3.0.1.21 OPS @ Humboldthain

OPS has started to adapt to the current circumstances of the Pandemie: This is a short message, letting you know that I ll do some movement practice, Qi Gong and training with the Jo (wooden Stick, coming from the Aikido practice) almost every day 10-11:30 from now on. If you are interested in joining, please send me a message before and we can check the details then. Isabelle

4.06.20

OPS Website Launch In the last period together with dramaturge Elena Basteri, we have been working on the documentation of the Open Practice Sessions and we are now happy to share the result with you. We have created an online publication that you can find at this link: openpracticesessions.org Reflecting the collective nature of the Open Practice Sessions, the editorial concept of the website is a polyphonic interweaving of various voices; our idea of documentation is to be understood as open and dynamic and will in future be enriched with new materials and contributions.

17.12.2019 Sharing my practices @ HZT Berlin and 13-15.2.2020 @ DOCH Stockholm

I have had the pleasure to share my artistic practices with the MAC students of HZT Berlin and at DOCH in Stockholm. Thank you for the wonderful experiences !!!

Workshop and Presentation @ Cango, Firenze

I have been happily working together with 11 dancers from over all Italy. We were sharing our work on nudity and landscape on at Cango with a large public. How are body work and somatics becoming sculpture? Based on her production Pieces and Elements (2016) Isabelle Schad (Berlin) will present her unique artistic practice and develop an installation work Pieces and Elements / Nudity and Landscape within the frame of a 3-day workshop. The workshop will introduce into different types of movement techniques around the energetic body, using principles of Asian practices such as Aikido, Shiatsu, breathing techniques as well as other somatic practices such as Body-Mind Centering. The questions at stake are concerned with the notion of form and what ‘in-forms’ a form: We are dealing with inner-outer relationships, the relation to oneself, and the self within a group in order to experience togetherness in doing. After a time dedicated to the Kitraining described above, we will work with the nude body as materiality, as a landscape and as a sculpture. The focus is on the body-mind unit as a process and materiality – in the same time as part of experiencing oneself – revealing the nude body in a non-sexualised and pure way. pic: I.Schad, all rights reserved See online: Cango

Open Practice Sessions 1.-3. Oct.19 @ Tanzhalle Wiesenburg

After the wonderful experience during the Open Practice Sessions (OPS) in August, I would like to continue sharing my research on spaces of contemplation within a practice around energetic principles, in which time and attention is given to freeing the inner self from jumping thoughts, psychology or personal matters. From sensing freedom within oneself and one’s movement we can more easily become – an organisation, an organism, sculpting energies and movements without any further purpose than the work itself. The next three OPS focus again on body work based on principles coming from Zen related practices like Zen-Aikido, Zen-Meditation and Shiatsu. The work concentrates on continuation of movement, breath and Ki (energy), the unity of body and spirit, the understanding of weight shift and axis rotation, on cellular consciousness, on relating body parts and organs to one another and to one’s center of gravitation, both in our individual work, in partner work and in the work within a group. We will also do some energy work with the sword that we learn to hold and move with. On the first day, the OPS will last 3 hours which I will fully dedicate to the training and movement research as such, without any further goal of producing choreographic materials. On the second and third day, I will propose one more hour of research, during which I would like to explore the notion of nudity as part of our origins of sensation and movement. We will re-visit some of the body work done clothed on cellular consciousness – getting – in a very simple way – rid of our clothes, to find a pure and non-sexualised approach to sensing ourselves and one another – close to landscape and nature. This experiment is surely proposed on voluntary basis. You can also choose to only participate to the 3 hours practice during all 3 days.

26th+27th August 2019 Open Practice Sessions @ Wiesenburg Werkhalle

For some time, I’ve been interested in a research on spaces of contemplation within a practice around energetic principles, in which time and attention is given to freeing the inner self from jumping thoughts, psychology or personal matters. From sensing freedom within oneself and one’s movement we can more easily become an organisation, an organism, sculpting energies and movements without any further purpose than the work itself. The upcoming Open Practice Sessions focus on body work based on principles coming from Zen related practices like Zen-Aikido, Zen-Meditation and Shiatsu. The work concentrates on continuation of movement, breath and Ki (energy), the unity of body and spirit, the understanding of weight shift and axis rotation, on cellular consciousness, on relating body parts and organs to one another and to one’s center of gravitation, both in our individual work, in partner work and in the work within a group. We will also do some energy work with the sword that we learn to hold and move with. Different to earlier Open Practice Session I have done, I would like to dedicate the full 3 hours to the training and movement research as such, without any further goal of producing choreographic materials. If research ideas for further pieces arise, it is by the observation of what happens and by allowing for the essences of our being to unfold. (I. Schad) See online: Tanzhalle Wisenburg

