Pushing Boundaries – Gila Method intensive with Galit Liss at DanceEast

This was my third experience of a Galit Liss intensive. I participated in the original Pushing Boundaries as part of the ‘What Dance Can Do’ symposium in Chichester and earlier this year in the run-up to HOST co-produced by DanceEast and EncoreEast. In August, Stella Eldon produced the latest and largest edition in partnership with Galit and DanceEast, attracting people from across England, Wales, Hungary and the USA. Each intensive felt more inspiring and satisfying, more familiar and yet more intriguing.

So, what is so special about Galit’s practice? The short answer is Galit. She holds the space and the participants. She has high expectations of older dancers, a total belief in what they can do, that they can always do more, go deeper and further and never stop researching. Her approach is warm, kind and encourages participants to meet her expectations. She is generous with information, conveyed using rich imagery. Processing so much information is demanding and most of us were overwhelmed from time to time. Galit acknowledges this and offers strategies to manage it, the most frequently being the option to ‘do what you want’. Her belief in the understandings the body possesses is refreshing and heartening. It takes time to accept and share that belief, and it takes time to dive into and embody the imagery, and Galit gives the time to explore beyond the immediate response.

What does a Galit intensive involve, what do you do? Feel the layers of the body – bones, muscles, fascia and the ‘slime’ that flows through them all. Relax joints, sense gravity, connect with the floor, press, lean, roll. Work with strings, oil, water of different qualities and in different parts of the body. Gradually become aware of others, the space around and between, play with the gaze and embrace the performative mode. Galit develops a ‘score’ of a dance involving different images, travel, groupings and transitions, and the process moves more deeply into the detail and nuances of performance.

The final sharing is emotional. All the work of the last few days has melded the group, we become deeply invested in Galit, her work and each other. This is a very special gift, and I am already looking forward to the next one!

Jeanette Siddall

Contact info@encoreeastdance.co.uk

Photo credit Elise Taylor