BODY/LANDSCAPE Intensive Workshop led by FRANK VAN DE VEN
7-13 December 2014
Grampians National Park – Victoria Australia
Intensive 7-day workshop exploring the relationship between Body and Landscape led by Frank van de Ven (Body Weather Amsterdam) in Grampians National Park situated 3 hours West of Melbourne in Victoria.
The basic training and point of departure for this workshop, Body Weather, is a comprehensive training and performance practice that investigates the intersections of bodies and their environments. Bodies are not conceived as fixed entities, but just like the weather, constantly changing through an infinite and complex system of processes occurring in and outside of these bodies. Taking Body Weather into the landscape, the aim is to explore and develop consciousness of the body itself being an ever evolving landscape within a greater surrounding landscape.
Frank van de Ven is a dancer and choreographer who spend his formative years in Japan working with Min Tanaka and the Maijuku Performance Company. Together with Katerina Bakatsaki he founded ‘Body Weather Amsterdam’, in 1993, as a platform for training and performance. Since 1995 he has conducted the interdisciplinary Bohemiae Rosa Project with Milos Sejn, connecting body and landscape with art, geology and architecture. For more info on Body Weather Amsterdam http://bodyweatheramsterdam.blogspot.com
The Location – Also known by their Indigenous name as Gariwerd, these spectacular sandstone ridges run north to south with steep and craggy slopes on the eastern side and gentler slopes to the west. The region is home to over 800 species of plants and to a profusion of native animals and birds. Here we find unusual rock formations such as The Balconies, Mackenzie Falls and the summit of Mt William with stunning panoramic views
We will be staying at Buandik camping area, located in a forest beside Billimina Creek. Aboriginal occupation of the Grampians dates back well over 20,000 years and the area contains numerous surviving Aboriginal rock art paintings as found at the adjacent Billimina and Manja heritage shelter sites.
Programme will include •MB (mind/body, muscles/bones) dance training •practice of and reflection on physical and mental training •walking and wandering, silent walk, pilgrimage and nocturnal journeys •various modes of experiencing body, movement and landscape •investigating divergent senses of space and time •peripatetic records, drawing, writing, immediate contact with surroundings •mental topography of a location, myth, archaic mind and genius loci •local geology, archaeology and history.
An integral part of the workshop will be individual artistic projects that participants are encouraged to formulate and work on for 1-2 hours a day in the fields of architecture, dance, performance, photography, sculpture, theatre, visual arts and natural history. The workshop leader is available to guide and support these processes.
Participants profile: for artists and mature students working in performance, dance, landscape art, sculpture, photography, architecture, theatre, visual arts and natural history.
Selection of participants will be based on c.v. and motivation. No previous (dance) training is necessary but the workshop will be physically demanding. A good overall condition is required.
PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Dates: 7-13 December 2014. Arrival day Saturday 6 December.
Address: Buandik camping ground Grampians State Park. http://www.exploroz.com/Places/78478/VIC/Buandik_Campground.aspx
Access: car – carpooling Buandik Campground in Grampians State Park park is about 260 km NorthWest of Melbourne, 26 km SouthWest of Halls gap and 64 km NorthEast of Coleraine. We will exchange addresses of participants to facilitate car-pooling. Public transport is limited.
Lodging: bring tent, mat, sleeping bag and sheets or swag.
Food and other costs: $20 per day – communal cooking in rotation.
Bring also hiking boots, light sandals, notebook, hat, backpack, raincoat, insect repellent, lightweight warm clothes, torchlight, cooking utensils and cutlery
Workshop fee: $480 – early bird $400 (to be fully paid before 1 November 2014)
Insurance: it is a prerequisite that each participant has their own health insurance. Make sure to bring a copy on site.
To book & for more information contact Peter Fraser: peterlfraser@gmail.com or 0439 012 900
