Exploring anatomy through dance

Performing Medicine, a programme designed by the Clod Ensemble, has arrived at the Millennium Centre.

The Clod Ensemble believe understanding what is going on under the skin is vital for understanding movement. Image supplied by Julien

Though it is unusual to link medical practice with the arts, the company are leading a series of workshops that intend to explore the human body and its everyday functions in unexpected ways.

Suzy Wilson, the company’s artistic director and leader of The Poetic Body workshop, blogged, “It’s great to share different ways of thinking and seeing human anatomy in a different context, beyond the usual professional environments in which these things are discussed.”

No experience is necessary but comfy clothes are essential as participants will be thrown into activities ranging from dance and Pilates to “making a three dimensional structure which ‘explodes’ the body”.

According to Clod Ensemble the upcoming workshops will involve varied activities and techniques, this is what they have in store:

6 December
The Poetic Body

This workshop will be led by Clod Ensemble’s Suzy Wilson and Aurellian Koch.

Participants will enjoy a workshop heavily influenced by the teachings of Jacques Lecoq. In the morning Wilson will introduce participants to the idea of the poetic body and the idea we can understand the world by embodying its movement dynamics.

In the afternoon Koch will work with participants to construct the 3D structure which ‘explodes’ the body in order to broaden movement possibilities. Participants will be working with glue, paint and charcoal, so don’t wear anything you would mind ruining

7 December
Anatomy Through Movement

This workshop will be led by Clod Ensemble’s Allesandra Ruggeri and Leon Baugh.

Participants will start the day with a warm up focused on the musculosketal system, looking at what is moving and how it is doing so. This will allow participants to tune in with their centre of gravity, core muscles and how movement is affected by different areas of the body.

In the afternoon, Baugh will demonstrate how participants’s bodies interact with the world around them by using his anatomical knowledge to bring about simple functional movement. Using simple movement exercises alongside anatomical images, skeletons and 3D human anatomy, Baugh will help participants visualise what is underneath our skin.

Both cost £15

Feature image and sidebar images all supplied by Beth Scupham