Men Social Motion

 

 Jorge's Artwork

Zaccho Dance Theatre's Studio, San Francisco

Men Social Motion classes mix awareness practice, free dance and high intensity exercise in the nude. Moving the body without the emotional, psychological and social, restrictions of clothing allows men of all abilities in touch with their inner challenges. Trained at the Tamalpa Institute, Steven Horner facilitates the class by leading participants to develop awareness of somatic practices, the energy of exercise and the importance of dance for men. Male energy is explored through the movement of one's body expressed through exercises such as: 

Developmental Body Awareness: The participants recreate what is like to be a unicellular organism, a fish, a reptile, a mammal and a bypedal human as well as the different locomotive adaptations needed to metaphorically recreate such transformation. 

Prey / Predator Running: This exercise recreates role playing as participants work in pairs. One plays the prey by running forwards, and the other the predator by running after it. After the run the prey shakes his body mimicking, as illustrated by Steven, the reaction animals have in nature after running for their lives and being successful.

Intense Leg Movement: Male physical energy is emphasized here by exploring leg movements such as running, jumping, stomping. The exercise lasts about half an hour; during this time the participants become aware of their capacities in terms of physical strength, endurance, stamina. Music is played to complement the movement.

Drawing: After this intense period of leg work, the participants draw using free associations stimulated by the movement. Using paper and cray-pas participants soar on the paper images related to their legs that in no way try to represent legs in a literal sense, but more as a metaphor.

Dancing the Drawing: The participants organize themselves in groups of three. One holds his drawing, the other dances to it and the other witnesses it. The dance takes place without music. At the end on one round, they all express their ideas about the experience based on three main statements: I see, I feel, I imagine.

Discussion: A final discussion allows for participants and facilitator to arrive at a consensus as to how to best process the material discovered through the session.

Closing: The closing is casual and unstructured. It takes place by engaging in one last dance with music.