Resourcing ourselves as artists and facilitators

Just as grasses respond to the touch of sun and wind, so too our bodies are awakened through touch, movement, breath, and sound connecting us to our surroundings and the feeling of ourselves.

During this co-delivered workshop for dance/movement practitioners, we will shift between somatically-informed ​solo movement and reflection, simple hands-on (or touch) work in pairs and group moving and witnessing.  The day aims to offer movement/reflective frameworks for participants to listen into and work with their individual inquiries and needs, while acknowledging the companionship of others.  We hope that the activities offered will create space for noticing and attuning to your movement, energy and imagination and for cultivating internal resources.

When: Saturday 21st January 2023

Times: 9:30am – 5pm

Where: University of Chester Kingsway Creative Campus

Guest Artists at Inquiring Bodies 2023

Penny Collinson

Photo courtesy of: Anne Kingston

Penny Collinson has worked in dance and somatic movement practices for 30 years. She currently lives in Morecambe, Lancashire, where she teaches somatic-informed movement in the community, is a Somatic Movement Therapist, and offers supervision. Penny was a senior lecturer at the University of Central Lancashire for many years, and course director of MA Dance & Somatic Wellbeing: Connections to the Living Body, an Approved ISMETA training programme.

Penny gained her Master’s by Research in 2005, which explored the application of Authentic Movement in creative settings. She is an external examiner for the Institute for Integrative Bodywork & Movement Therapy (IBMT), and involved in national discussions relating to the field of somatic practice and health. Penny’s publications and presentations on the application of somatic practice in health, education and social care contexts include:

• ‘Mother witness: revisiting rupture at birth through somatic movement practice’, cited in Hartley (2022) The Fluid Nature of Being: Embodied Practices for healing and wholeness UK: Handspring Pub.
• ‘When body makes its presence felt: Somatic informed movement practice as an integral part of the hospital care team’. https://clok.uclan.ac.uk/35590/
• Collinson, Penny & Herd, Nicola (2020), ‘Embodying Health: a review of the work of dance & somatic movement practitioners working in NHS hospitals’. http://clok.uclan.ac.uk/22848/

Amy Voris

Photo courtesy of: Christian Kipp

Amy Voris is a contemporary dance-maker, facilitator and somatic movement therapist based in Manchester.  Her practice is process-oriented and collaborative, driven by the desire to develop enduring relationships with people, with places and with movement material.  Examples of current projects include a site-responsive project (enter & inhabit), a collaboration with a jewellery maker (flockOmania) and the development of an artist-led network exploring the curation of experimental performance practices (Accumulations).

Alongside her artistic practice, Amy has worked in higher education for twenty years delivering a range of dance-related subjects within conservatoire and university settings in the UK.  In 2012, Amy completed training in Integrative Bodywork and Movement Therapy with Linda Hartley, an approach to the body which deeply informs her approach to making and facilitating.

Discover more at: www.amyvoris.com

Cost to Attend:

Inquiring Bodies is FREE to attend for all freelance artists, students and University of Chester staff thanks to funding from Cheshire Dance and support from University of Chester.

Those who do not fall into one of the above categories and are in paid employment: £25

Both free and paid tickets require advance booking.

For additional information, please contact: jane.mclean@cheshiredance.org

About Inquiring Bodies:

Inquiring Bodies is an event by dance artists, for dance artists which creates a mutually supportive environment for exploration and open dialogue. We aim to create a safe and supportive space where both participant artists and Guest Artists can offer, share and investigate together.