Butoh Practice: The Seaweed Body

From last night's Butoh Class/Practice....

The "Seaweed Body" Exercise: (A piece of the Free-write done after guided movement, never letting the pen leave the paper for a straight 3-5 min.)

"Fluid breath wormhole stream consciousness flow energy pathway synergistic patterns stuck caught damp sharp low tingling liquid"

Come PLAY and SEE for yourself every Monday night 7:15p-8:30p at The Center for Nia & Yoga. Located at 4 Central Avenue in Albany, NY.

Butoh Class: COME SEE FOR YOURSELF!!!!

So, if you knew me really well, you would know how much I LOVE dancing, moving, shaking, etc. I also have a love affair with Butoh. I don't know what it is about this movement art that keeps me coming back, asking questions, pondering, thinking, feeling about everything in life as we know it. Therefore, I'm so excited to share that I will be offering a Butoh Technique class on Monday nights! Although, I feel there's no right or wrong way to do Butoh; in fact you don't need any dance or movement background at all. But that's what I'm talking about! It's really something you can't explain fully and clearly to someone who's never heard or seen it. You have to experience it for yourself...MANY TIMES. So...COME SEE FOR YOURSELF!

Mondays 7:15pm-8:30pm
with Liz Filippone
The Center for Nia & Yoga
4 Central Ave Albany, NY
www.nia-yoga.com

Butoh is an avant garde performance art that emerged out of Post-World War II Japan. It touches on the light and dark of life. It’s a movement investigation and exploration. Liz’s classes integrate butoh, physical theater exercises, guided-visualization and imagery, yogic techniques, and core conditioning. No dance background is required. In her classes, you will:

-create more space and openness on a physical, mental, energetic level
-connect with your core being to reveal what lives and breathes inside
-reduce stress and express yourself!

Seaweed body

Floating
Swaying
in a liquid environment
seafloor holds me up
but I can't escape the
current, for which it
controls and supports
this body, this vessel
alive and breathing
underwater, trembling
breath, please hang on
so I can let the ocean
love me.

Process

This journey has been a process from the beginning.... This photo (by Manolo Munoz) is from an early dress rehearsal photo shoot for Blink of an Eye. This group of women rock! I'm so blessed and grateful to be working with them. This particular section is known as, "The Wiggle Magnet". ;-)

Blink of an Eye: Upcoming Performance in Troy, NY

I know I haven't shared here in awhile, been over at my other blog HERE these days, but I so plan to write more here. I have lots of things brewing and I'm so excited to launch them. However, I did want to share my next performance, which is happening this Friday, February 22 at 8:15. See details below.
oxoxox


RACHELLE SMITH-STALLMAN PARTY OF SIX
presents
BLINK OF AN EYE

ENTER A WORLD OF INTRIGUE, CURIOSITIES, WONDER, COLLABORATION AND CONNECTION
DANCERS INCLUDE: DIANE BETTS, ROBBIE JONES, MAUREEN MUNOZ, ANNETTE NANES, LIZ FILIPPONE AND RACHELLE SMITH-STALLMAN
MUSIC BY PAM FINCH, LIGHTS BY NICKY LIGHTZ
(THIS IS A TROY NIGHT OUT EVENT AND IT IS FREE!)
HAPPENING AT THE ARTS CENTER OF THE CAPITAL REGION 265 RIVER STREET TROY, NY

Awake v.1

The first version of my piece "Awake" done in March of 2012 at SubTerranean Arthouse in Berkeley, CA.  This piece is about being seen and how being vulnerable makes you self-confident and powerful.

New beginnings

Yep, it's been awhile since I've posted here.  So many shifts and opportunities have come my way since I moved to Albany, NY.   One of them is that I joined a dance group. I've been practicing with them for about 2-3 months now and it's going great!  I love how I "accidentally" fell into it, while getting a haircut from one of the members ;-) 

It's definitely up my alley in performance and dance work.  I guess a decade ago you would've called it experimental dance, or dance theater.  It integrates so much of what I do in my own work, I feel so grateful and forntunate to be apart of it. 

The piece (which debuts February 22, 2013) is about people; and how people relate to one another in space.  There are a lot of elements to it, and humor.  We don't have a name yet for the piece, but that's definitely in the works.

I'm so excited to be able to share my passion with others in my life, who missed out on the stuff I did in San Francisco.  Although video is great, there's so much more to experience when you can actually be there and witness it. 

Here's to creating!