Genesis of the prequel
One remarkable aspect of the canon of lessons Moshe Feldenkrais left us is how well they live up to his promise of making the impossible possible and — eventually — easy, comfortable, and reachable.
Sometimes, no matter how good the Awareness Through Movement® lesson is or how well you taught it, one or more students find the lesson impossible. Or they do the ATM® only to experience pain or discomfort later instead of any possible benefit.
That’s when I find myself wondering:
“What would have to come before it to make that lesson possible for this student?”
Asking this question is a way to circle back and figure out another way to lead up to the lesson. What I mean is contemplating what has to come before . . . or considering what could lead up to this student being able to do that lesson . . . and to do so without having pain afterward?
Knowing the coordination the lesson calls for, makes it possible to discover what the student isn't noticing, isn’t sensing. Asking, “In what ATMs do these distinctions appear?” I remember and revisit other lessons, do and deconstruct lessons I have known, search for others, discover themes, compose connections, and construct a prequel — think of it as building an “onramp” — to that lesson.
Tomorrow, I’m teaching a half-day workshop — part of the current BEHIND THE CURTAIN course — in which the lesson, THE CARRIAGE OF THE HEAD AFFECTS THE STATE OF THE MUSCULATURE, plays the role of that lesson, the one that this student couldn't do without hurting her- or himself.
We decided to make this class a pop-up ATM workshop by opening registration to anyone interested. If you’re available, spur of the moment, then I hope you’ll join us for:
Tomorrow — Saturday27 April 201910:00 AM to 2:15 PM California time
$67
It will be easy to participate from the comfort of home or wherever you happen to be using your smartphone, tablet, laptop, desktop, or internet-enabled TV, because we will be broadcasting via the Zoom online video service.
There will be a short break after the first lesson and a 45-minute break after the second one. Following the last lesson — and after another short break — I’ll talk about the compositional design workshop and learning logic of the lessons.
As part of your paid tuition, you’ll receive links to the unedited audio recordings of the workshop the beginning of next week. You’ll have 90 days to stream the lessons as often as you like or download the MP3 files to the device of your choosing.
You can enroll by clicking here.
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