June 2019 Tanzkongress Dresden

2019: I have had the pleasure to guide through different practices, such as Za-Zen and Ki-Training. I gave Shiatsu 1:1 Sessions and together with Franziska Dietrich, we have shared our Aikido Practices / got into conversation.

See online: Tanzkongress2019

08.02. bis 10.02.2019 Workshop @ Akademie der Kulturellen Bildung Remscheid

Von der Körperarbeit zur Choreographie Wie können Körperarbeit und somatische Praxis in die choreografische Arbeit einfließen? Wie lässt sich die Prozesshaftigkeit des Körpers in eine klare Formensprache fassen? Angelehnt an ihre Produktion „Pieces and Elements“ (2016) stellt die Berliner Choreografin, Isabelle Schad, ihre innovative Arbeitsweise vor. Ausgehend von Bewegungsprinzipien, die sich von asiatischen Techniken wie Aikido, Shiatsu, Dehnungs- und Atemtechniken ableiten, entwickelt sich die choreografische Praxis. Zentrale Frage hierbei ist die Deutung des Begriffs der Subjektivität innerhalb eines kollektiv bewegten Körpers, der nur als ein gesamter funktionieren kann. Innerhalb der Fortbildung erarbeiten Sie Skizzen und Elemente, die Teil der Recherche zu „Pieces and Elements“ sind oder ganz einfach für sich selbst stehen.

July 2018 ChoreoLab in Rimbun Dahan, Malaysia

I have been invited to lead through this year’s ChoreoLab in Malaysia. Rimbun Dahan – where we have been staying and working – is a most beautiful place and our shared experiences have been deep and rich; thank you all for this !!! SOUTHEAST ASIAN CHOREOLAB 2018 OPEN SHOWING Thirteen choreographers from Southeast Asia will share the results of choreographic exercises and elements of their experience from the 9- day Choreolab at Rimbun Dahan, facilitated by German choreographer Isabelle Schad with assistance from Claudia Tomasi. 3pm Sunday 1 July, Rimbun Dahan, Km 27 Jalan Kuang, Kuang, Selangor The Southeast Asian Choreolab is a project by Rimbun Dahan, in partnership with MyDance Alliance and World Dance Alliance Asia-Pacific, supported by Goethe-Institut Malaysia. Participants: ++ Nguyen Thanh Chung (Vietnam)++ Josh Marcy (Indonesia)++ Lau Beh Chin (Malaysia)++ Noutnapha Soydala (Laos)++ Fitri Anggraini (Indonesia)++ Nicole Primero (Philippines) ++ ‘Mee’ Vilasanh Soundala (Laos)++ Nurulakmal Abdul Wahid (Malaysia)++ Vidura Amranand (Thailand)++ Gebbvelle Ray Selga (Philippines)++ Sherli Novalinda (Indonesia)++ Jereh Leung (Singapore)++ Eva Wegener (Sri Lanka/Germany). All pics: I.Schad, all rights reserved.

See online: RimbunDahan

4.-8.6. 2018 Workshop with Gorki Exil Theatre

For one week we have been training together at the Tanzhalle Wiesenburg, linking warm-ups with profound technics, practicing Zen-Meditation and elements coming from Aikido-Zen, sword training, Shiatsu, as well as observing what gets visible once dualistic concepts are left behind. Pleasant meetings and experiences!!

