Workshop: TECHNOSOMATICS / Frédéric Gies

21 mars 18.30-21.30

Technosomatics is a practice that consists of a collective and individual exploration of the endocrine glands (small organs that constitute the major chemical system of the body) and of the chakras (energy centers of the body) through club dancing to techno music as wells as the opposite: an exploration of club dancing through embodying the endocrine glands and the chackras. It is practiced mostly with eyes closed, in an almost pitch-dark room. The practice connects to both the field of Somatics and to techno club/rave dance practices. It privileges a holistic approach of the body, emphasizing the experienced body, rather than the body as an object of study. It is a physically active form of meditation and an exploration of altered states of consciousness. It acknowledges and highlights the healing, transformative potential of the act of dancing. Merging elements from somatics with the experience of the dance floor, it offers a space for going under the regular social habits of the dance floor, and for exploring club dancing as movement research and as a practice of self-awareness.

FRÈDÈRIC GIES
is an artist in the field of experimental dance, based in Sweden. His work originates from rigorous movement research processes, which are informed by his experience in the field of somatic practices as well as in specific forms of contemporary dance, his former training in ballet and his participation in techno clubs and raves. The dances he creates collapse in various ways the hierarchies and distinctions between different dance forms. He presents his work and teaches internationally. He has been head of the MA programme in choreography at DOCH-SKH (2012-2018). He has collaborated in various formats with artists such as Isabelle Schad, Alice Chauchat, Manuel Pelmus, DD Dorvillier, Jefta van Dinther, Anna Pehrsson (…). For his most recent works, he collaborates with the DJ Fiedel (Berghain/Ostgut ton) and the visual artist Anton Stoianov.

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Produced by Weld in the frame of Researching (in/as) Motion, ADiE Stockholm Practice Week. Hosted by Stockholm University of the Arts at DOCH and Weld.

ADiE is a partnership between Zodiak Centre for New Dance, Kiasma Theatre and University of the Arts Helsinki (FI), Weld and Stockholm University of the Arts (SE), and Dance4, University of Chichester and Middlesex University (UK), funded by Erasmus+.

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