14.11.2024
2 min read
Cheshire Dance presents:
Inquiring Bodies: Ways of Knowing
With Guest Artist, Lisa Dowler
Cheshire Dance invites dance artists across the North West to develop their practice at Inquiring Bodies.
Taking place on Saturday 1st February at the University of Chester, Guest Artist, Lisa Dowler, will explore Ways of Knowing in a full day workshop designed for experienced dancers who have a desire to engage in dialogue and enquiry into embodied knowledge.
The workshop will explore how we as dancers can increase the value of subjective and experiential, bodily knowledge, so that it’s appreciated and considered alongside objective and reasoned knowledge in dance.
Exploring the relationship between body, mind, and emotions in movement, and accompanied by live music from musician and composer Henry Horrell, together the workshop group with explore:
Created by dance artists, for dance artists, Inquiring Bodies 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.
Info & Booking
Date: Saturday 1 February 2025
Times: 10am-5pm (arrive from 9:30am, in time for a 10am start)
Venue: University of Chester Kingsway Creative Campus, Kingsway, CH2 2LB
Cost:
FREE for Freelance Artists/those not in employment/students
£25 for employed or in receipt of regular wage
Number of places available: 20 (places are limited to ensure we can hold space for authentic enquiry and exploration.)
About Lisa
Lisa is an independent dance artist, researcher and Somatic Movement Educator with more than 25 years’ experience in facilitating dance practice and performance making in community, professional, Higher Education and health settings.
Lisa nurtures a collaborative approach to dance-making, creating innovative audience relationships and developing inclusive participatory practice. Her work is inspired by Contact Improvisation, Instant Composition, Body-Mind Centering ® and enviromental dance.
In 2006, she was invited by at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, Liverpool, to be their first Dance Artist in Residence. This led to a long-term collaboration with Alder Hey, exploring the effects of somatics and improvisation for children undergoing neurorehabilitation and cardiac surgery, and for children with acute conditions.
The work includes one-to-one somatic dance sessions with children and young people; bespoke bedside performance; and a Somatic Dance App as an educational tool for parents and hospital staff. The current project at Alder Hey features two 360° immersive performances in natural landscapes for VR.
As a Senior Lecturer in Dance at Edge Hill University from 2007 to 2015, Lisa’s teaching centred on improvisational, somatic and eco-feminist approaches to dance-making. Recently, Lisa completed a retrospective PhD entitled ‘Towards a multidisciplinary approach to healthcare: A case for dance improvisation in clinical and care settings,’ with C-DaRE, Coventry University.
