Bone, Flesh, Breath - Playing the human Instrument by Ina Ortega

About the Workshop

In this improvisation workshop you will get to know your own body in a new way, you will understand yourself and human movement even better. Knowing your physical strengths, weaknesses, habits and possibilities will enable you to use this information to your advantage. By putting your attention in the right place at the right time, you will learn to move more effortlessly, efficiently and safely.

In the first half of the workshop, we will focus on creating a safe and productive work environment that is free of judgment. We will embrace and accept the individuality and humanity of each person so that we can respect and appreciate the anatomy of each body. Our minds play an important role in how we listen to the information our bodies provide and how we use it. When we occupy our minds with worry, judgment, and perfectionism, we cannot tune into our bodies and the proprioceptive communication between our bodies and brains is disrupted.

After we let go of all frustrations associated with perfectionism, we can practice sophisticated anatomical awareness and improved visualization of human postures and movement patterns. Excess tension in the muscles is released and the nervous system can be re-educated. The goal of the first half is to find a dual presence between mind and body to allow for efficient exchange of information between the two. We will find ways to multitask and shift our attention in and out of the body through playful exploration – tapping into our childlike curiosity and playfully learning our movement patterns.

In the second half, we will transfer our physical knowledge from the first half into creative, artistic and emotional contexts. We will visualize our bodies in realistic and unrealistic scenarios and expand our anatomical skills through our imagination. The shifting perspectives and mental imagery will bring our bodies to explore different qualities and efforts as we collaborate with each clever mind and body in the studio.

I invite everyone to participate in this playful anatomical and creative exploration, as part of a four hour open level workshop. When you return a second time, you can expect to find a deeper understanding of the movement principles we discussed last time. However, all of the information is embedded in new thought experiments and improvisation exercises. I look forward to seeing you!

About Ina Ortega

Ina is a passionate young dancer and teacher who has always been fascinated by biomechanics, functional anatomy and kinesiology, which initially got her interested in dancing. She has recently graduated from ArtEZ University of the Arts in Arnhem (NL), where she has spent four years of her degree specialising in integrating kinaesthetic approaches into technical classes. Inspired by her recovery from a recurring injury, Ina aims to find sustainable and efficient ways of moving based on natural anatomy.

As an Artist Educator, she enjoys guiding her students towards understanding movement through experiencing their individual anatomical possibilities. With this knowledge she hopes to give the students tools to autonomously work on their artistic development and technique whilst avoiding unnecessary strain on their bodies. Ina believes that optimizing movement through actively listening to the body is a powerful tool for creative, authentic, and vivid expression in improvisation. She embraces individuality, curiosity and joy when it comes to moving and aims to share this spirit in her teaching. Improvising from a place of pleasure lays the groundwork for this workshop as we will work on developing a positive and nurturing mindset to enable unrestricted and effortless movement.