See online: Gorki Theatre

 

1.+ 2. June 2018 Unfinished Revolutions, Potsdam/Berlin

Naima Ferré has been whirling in front of 150 managers from around the world and together with Claudia Tomasi, Naima, Natalia Wilk and Joske Beckers I have been proposing a Collective Practice for/within all of us and everyone. A wonderful lesson about what it means to be moving oneself in order to move together!!! 1.june: Orangerie Potsdam 2.june: Bolle Berlin-Moabit We are thrilled to be taking The Performance Theatre to Germany for the first time, a country that has been the birthplace for some of the most profound political, cultural and scientific revolutions of the past half millennium. The Performance Theatre

See online: The Performance Theatre

15.1.-2.2.2018 Teaching at HZT Berlin

I have had the pleasure to teach a 3 weeks seminar at HZT Berlin for the BA Dance / Context / Choreography. Der Workshop befaßt sich mit Bewegungs- und Energieprinzipien, die von verschiedenen asiatischen Techniken wie Aikido, Schwert/ Stock Training, Shiatsu, Dehnungs- und Atemtechniken (Meridiandehnungen, Qi Gong, Ki-Konzepten) abgeleitet werden, und den jeweiligen Bedürfnissen der Beteiligten angepaßt werden. Ziel ist, einen flüssigen und ganzheitlichen Zugang zum eigenen Körper, der Körper-Geist Einheit – zum Selbst – zu finden, um die Persönlichkeit zu stärken, sich in Bewegung und Präsenz voll ausdrücken zu können und eine vom Zentrum ausgehende Technik zu erlernen. Die Erfahrungen dieser Warm-ups und Techniken verschränken sich anschließend mit meiner choreographischen Praxis: Wir werden Skizzen und Elemente erarbeiten, die Teil meiner Recherche für die neue Gruppenarbeit sein werden oder ganz einfach für sich selbst stehen. Isabelle Schad

See online: HZT-Berlin

10.+11.1.2018 Invited Practice / YIN

I am interested in finding out notions around an energy work that could be considered of ’femine’ nature (among others). I therefore wanted to invite a smaller group of women who are interested in going on with my current research around weight shift, ’being one’ with gravitation and axis rotation. 10+11.1.2018 – from 10-14h. Training + choreographic research at the Tanzhalle Wiesenburg in Berlin-Wedding.

 

 

December 2017 Open Practice Sessions at the Wiesenburg

Currently I’ m interested in following my research on spaces of contemplation within a practice around energetic principles and rotation, in which groups of people become one body, an organisation, an organism or a moving sculpture. The sessions start with a body work based on principles coming from Zen related practices like Aikido-Zen and ZenShiatsu. It focuses on the continuation of movement, breath and Ki (energy), the unity of body and spirit, the understanding of weight shift, axis rotation and leaning, on relating body parts and organs to one another and to one’s center of gravitation, both in our individual work, in partner work and/or in the work within a group. In the second part of the session, I’m interested in experimenting on ideas I have for my new upcoming group project Reflection.

16.-18.10.2017 Workshop at HfMDK in Frankfurt

I have had the pleasure to introduce and share my training / choreographic practice with a bunch of young BA students at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Frankfurt.

September 2017 Workshops in Hanoi and Jakarta

Pleasurable sharings in the framework of workshops I am giving in Hanoi and Jakarta:

ABOUT THE WORKSHOP
The workshop deals with principles of movement and energy that are based on various Asian techniques such as aikido, sword and stick training, shiatsu, stretching and breathing techniques (meridian stretching, qi gong, qi concepts) as well as somatic practices such as body-mind centering, and that are adapted to the individual needs of the participants. The objective for the participants is to find a fluid and holistic way of accessing their own body, the body-mind entity – your self – with a view to strengthening their personality and achieving the ability to express themselves fully in movement and presence. This mindfulness and ability to access yourself is the key to accessing your partner, your group and the world. The experiences from these warm-up exercises and techniques are subsequently interwoven with Schad’s choreographic practice: workshop participants will be developing sketches and elements that will form part of Schad’s research for a new kind of group work, or will be used in their own right. In this context, they will be exploring the concept of subjectivity within a collectively moved body. This collective body can only function as a whole entity; at the same time, it should be seen as a space for transformation and as the observed result.

See online: Goethe Institut Indonesia

February 2016 Workshop in Casablanca and Conférence Dansée in Rabat

I have had the pleasure to share my work in Marokko on different levels in the frame of „TEMPS FORT“. I was giving a workshop for young dancers and creators in Espace Darja, Casablanca as part of the project «Al…Projet Labo», following an invitation by Meryem Jazouli.

Photo: Dieter Hartwig

Workshop: 2.- 6. February 2016, Espace Darja 113, avenue Mers Sultan, 6ème étage. 20120 Casablanca. 5th February 2016, I gave a lecture-performance around my life and work at Goethe Institut in Rabat.

