Bartenieff Fundamentals Intensive

September 27-29

Friday 6-9 pm

Saturday and Sunday 1-6 pm

LIVE in Brooklyn @ The Floor

$325

About this Course

This course invites students to rigorously explore human movement potential through integrated study of Bartenieff Fundamentals. By increasing our awareness of the body and its relationship to the environment, we are able to transform both our functionality and expressivity.

We will encounter a wider range of choices and enhance our ability to communicate efficiently through movement. Bartenieff Fundamentals is an in-road not only to the body systematically, but also the body contextually within its environment. The applications for BF go from Therapeutics, Dance, Theatre, Personal Growth, and Pedagogy to Spirituality, Politics, Relationships, Creative Process, and Developmental Psychology.

Here’s how this workshop works...

This course will take students through a comprehensive series of both concepts and physical exercises aimed at increasing awareness and functionality, articulation in both moving and talking about movement, and deepening observation skills.

We will be working both physically and intellectually to use the concepts of connectivity to relate to our larger environment and integration not only to ourselves but our full life. 

Here’s What You Will Learn

The 6 Body Organizations/Developmental Patterns: 

  • Breath

  • Core-Distal

  • Head-Tail

  • Upper-Lower

  • Body Half

  • Diagonal 

The 8 Principles: 

  • Breath Support

  • Core Support

  • Weight Shift

  • Effort Intent

  • Spatial Intent

  • Initiation and Sequencing

  • Rotary Factor

  • Dynamic Alignment

The 4 Themes: 

  • Inner/Outer

  • Stability/Mobility

  • Function/Expression

  • Exertion/Recuperation

The Basic Six:

  • Thigh Lift

  • Forward Pelvic Shift

  • Lateral Pelvic Shift

  • Knee Drop

  • Arm Circle

  • Body Half

  • X Rolls

Body Connections:

  • Head-Tail

  • Hand Scapula

  • Heel-Sitzbones

  • Scapular/Humeral Rhythm

  • Pelvic/Femoral Rhythm

Body mechanics/Kinesiology:

  • Flexion/Extension

  • Level Change

  • Propulsion

  • Lateral Spinal Flexion

  • Rotation (Inner/Outer)

  • Circumduction

  • Spinal Rotation

  • Base of Support/Center of Gravity

  • Abduction/Adduction

Applications:

  • Creative Process

  • Improvisation

  • Athletics

  • Movement Observation

  • Hands-on partner work

  • Coaching

  • Choreography

  • Mentorship

  • Therapeutics

  • Rehabilitation and Healing

  • Personal growth and self-assessment

FAQs

Q: Do I need to be a dancer to take this workshop?

A: No, absolutely not. This work is about being in your body, with your knowledge, and expanding your awareness and functionality within yourself. There is no goal or choreography to meet, and no expectations about your experience with movement. Every body of every age, ability, functionality, and experience history is welcome.

Q: I can’t come live. Is there an online option?

A: No, we are only doing this one live. There may be future versions online, but we are taking the opportunity after a long hiatus away from in-person learning to be back in a room together with no technology…

Q: I have an injury. Can I still make it through the workshop?

A: Absolutely. This work is remarkable for rehabilitation, so everyone’s limitations, pathologies, and accumulated body history will become part of the workshop.

Q: I already have a CMA and know BF. Will this workshop be redundant?

A: My approach brings in the application of BF to our whole life, and traffics in applications like psychology, politics, personal emotional well being, and relationships, so hopefully, this work will be new and illuminating even to those who have practiced these patterns before. Also, every new facilitator will bring a new perspective to the observation and analysis of our patterns, so I hope to be able to shed light on both function and expression that may not be part of your mindset currently.

What people have experienced in previous workshops…..

“By bringing the language of Laban and the physical principles of Bartenieff Fundamentals into the rehearsal room, Alexandra cultivates a generous, collaborative, and artistically rigorous space. She empowers performer-collaborators to dive deeply into the physicality of their persona to make meaningful choices, regardless of their movement experience or the nature of the piece.  Her use of Laban and Bartenieff brings an enhanced sense of clarity, accessibility and focus to the work, both physically and intellectually.”

Myah Shein, Choreographer and Director

(student of Anatomy of Choice, Mindflock, Summer Intensive, Embodied Meaning, and AD for Alexandra on numerous projects, including “Make Thick My Blood”)

 

“In her weekly Bartenieff Fundamentals classes, Alexandra creates a space for engaged exploration that is collaborative and filled with kindness. I always feel both seen and heard in her classes. “

Joe Bowie, Lecturer at Northwestern University and former member, Mark Morris Dance Company

(student of Anatomy of Choice and BF)

 

A Note From Alexandra About Teaching Style:

I have been working in communion and collaboration with artists, teachers, healers, and organizers for over two decades. Although the work often follows very different paths, what is important to me remains a thru-line. I value the client’s knowledge, intuition, and experience. I value their vision, aesthetic, and priorities. I am not there to exert my beliefs, opinions, values, or personal aesthetics. I believe in honesty, kindness, clarity, and integrity. I challenge myself to release assumptions, bias, expectations, and givens. I charge myself with creating the safest space possible for discovery, discomfort, doubt, and revelation. I also seek fun and release, pleasure and possibility. I work in a number of different ways, and am open to others. These things can often be combined in clever ways, depending on the particular needs of the client.