POTENTIAL SPACE
A WORKSHOP BY YAEL CIBULSKI
“When I meet dancers my goal is not only to help them feel fierce, but guide them in their pursuit of wisdom and awareness so they might dance forever.”
Teaching classes and workshops around the world, Yael has developed Potential Space with the aim of finding simple ways to help people enhance their awareness of the body’s intricacies. Based on her experience as a dancer and Feldenkrais® Practitioner, the method incorporates exercises that use movement to cultivate a better sense and understanding of anatomical structure.
In search of structural patterns that promote ease of movement, the class is devoted to finding skeletal support for explosive movement, examining relationships between gravity and space, using imagery and the imagination in movement initiation, and acknowledging the interplay of body, emotion and thought.
Potential Space is structured in such a way that dancers can’t resort to habitual movement strategies. The movement material changes and evolves at such a pace that habitual responses are effectively bypassed, sending participants on a quest for additional, new and surprising possibilities. When people come to experience an enlarged set of options, they become more creative and resourceful, and develop reactions of a more spontaneous and precise nature.
A playful habit of changing habits is the guiding principle in Yael’s approach to movement and dance. It involves a continuous search for a genuine, personal touch.
Dance Academy Russia | May 2019 | Russia
At DAR Festival in St. Petersburg: teaching Potential Space, repertory by Idan Sharabi & Dancers, creating a group piece through R&D Lab and performing “Genesis” on the new stage of the Alexandrinsky Theatre.
Video: Sergey Kartashov
Bad Lemons | Regular guest teacher/dancer-choreographer in residency | Germany
Under the artistic leadership of Jasmine Ellis, Bad Lemons has become the local networking hub for Munich-based, freelance dancers by offering affordable, high-level professional morning training as well as choreographic residencies for its guest teachers.
Video: Ray Demski
Goa Dance Residency | Jan 2020 | India
Within the span of a two-week workshop, each day is devoted to the functional movement options surrounding a single body part, which are then looked at relative to the rest of the body. Participants encounter their own habitual patterns and discover a new set of movement possibilities for each body part examined. In this class, we are into full spine action, highlighting the relationship between the pelvis and chest in different planes.
Video: Humana production
