Participants: Andrea Boll, Sonia Ntova, Irrene Andretto, Carmen, Liz Waterhouse, Tina Mantel and Nathalie Lötscher from the Dampfzentrale Team

Andrea and Sonia gave an introduction to the IDOCDE website, the LEAP-programe and the symposium

The practical exchange was a sharing inspired on six essentials for a class identified by LEAP-TR team of Switzerland, France and Austria. Andrea introduced the idea of the essentials and everybody came up with examples from their teaching practice,in order to make a practical exemple and create an Idoc.

1. friendly enviroment

Andrea: 'shake the bushes' a game and little treatment to relax the lower back, discribed in idoc: ..............

2. alignment

Sonia: on all fours: meet the top of your partners head with your own, gentle pressure and swaying back and forth to feel the head/tail connection. Take a walk on all fours, get up. Conection and awareness of tale bone, head.

Tina: "Alexander walk:" partner very gently holds your skull and leads(by fingers) you through space with the encouragement of a free neck; imagery: spotlight shines out of top of head, or a fountain splashes. 

Irene: think of ice skaters, or at trees' roots. keeping the feet planted on the ground, try to push your balance to the extremes, but always come back before falling. This way the body learns how far it can go but as well what kind of muscles and mouvements help it to regain the allignement.

3. movement & breath

Sonia:  Inhale in the axl , and exhale moving your body in a small/ low level position. We use the sound in order to relase evey possible unecessairy tension that we put in the body. Its an exercise that I use to adults. As they create a lot of extra tension/

Irene: think of having a "breathing mouth" right at your foot joint. When you plie, think of this mouth breathing out and letting go, when you think you got to the max of your breath, take one more and discover how much room for let-go you still have in your ankles.

4. lacher prise

Gaga methodology uses this principle of exhaustion by asking dancers to do all the previously experienced images all at once.

find pleasure in the burning. push what you think your limits are, by enjoying the effort.

5. expand the bounderies

Sonia: A difficult long phrase with change of levels ,and planes  would create expansion of bounderies, as it developps the kinesthesis.

Irene: expanding is a consequence of lacher-prise, a consequence of that brave moment when you decide to let go.

6. creativity

Tina: Idea (not yet used with a group): Creativity is thinking with your body: write down a question/problem you would like to solve. Improvise for certain amount of time with specific instruction aimed at getting the body fluid and moving. Then go back to paper and wirte down thoughts you have now after moving. Repeat several times.

Irene: stand in a circle, one person goes to take someone else's place with a kind of walk, that second person will take someone else's and so on. Never repeat the same kind of walk. Slowly all the walks will become more and more rich and creative. It's a very basic exercise to awaken phantasy, awareness and that can be done by dancers and non.