Introduction to Contemplative Dance/Authentic Movement

March 6, 2020 @ 6:30PM — March 7, 2020 @ 5:30PM Eastern Time (US & Canada)

Movement as spiritual practice, creative inspiration and personal resource.

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Introduction to Contemplative Dance/Authentic Movement
Workshop led by Daphne Lowell

Friday, March 6 & Saturday, March 7
Full weekend: $150 (includes Saturday lunch)
Friday only: $50; Saturday full day with lunch: $125

Register by February 21 to save your spot!

Coming home to body, we witness spirit moving. Compassion deepens.

These programs will introduce Contemplative Dance in theory and practice, highlighting ways it can offer access to personal spiritual experiences and insights. No special movement skills needed. Accessible to all interested in safely exploring and enjoying their wholeness.

Friday Evening Experiential Presentation (6:30pm - 8:30pm)
What ideas underlie this practice? How do people use it in their personal and professional lives? How does it serve as one form out of the many different ways dance/movement participate in religious devotions? What does this practice feel like to do? I will review the development of Contemplative Dance and give examples of ways that participants work with it – from students and teachers to somatics practitioners and nurses, therapists and professional religious. I’ll also lead a short movement meditation to give a taste of the practice, and we’ll briefly reflect on your experiences and questions.

Saturday Workshop (9:30am - 5:30pm)
In morning and afternoon sessions, I will introduce different aspects of Contemplative Dance, at each step working with beginner’s mind, and with choice and ease. I’ll offer guided meditations inviting you into your body’s imagination. I’ll teach the open form of the practice where we work with discovered, rather than prescribed, movement, stillness, silence, and sound. We’ll explore both the inner and outer witness, and the awareness of moving/being still in community. As we reflect on our experiences, we’ll explore imagistic and physical modes of memory, cultivate non-judgement and an appreciation for difference, and practice speaking in ways that recognize our experiences as our own. As we close the day, we’ll identify ways to bring aspects of this practice home.

About Contemplative Dance www.contemplativedance.org
Contemplative Dance is a simple yet profound practice of moving meditation, also known as Authentic Movement. It works with the innate intelligence of body, psyche and imagination, and their drive for wholeness and integration. We pay attention to our inclinations to move or be still, suspending self-criticism and cultivating awareness. As we practice, the artificial boundaries between body, psyche and spirit begin to dissolve, and we discover aspects of ourselves from fresh perspectives. As we practice with others, we develop an appreciation for the diversity of human experience. We leave refreshed, grounded, more fully embodied, with new ideas and new ways of listening.


About Daphne Lowell

Daphne is a dancer and emerita professor of dance and movement studies at Hampshire College. She has taught Contemplative Dance since 1984 to people from all over the country and abroad, in workshops ranging from a few hours to year-long training programs. She was a pioneer in teaching authentic movement to undergraduate students and has written for major authentic movement publications. Contemplative Dance fuels her choreography and her solo performances. She finds the embodied imagination an endless and always rewarding resource. To read more about Daphne, please visit this page.


For any questions about contemplative dance or this workshop, please contact Daphne directly at dlowell@hampshire.edu.