CLASSES/WORKSHOPS/RESIDENCY

Vanessa Voskuil's studies in Qigong is the basis for her daily personal physical training in addition to her performance classes for dancers, choreographers and actors, and her residency work in arts and healing. Voskuil offers a variety of workshops/classes for performing artists and the general community.

INSTRUCTION FOR PERFORMING ARTISTS

Voskuil's teachings in the performing arts encourages a particular way of being, feeling, and seeing. In addition to her diverse performance training in dance and theater, she draws upon her studies in Qigong and internal martial arts to help break down complex concepts that are the basics of the performer's work: energy to action. Her methodology is comprised of accessing all of the body's natural resources to support the authenticity of the performer's intent in addition to understanding what inhibits one's success from being a fully embodied, dynamic performer. It consists of a deep investigation of the body's energetics in relationship to the breath, the ground, and the mind.

Performers who have worked with Voskuil described her training as: “a very valuable way of working with energy/presence,” “I clearly found myself in touch with my own presence and those around me,” “I have used this type of centering for grounding myself in places outside of the dance floor as well.”

The Art of Peformance: Training for the Dynamic Performer
How does presence become intention and energy become action? Presence, meaning a state of being, is an energetic pulse that transmits and reverberates beyond the performer's body. Action is the form where the performer's energy is revealed and the structure that makes it possible for the performer's inner presence to reach the observer. This class will focus on the body, investigating the relationship of one's breath to the body center and to the ground. Training will examine body segmentation, precision and different qualities of vibration, strengthen capacity for feeling, cleanse unnecessary habits, and expand self-awareness towards a three-dimensional and fully embodied, intentional performer. The approach will not merely be a series of exercises but a deep investigation of body language, complemented by bio-energetic exercises, movement, active imagination, improvised scores, meditation, and participant interaction.

EXAMPLES OF OTHER WORKSHOPS/ONGOING CLASSES

The Moving Body and Technologically Enhanced Sensory Environments
Consciousness and Dance
The Grounded Performer
DanceMaking: Process and Development
Play Course: Improvisation in Life and in the Performing Arts

OPPORTUNITES FOR THE GENERAL COMMUNITY

Foundations of Healing Movements
Healing Movements introduces a series of simple, low-impact movements and exercises that are based in Qigong and Tai Chi. They combine physical postures (moving and stationary), focused intention, and breath regulation to enhance the flow of qi (vital life energy) in the body along the acupuncture meridians (energy pathways). These gentle movements and exercises are considered to rejuvenate the body, cultivate inner strength, calm the mind, and enhance the immune system by maintaining the optimum functioning of the body's self-regulating systems. The player of the movements takes a proactive part in managing, improving & recovering their health.

Moving Matters
Moving Matters is a series of 11 movement and art workshops specifically designed for the mental health population including providers, consumers, their family members and supporters. Moving Matters introduces dance as a healing art form and focuses on courage, wholeness, growth, and a way to create a safe journey home to wholeness and balance by focusing on the wisdom of the heart. This series accommodates a broad range of ability, age, and experience and creates a safe environment in which participants can express, process, and transform challenges into healing experiences.

Finding Clarity through Balance
Finding clarity is a matter of listening and having the inner confidence that one already knows the answer to the question. This workshop helps one find his or her balance by offering tools that will support his or her inner truth. It is through clarity and balance that one finds the answers to his or her life's challenges. This workshop is for anyone who wishes to pursue an internal investigation of who they are and who they want to be. Co-led with Arona Fay Roshal, M.S. in Rehabilitation Counseling and Certified Coach.