Dance movement practices offer the opportunity to connect with and explore your inner experience through improvised movement.

This way of dancing is about being rather than performing, witnessing rather than spectating, feeling rather than creating smooth aesthetic surfaces. It is a form of meditation in which we offer our attention to what's happening beneath the level of cognitive mind, feeling into dances that spontaneously materialise and then dissolve. By putting ourselves in motion in very simple, immediate ways and bringing awareness to what occurs, we allow a different aspect of our experience to emerge. This instinctive embodied movement offers knowledge that we may not be able to access through thinking and talking.

Dance movement can be fun, therapeutic, playful, deep, creative, joyful, a form of exercise, a way of being in community with a friendly and diverse group of people ... or all of the above and more!

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Jess's approach

My dance background is eclectic, and all sorts of influences show up in my approach to holding dance space, from the 5Rhythms™ of Gabrielle Roth to Authentic Movement, as well as practices of sounding, drawing and writing. I am certified as an Open Floor dance movement teacher and am registered with the International Conscious Movement Teachers Association. You can hear me talking about 'What Moves Me' as a conscious dancer here.

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It’s important to me to create containers that are both robust enough to hold safely and elastic enough to include whatever arises in the dance. I will offer support if you get stuck – perhaps by moving with you or suggesting a focus for your attention – but I want to get out of the way as much as possible, so that what happens is your dance, your experience, and I am a quiet witness.

Who is it for?

Dance movement is for anyone who is curious about moving, from people blessed with two left feet to dance floor animals and professionally trained dancers. This way of dancing is about being present to the natural impulses of your body to move, so you don’t need to be young, fit or flexible; all that’s required is a willingness to move and an interest in expanding the possibilities for being in your body. Whoever you are, you are welcome to the dance floor.

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What dancers say
“Jess is very aware and always makes the dance feel safe and held. I love her gentle suggestions and the experience itself. I am very grateful for the space and for the opportunity to explore all the parts within me that come up as I move with others and with myself. It’s helps me tap into my joy and playful side.”—Lizzie

 

“Thank you for such a wonderful class. Just what I needed, and the music was fantastic!”—Michelle“

 

“I loved the choices of tunes – multiple layers that felt like they supported my dance in many ways.”—Christine

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“I enjoyed the whole experience from beginning to end. I had never attended an event before where I felt so free to be me and express a very vast landscape of my inner world without feeling in any way restricted. I felt safe and supported at all times. Such lovely people. I am so glad I went. I left feeling genuinely happy.”—Aileen

 

“I have been blocked for so many years it was like finding a gap back in to my movement-based self / body. I realised I was actually having fun dancing to one of the tracks, and that’s amazing, I don't often have fun simply by being me. I loved that Jess created an openness within the group by her own dancing and singing. It’s a fantastic group. I look forward to how it grows and shifts.”—Kristina

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“Thank you for the lovely morning we had. Once the music is on, it’s a discovery of feelings, an exploration of movements or stillness, with body or crayons dancing on paper. There’s no right or wrong, only my own creation, my decision, my limitations. I like that Jess does not teach but gently facilitates and suggests. I want to do more of this.”—Isabelle