About
I have been working with my body since I was a teenager, training in ballet, physical theatre and acrobatics. In 2001 I graduated with a BA (Hons.) in Theatre Practice and Contemporary Circus. Since then, I have toured both with my own company and with different circus companies around the world. All these years of experience has given me a very good understanding of my body, of human anatomy and its mechanics, as well as good proprioceptive and kinaesthetic awareness. However, despite the use of tools such as visualisations or breathing and relaxation techniques for performance purposes, my physical training had mostly been learnt from a Western perspective, which favours an “external” training of the body over a somatic or “internal” understanding.
Later on in life, after having my first child, I completed a MA in Theatre Studies, where I researched the embodiment of the inanimate, amongst other aspects, which led me to my current research on how qi can be managed and guided in order to deepen the shared experience of the theatrical event.
I have always been fascinated by possibilities of the human body in terms of plasticity and expression, of creating beauty, of being able to mesmerise us with its language. The human body can communicate what words cannot express, it can transcend boundaries in a most subtle and powerful way because its language does not come solely from our reason but also from deeper within ourselves, from our instincts...
“What is the human body? It is a great symphonic orchestra that in a sense joins up the three souls of Plato: the head, the heart, the stomach…” said Jean-Louis Barrault. It is very difficult to express just with words that which happens in our stomach, you need to use your body energy in order to transmit that. It is something that music and dance can do, it is something that the human voice can do…
But words have to be understood, words need to be de-codified, the body not necessarily so. It is the body that reacts first to any emotional impulse and it is the body that can communicate best the meaning of our emotions.
I have been a regular qigong and tai chi practioner for the past ten years. The encounter with these practices offered me a new perception of movement and the body. My first experience with the Biospirals Method of Qigong was like a revelation, as I discovered new sensations within my body and a completely different approach to movement, which allows for different connections at a deeper level. These connections allow me in turn to harmonise those “external” structures with the invisible “internal” ones. The more I practice, the more I feel more grounded and in tune with myself and the world around me. The more I practice, the more I want to share my experience in different ways.