Feldenkrais Method® and independent dance practice:

Rhiannon Newton; Zoran Kovich; Julie-Anne Long

Rhiannon Newton BA, Dancer and choreographer, Sydney, Australia
Zoran Kovich MSc, Feldenkrais Practitioner and Trainer, Sydney, Australia
Julie-Anne Long PhD, Lecturer in Dance and Performance, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia

Keywords: Feldenkrais Method, contemporary dance, choreographic research, intention, awareness

Abstract

This article relates how the personal, professional, and creative concerns of an independent dance artist are tended to through Feldenkrais Method^® practice. Through a series of case studies, told both from the perspective the dance artist and the Feldenkrais Method teacher, aspirations, sensibilities and processes shared by both artist and teacher are highlighted.

Author Biographies

Rhiannon Newton, BA, Dancer and choreographer, Sydney, Australia

Studied Dance at the West Australian Academy of Performing Arts, Edith Cowan University. She is an established independent contemporary dancer with a history of working in Europe, Israel and Australia. Her emerging choreographic practice is grounded in investigations of improvisation and the role of repetition in dance.

Zoran Kovich, MSc, Feldenkrais Practitioner and Trainer, Sydney, Australia

Studied cognitive science at the University of New South Wales investigating cognition and human movement. Formerly a professional dancer, Zoran lectured in undergraduate dance programs for 19 years, and has over 30 years experience in the field of somatic education. He currently works in his Sydney private practice, and Australian Feldenkrais training programs.

Julie-Anne Long, PhD, Lecturer in Dance and Performance, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia

Holds an MA (Hons) in Performance University of Western Sydney Nepean and a PhD from the University of New South Wales. She has worked in a variety of dance contexts as dancer, choreographer, mentor, dramaturge, curator and producer. She is Lecturer in Dance and Performance at Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia.

Feldenkrais Method® and independent dance practice

Cultivating personal presence and responsiveness in a mutually shared creative practice

Abstract

Author Biographies