DANCING SATURDAY
Contemporary Dance – Movement Studies and Improvisation

Part 1 – 10:30–12:15

Contemporary Dance & Movement Studies

We begin with 90 minutes dedicated to exploring and developing our individual movement flow. We investigate connections – with our own bodies, with the floor and gravity, as well as between the centre and the extremities. From simple warm-up exercises and short movement sequences on the floor to movements inspired by modern dance, we work with mobility, stability, expansion and release. A particular focus is placed on finding connection with the flow of the breath and with the music. This part will be led by Ewelina.

Break: 30 minutes

Part 2 – 12:45–14:30

Contemporary Dance with a Focus on Improvisation

Clear structures provide the framework within which we play, compose, contrast, copy, interpret, multiply, minimise and exaggerate – sometimes with the body alone, sometimes with objects, colours or sounds. We explore movement playfully and with pleasure, working solo, in pairs, in small groups and as a whole group. This part will be led by Sibylle.

S i b y l l e M a g e l (born 1962, M.A.) is a dance educator, certified Dance Ability Teacher, lecturer, and clown. Her dance training encompasses contemporary dance and improvisation, as well as Contact Improvisation (CI) at bewegungsart Freiburg and Tanzfabrik Berlin. Her focus is on how trust in one’s own physical abilities can develop, be nurtured, and multiplied within a group, and how clearly defined structures can create space for enormous creativity. She teaches dance in educational contexts for school pupils, university students, educational professionals in daycare centers and schools, therapists, as well as in courses and workshops for dance enthusiasts of all ages and abilities. Her approach is based on New Dance, somatic practices such as BMC, Feldenkrais, and the Alexander Technique, Laban/Bartenieff Movement Studies, Contact Improvisation, martial arts, and many years of collaboration with artists from theatre, improvisation, dance, performance, and new music. She has been a co-facilitator with KINDERTANZT! since 2016, a KT! lecturer since 2022, and a co-founder of TANZART* Frankfurt (Contemporary Dance for ALL).

E w e l i n a Z i e l o n k a is a freelance dancer and dance educator (M.A. 2015) based in Frankfurt. Among other projects, she works with Tanzplattform Rhein-Main on initiatives such as “Tanz + Basketball machen Schule,” “Moove On,” and “Tanzklubs.” Since 2022, she has led the KINDERTANZT! professional development program and taught seminars on body awareness and improvisation at the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts (HfMDK). Her passion lies in a somatic approach to movement, improvisation, and dance research.