1 - LET'S EXPAND
Dina Abramenko (RUS)
Let’s expand instead of diving deep - just to change the perspective
When Dina transitioned from a rather small and isolated Russian folk-community to a very broad and international European balfolk-stage, she noticed some differences. In improvisation there are two main kinds of fun - playing with choreographies, showing off some distinct movements, or playing with dynamics, balance and body feeling. Russian dancers tend to use the first approach more, Europeans - the second. In this context, her home community has to offer not very complicated and demanding dances that are not known in the “mainstream” international balfolk but are danced to very frequently played tunes - scottish, waltz, polka, jig and reel. In this workshop, we will learn how to mix them and enjoy the expansion!
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1 - TRANSITIONS: MINIMALIST TO BIG STEPS
Claire Favillier (Fr)
Couple dances allow a certain freedom. The most classic, the scottish and mazurka, allow to develop musicality and different variations. We will see how to vary the intensity of our dance and the width of our steps, to go from a minimalist dance to variations of greater widths. We will use the tango walk to learn how to move quickly in the room, and use its dynamics. In Scottish we will see how to simply integrate variations from forrò in minimalist (close embrace) or wider space (open embrace).
2 - GAVOTTE DE L'AVEN
Leo Visser (NL)
​During this workshop we will look at footage of the actual Gavotte de L'aven which is a traditional dance still danced to this day in bretagne. We will then look at the dance we have in balfolk which many call the gavotte de l'aven and look at how it's similar and how it differs. From there we will see what we can borrow from the actual gavotte de l'aven in our gavotte de grenoble and how we can vary in this dance while keeping the original spirit of the dance they created when coming up with the gavotte de l'aven. We will try different variations and how to communicate them in our group of 4 people while still also keeping the collective communication.
3 - THE FRAME
Flavien Lombardi (Fr)
Flavien really likes to explore different kinds of frame / connection / leading. What about changing the frame during the dance, what about leading with the knee or the tight, with my left hand on his shoulder, with the forehead, sometimes with the fingers, sometimes with forearm, and what about the eyes, and the voice? During this workshop we will make a lot of exercices to explore leading and following with unsual parts of our body. Everyone will be free to go out and to come back if they not consent to have contact of certain part of their body.
1 - SEARCHING FOR CURIOSITY
Natalia Klemann Pl​​
The main idea of the workshop is to create a safe space for dance exploration and breaking our dance schemes in Balfolk couple dancing. We will watch carefully what we know about our dance habits and movement paths, and we will explore what is new and unknown. The workshop will also be an opportunity to hold for a while and listen to your body. Natalia will use a somatic and Body Mind Centering approach to get grounded in our bodies, She would also use some exercises from Contact Improvisation and Modern Dance to explore individual and collective improvisation movements.
2 - FLUIDITY IN MOTION
Augustas Cerniauskas (Lt)
Welcome to "Fluidity in Motion," a dance workshop designed to elevate your dancing experience by teaching how to smoothly transition from one figure to another, maintaining fluidity and grace in your movements. In this workshop, Augustas will share his ideas on seamless transitions and the importance of fluidity in various dance styles. Whether you're a beginner or an experienced dancer, this class is tailored to help you enhance your skills and find joy in the dance.
3 - IS THERE ANY TRANSITION?
Jo da Silva (Pt)
Jo wish to question the definition of “transition” within the dance field. She wish to do it within a group. To work around it on a state of flow by proposing different settings that allow the exploration of movement but also any other way of expression (sound, voice, tracing, drawing, writing, etc.). We will play with speed, displacement, limits, perception, connection, and communication. Different rhythms and steps from Balfolk dances will be present. There will also be space/time for exploring on a more individual level intertwined with moments of collective motion.
4 - DECONSTRUCT AND SIMPLIFY
Fosca Fimiani (It)
​Usually when we dance, and mainly when we dance from a short while, we try to overdo, lots of variations, super fast spinning, arms destruction, and usually is the follower that suffers the most. In this workshop i want to explore the possibilities one has to make is style interesting without destroying his/her partner keeping steps and the dance as basic as possible, transitioning from a "i want to do all" to a "I want to keep it simple but still interesting".
4 - BREATHING
Lèo Proulx (Fr)
What Leo observed many times is the fact, a lot of beginners forget about the breathing in the dance, because they struggle with the steps. We will explore how we can use the breathing as a transition between stops and movements during the dance in couple, and how the flow can be impulsed by the breathing. He will use bal folk music as a basis, how to listen to the music, where to put some breathing that are intuitive or could be intiated by the music, if we listen more to the instruments or to the melodies. The point is also, how we can read in an other way the music that we listen to, how we can play with it, how we can hear and translate musicality in the movement, and communicate transitions to our partners in some other ways, then just a hand
4 - EMBODIED MUSICALITY SINGING IN DANCING
Aljosha Filippov - NL
We will work the transition from dancing a dance that is a "consumer" of music performed by musicians to a dance that is self-sustaining through the dancers singing the dance. Many dances were originally sung and not played on instruments (let alone djs). The practice persists as bal à la voix/rondes chantées. We will warm up body and voice, and then get singing and dancing, using those dances that are well known by the group and simple songs. Amongst the possibilities are saut bèarnais, branle d'ossau, various Breton rondes, rondeaus.