3 January 2016 Teaching at ZZT Köln and FUGEN

I’m happy to be co-teaching with Constanze Schellow my practices around an holistic approach to the body and choreography.

Unfolding Practice
Formen Üben Finden Üben Formen

Der zeitgenössische Tanz seit den 1990er Jahren hinterfragt kritisch vorherrschende Bewegungs-Ästhetiken und Trainingsformen. Dass damit aber Konzepte wie „Übung“ oder „Form“ als solche einfach verworfen werden, ist ein Missverständnis. In unserem Workshop experimentieren wir aus der Perspektive unserer unterschiedlichen Praxisformen mit Prozessen des Übens und Formens – Isabelle als Tänzerin und Choreographin, Constanze als Tanztheoretikerin und Dramaturgin. Wir arbeiten dabei, in der Bewegung und im Schreiben, vom Einfachen zum Komplexen im Tun, Beobachten, Formen, Beschreiben. Ausgehend von Warm-Ups, die die Erfahrung des Körpers als Form-Werden, als Innen- und Außenraum vertiefen, sucht die Bewegungsarbeit in somatischer Herangehensweise Schnittstellen mit ‚schon gefundenen Formen‘ wie z.B. in den asiatischen Praktiken: Qi Gong, Meridian Dehnungen / Arbeit, Shiatsu, Aikido. Im Experimentieren mit Kompositionsprinzipien aus Isabelles aktuellem Stück „Fugen“ werden eigene choreographische Skizzen erarbeitet. In der Schreibpraxis setzen wir uns nicht nur damit auseinander, was eine „Form“ ist, sondern stellen uns auch die Frage, welche Textformen sich für die Begleitung von Arbeitsprozessen eignen, ohne diese einzuschränken.

Furthermore, I am showing Fugen in the framework of Open Space.

November 2015 Workshops in Vientiane (Laos), Bangkok und Chonburi (Thailand)

I am having the pleasure to share my practice with local artists, giving workshop in Vientiane, Bangkok and Chonburi. ’This workshop will be led as a ‘warm-up practice session’. It links knowledge around our embryological development with very archaic principles of movement and energy taught in eastern practices (Aikido, Qi-Gong, Shiatsu). The relationships between how we become who we are (our form, body systems, the person, the unity of mind and body, the inner and outer sea of Qi…) and eastern practices has been fascinating me recently, continuously discovering new ones in the course of my Shiatsu Practitioner Education and my Aikido Training. The practice will be both, a gentle warm-up for being ‘together’ for the day, with breathe, flow and clarity, and an adventure into movement, group organizations, small choreographic sketches deriving from this starting point.

2.-13.2.2015 Teaching at HZT Berlin

Emryology and Eastern Practices: In these morning practice sessions I am following my current interest in developing (warm-up/ body/ movement) practices that link knowledge around our embryological development with very archaic principles of movement and energy taught in eastern practices (Qi-Gong, Makko-Ho: movement principles opening the Meridians etc). The relationships between how we become who we are (our form, body systems, the person, the unity of spirit, mind and body, the inner and outer sea of Qi…) and eastern practices (that are partly existing since a very long time) has been fascinating me recently, continuously discovering new ones in the course of my Shiatsu Practitioner Education. The practice will be both, a gentle warm-up for being ‘together’ for the day and an adventure into movement, group organisations, small choreographic sketches deriving from this starting point.

19.-24.1.2015 Teaching at TEAK Helsinki

From 19.-24.1.2015, I m teaching at TEAK at the Master’s Degree Programme in Dance. Together we are looking at the relationships between our embryological development – the cellular body – and ’form’ in general and found within eastern movement practices. From an holistic understanding of the body and the self, we investigate multiple layers of knowledge at play, considering embodiment as one of the main sources of any kind of social act including choreography.

