THE ACT OF LISTENING

Listening is leaning towards meaning before interpretation arrives. This attunement creates a space of potentiality in which we can zoom into the subtleties of an existing sensorial input. To listen is therefore to be inspired by what one hears.

After years of improvising as a dancer in the Batsheva Ensemble Dance Company, I found that focusing on the sounds that naturally exist in every space, is a rich source of inspiration for movement improvisation. In this intensive workshop, we will develop an expanded concept and practice of listening which will function as our generative core for movement. We will borrow from circular breathing, sitting and walking mediation and somatic practices. We will infuse our improvisation skills with interest as we pass through alternative modes of awareness, visit various physical states and improve our motor skills by the excess of attention given to subtleties of dynamic body sensations. By listening we will connect to an authentic experience of improvisation and movement.

We begin from still meditative positions that sustain subtle concentration and slowly start reacting to the sounds that exist in the room. We will give more space to what we hear, rather than what we see. Slowly but surely, the listening practice becomes more dynamic to the point in which we can move swiftly, shake vigorously, extend our bodies far into the space, cut across the floor and even work on the limits of our own stamina. We will be making quicker decisions that are more attuned to the energy and atmosphere of the space. We will be able to work on alternative configurations of the body’s balance and alignment. We will gain a different understanding about continuous and fluid movement. Finally, we will become more sensitive to vibrations and resonance that our bodies share with the sonorous spaces we are in. www.asherlev.com

Asher Lev is a performance maker whose works have toured festivals around the world. As a dancer he worked for Örjan Andersson (SE), Ina Christel Johannessen (NO), Ohad Naharin and Batsheva Dance Company (ISR), among many others. Asher Lev has a BA in Sociology/Anthropology and Islam/Middle Eastern Studies from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and an MA in Choreography from the Amsterdam University of the Arts. He is interested in experimental somatic practices, radical physiologies, process and experiential philosophies. 

Dansalliansen i samarbete med Kulturakademin och Danscentrum Väst