Falling Leaves  

Focusing on spiraling and partnering based on internal martial arts and the drawing game Spirograph

Baguazhang is one of the three main internal martial arts of China, the others being Tai Chi Chuan and Xing Hi. Bagua’s main practice is ‘circle walking’, and, as the term is suggesting, this is about walking in circles. Because of this, the body has to deal with the centrifugal/centripetal force, and the internal martial arts deal with this by letting the body spiral in a sophisticated way.    

The Spirograph is a type of toy that was marketed in the 1960's, which enables the user to draw complicated patterns using various plastic gears. A Spirograph is formed by rolling a circle inside or outside of another circle. The pen is placed at any point on the rolling circle.

In the series of classes, we will make a blend of these two elements, using the Spirograph to make floorpatterns to follow in space and using the elements of Bagua for this travelling through space. One will be moving through space solo, and then, when the floorpatterns merge with each other, it will be together in contact.

The schedule

Day 1: Circle Walking and the subsequent spiraling in the body

Day 2: Spiraling together in contact

Day 3: Spirograph and the merging of the elements of day 1 and day 2

Day 4: Falling Leaves - a score for dancing solo and in contact which is a result of the three days.

Robin Berkelmans (1976) is a dancer, physical performer, and teacher and maker of dance and theatre.

His work focuses on embodiment, presence and communication. His work and style are rooted in contemporary dance, site specific theatre, physical theatre, dance theatre, dance and movement improvisation, contact improvisation, tai chi chuan, chi kung, aikido, somatics, juggling, latin american dance and capoeira.

Robin has been a teacher of contemporary dance at the Amsterdam School of the Arts since 2008. And since 2012 he does the same work at the Tilburg school of the arts, the Fontys Danceacademy. The main work he researches with the students is about experiential anatomy, release technique and contact improvisation. At theatreschool De Trap in Amsterdam he teaches fundamental movement for performers, physical theatre and stagefighting. Next to this, he is the dutch representative of french based l'Art du Chi, a school for internal martial arts Tai Chi Chuan and Chi Kung.

www.robinberkelmans.nl