November 2013 Explorationen @ Pact-Zollverein Essen

Workshop ›Körper in Bewegung‹ Wir werden in spielerischer Form unseren Körper in Bewegung erkunden : mit all seinen Sinnen, Funktionen und (Un-)Beweglichkeiten. Vom Selbst zum Andern wird diese Bewegung auf den (Um-)Raum ausgeweitet, so dass – wie ganz beiläufig – die ganze Gruppe gemeinsam in Aktion kommt … und unsere Wahrnehmung zum Ganzen hinlenkt. Isabelle Schad

10.-14.6. 2013 Intensivblock mit dem MAC beim HZT 13-17h Uferstudios, Studio3

´Schwerpunkte während des 1wöchigen Intensivblocks sind: Der Körper und seine Materialität, Körper als Prozess, Ort und Raum. Ursprünge der Bewegung, die aus dem Körper selbst heraus kommen und aus dessen (embryologischer)Entwicklung. Beziehungen zwischen Körper, Bewegung, Bild, (Re)Präsentation, zwischen Form und Erfahrung. Zwischen Somatischen Praktiken wie BMC, Score-Writing, Choreographie.

See online: HZT Berlin

Mitte Februar bis Mitte März 2013 Hau – Houseclub

Von Mitte Februar bis Mitte März sind Isabelle Schad und Odile Seitz im Houseclub zu Gast. Gegenstand ihrer Recherche ist der eigenen Körper und der ihn umgebende Raum. Sie erforschen mit den Jugendlichen, wie sich Körper und Umraum zueinander verhalten. Wie verändert mein Körper den Raum? Lässt sich eine Grenze zwischen meinem Körper und dem Umraum bestimmen? Lässt sich zwischen dem Außerhalb und dem Innerhalb des Körpers differenzieren? Isabelle Schad und Odile Seitz verwenden mit Styroporkügelchen gefüllte Sitzsäcke als Material – als Übergangsobjekt und Bindeglied zwischen den Körpern und zwischen Körper und Außen. Durch einen ganzheitlichen Ansatz in der Bewegungsarbeit soll das Bewusstsein für den eigenen Körper und den Gesamtkörper der Gruppe geschärft werden. Ist es dem Einzelnen als Teil eines Kollektivkörpers möglich, Subjekt in einem großen Ganzen zu bleiben, ohne dass sich die eigene Verantwortung für die Situation durch die Anwesenheit der Anderen reduziert? Die Beziehungen und Spannungen zwischen Körpern, Bewegungen und Räumen werden in Landschaftsbildern, aus Menschen und den sie umgebenden, formbaren Sitzsäcken bestehend, ausgelotet. Im Hintergrund stellt das Projekt die Fragen: Welche Wahrnehmung des eigenen Körpers unterstützen die Sitzsäcke? Welche Beziehungen zwischen den jungen Menschen dürfen existieren dank diesem Übergangsobjekt? Welchen Freiraum und welche Kreativität lässt dieses explorative Format entstehen? Das gesammelte Recherche-Material wird anschließend zu einer Choreografie neu geordnet.

December 2012 More Saturday practice sessions at the Tanzhalle Wiesenburg

I’m happy to announce more Saturday Practice Sessions that I will organise/hold at the Tanzhalle Wiesenburg. Currently I m interested in following my research around groups of people becoming one body or an organisation or an organism. Soon, I’m also beginning a new work on folk dancing today for which I’m starting to collect ideas. The sessions start with body practice dealing with the cellular body (embryology) and eastern practices (I m doing a shiatsu/ki-concept education at the moment), individual work, partner work or work in a group. In the second part I’m interested to experiment on ideas I have for my upcoming group projects. Some notions I’m curious about: different ways of experiencing our own and foreign forces (based on some principles Laban is describing as motor forces) on yourself on or through somebody else within a group different ’engines’ between towelling, sliding, flying, floating, sinking in etc. following the notions on vibration: how to be together, how we exist together (not alone) repetition and difference how the group becomes
— -> a political body (subjectivity within collectivity)
— -> a community (of beings)
— -> a mechanised construction / movement revealer
— -> an organised abstract form
— -> an unrecognisable form, etc.

Lots of space for discoveries or for scratching into details until something becomes…else…than what we know already…. images as organs, as prothesis… I will also research on hands and arms linking from one to another and formations applying different principles of Laban’s motor forces (e.g. in relation to folk dances), ’Verkettungen’ / formations that can crystallise and be destroyed.

The dates are : 8.12. + 15.12., 29.12. (t.b.c.), 5.1. + 26.1. and the hours are each time: 10h-13h.

Place: Tanzhalle Wiesenburg, Wiesenstrasse 55, 13357 Berlin-Wedding