone for the whole day until now! Because oft all the bending she gets dizzy, but as soon as I accept the upside down situation, I let her know discretely that I will hold her together in my collagen web under all circumstances! She recovers quickly, breathes deeper now and I know I did a good job :) That is my duty and function: adapting, accommodating quickly to movement, temperature, places, moods… I contain events of all kind, have a good memory and help her making decisions from sensation!

Back to the rehearsal: Vivaldi`s Winter 1 (Allegro non Molto)

3 adult dancers, including myself, start moving in unison with their backs upstage- I enjoy the synchronic motions, this part of the dance feels well connected, a three- in- one dance, this state of mind could last for long in pleasure… but -  with the next musical phrase the first solo starts- I pull myself together, separate from the group groove - second solo, - I tone up to find the impulse for my own solo – my solo- three dancing alone now-  spreading out in space - individual timing for each- finally we three come back together again for a variation of the beginning part- same situation with backs to audience, but diverse timing- in the next minute I hoover over the floor like a snowflake and finally melt towards the other two - we meet in a twisted circle.

Vivaldi´ s Winter 2: Largo

Musical mood makes me warm and I give this warmth over to neighbors - support the others through the dance- we are like mothers with each other and I feel nourished by them – feeling free from social definitions- fascia-love – floating liquids create a swinging, swaying mood in space - drifting in warm water, being carried by our dance… luxurious!

Vivaldi`s Winter Part 3 Allegro

Now spring wants to break through- first impulse: I need to hold S.´ body together again, tense up - am not ready to give the scepter away! Not yet!! I Use strong bound flow for control, resistance against the two young, green free flowers  slipping through the winter fence-  I let my boss´s body  look bigger and more powerful through expanding in space,  give all her conducting actions a controlled, serious quality, help her with all my means to stay in power- but finally… the greenies overtake, I sink down, surrender- spring pulls me off stage I let it happen–again,  I fulfill my duty, accept and clear the space … For me the dance ends in a „Just Being“ place, I hold S. ´ body together without her having to do anything, experience stillness and yet feel connected to the young energies around. Farewell …

Point Shoe Training Part2 …

First some didactic thoughts about the training:

Within this dance class I am writing about, we practiced:

some plies to get on half point, some plies to get onto the toes and back down- repeat exercise in different dynamics (slow, fast, on one leg, two legs for  developing energetic readiness:  using just enough effort to fly up, stay well on top and enough control to land softly again on the soles of the feet.

The type of training is: finding quickly a high muscle tone for the pushes against the floor instantly as well as the stamina to stay up for longer, supported by the fascial tissue (duration) –  in cooperation, these two dynamics allow the up built energy to integrate, yin and yang work together well.

After 10 minutes the girl´s could stay up on their toes already a lot easier: in between I had mentioned the existence and function of fascia and somehow the message seems to have arrived !  

After 5 minutes more they got really tired and complained that their feet start aching… time to stretch from top to toe and go home!

The true fascia training story  Part 2

We all take a break and I get refreshed with water, feel elastic and reaffirmed. Am curious how the last hour of this dancing time will be… as the girls already get into their point shoes and start bending, stretching and lifting up on their toes. I do the same in my body, but just with my mindful attention, no actual physical movements… my job is letting them find comfort and endurance, contain their muscles and give the dance a resilient form .

Unexpectedly we experience a training effect… S. says that her legs feel like after a „real“ workout, taste even a bit sour, although we were only observing…

Reflexion upon the Fascia Story in relation to my teaching

What I found and experienced through this research is how much fascial life creates a social web, a sense of WE-  and is nourished only by people´s physical presence . It creates a sense of boundaries, difference at the same time.

Fascial intelligence is a useful tool to receive information about what´ s going on in the group without needing words.

I felt that fascia also invites a sense of intuitive timing, of inner and outer space. Informs our kinesthetic sense concerning distance-closeness.

 Fascia is also a container for artistic work, an inspiration, a resource allowing body stories to appear and talk… For this special dance I got inspired by a fascial image: winter creating a fence - spring trying to get through, a dynamic fascial battle…

Dealing with this connective tissue consciously is a really powerful tool!

Inviting my students into the world of fascia has definitely enrichened my teaching !