1. what is “intuitive movement”?
Cinema Antiplastique’s intuitive movement practice for the people combines techniques from 30 years of embodied dance studies. Drawn from Experiential Anatomy, Movement in Depth (also known as “Authentic Movement”), Contact Improvisation, Modern Dance Improvisation, and Jinen ‘nature’ Butoh, these techniques are used by dancers yet can be learned by all.
Movement workshops at Cinema Antiplastique, led by Rania Lee Khalil (DFA; Doctorate of Dance and Video, MSW; Master of Social Work, MA Master of Performance Art; BA Dance and Video) are about reconnecting participants with their own spontaneous, inwardly sourced and inwardly motivated movement. Because of the intuitive nature of this movement, it is often pleasing and productive, because it is automatically in tune with each participants own specific needs for release, rejuvenation and embodied reflection.
Western culture tends to discount the importance of inner embodiment, applauding activities that lead to external results (thinness, more muscle, speed, etc), rather than quiet connection with oneself. Yet when practiced over time, intuitive movement allows experiences of deeper and more subtle embodiment and long lasting change, both outwardly and within. In this way intuitive movement can be an important addendum to talk therapy, and or mind expanding drugs, because of its power to activate untapped, non-verbal and embodied aspects of our creativity.
this said, the ability to improvise is something adults often must re-learn (across various art forms). our work allows participants to develop deeper trust in their movement and embodied intuition over time. our practice allows a diverse range of people to both move and access inner information in ways that are surprising and genuine to their needs and spirits, regardless of age, body type, abilities, etc.
3. why move with moving images?
Moving with moving images of our plant and animal relatives allows for a more effortless experience of expansion than many traditional somatic practices, because the emphasis does not lie soley in the participants relationship with themselves. Moving in relation with the intuitive movement of plants and animals expands our movement more than our individual prompts and images of our natural world provide a tangible source of community and connection beyond ourselves.
Our moving images draw on Rania’s embodied and academic research into plant and animal life within and beyond postcolonial ecologies. Attuning to plant and animal movement during growth, migration and fertilization cycles reconnects us with forgetten aspects of ourselves and our earth. Observing tender aspects nonhuman movement, calms, energizes and expands our being-ness.
4. who are “the people”? ie, which people will benefit from this practice / who is cinema antiplastique for?
our work can benefit a very broad and diverse range of people. please see our general offerings page for a better understanding of this wide, intergenerational and inclusive range.
4. can people with phsyical disabilities participate? cinema antiplastique offers a practice of listening to one’s body that is genuine to one’s needs and abilities. the movement we offer is intuitive and self directed, making it an ideal practice for people with various physical disabilities. one of rania’s favorite teachers, atsushi takenouchi says: “dance can be anything from the movement of an eyelash to the twitch of a finger.”
participantion in our workshops - both in person and online - does not in fact required any movement at all. for questions about specific disability accommodations please reach out to us at info@cinemantiplastique.org.
our space is wheelchair accessible.
5. why does cinema antiplastique offer only workshops and not classes?
in keeping with our wider mission and ethos, we prefer the slower and deeper experience of the workshop form to briefer, shorter and more frequent classes. these workshops are mini intensives. our work can be an addendum and or alternative to talk therapy, as it allows participants access to their own embodied and preverbal memories. this work thus takes time and safe space and atmosphere.
our in studio workshops are 3 hour long, and are presently being offered at the accessible rate of $150 per session. this said, please send us a note if you need a scholarship!
info [at] cinemantiplastique [dot] org
In summers we will offer longer, outdoor intensives in the mohican land known presently known as upstate new york.
6. your workshops look pretty far out, are they for people on drugs or for medicine ceremonies?
they are far out, yet but not because of drugs or plant medicine - on the contrary - we ask that everyone who comes to our movement workshops please be alchohol and drug free (unless prescribed by a doctor) for 24 hours before attending. we request this so that participants can best listen to and attune to their inner selves and others in the room.
this request does not come from a moral place! we have deep respect for plant medicine and other drugs for the ways in which they allow humans to regulate, open and access positive and expansive feelings. we request this because of the specifics of our practice: being drug and alchohol free for 24 hours better ensures that participants are able to access their inner information with clarity and without any distortion. we also ask this because we require everyone in our workshops to be self possessed for the (physical and emotional) safety of others.
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7. are cinema antiplastique’s workshop for fun or for healing?
over time we have learned that human beings have about as much capacity to repress joy as they have to repress grief and sorrow (the two being, of course, related). so the answer to this depends quite specifically on the individual, (and sometimes the day)!
over oover we also do not see a division or contradiction between fun and healing, art or therapy, work or play, etc. we view healing as something enjoyable, playful and embodied. fun can be embodied, wholesome and healing (rather than simply escapist or destructive).
cinema antiplastique is a space for expansion, imagination and reconnection not accessible within the solemn divisions between spontaneous movement, healing, dance parties, etc.
8. is there music at cinema antiplastique?
unless otherwise noted, our workshops and original moving images are silent so that we can hear the sounds and songs within ourselves. we can tune in to our hearts beating, the sound of our joints or breath, the words our hearts, minds or ancestors wish to share, the movement of others swishing softly on the floor, or perhaps even our planet moving gently through the constellations.
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