The last week since coming back from Holland has sped past. I wanted to write a little about my experiences.
After my travel disaster, (my passport whilst valid, was over 10 years old. Since 2018, this is no longer valid for the EU. And I only found out the day before my flight. Which meant a mad dash for a one day passport service, and a change of flight.) I made it, a day later than planned. It meant I missed my day to catch up with old friends, but I did make it to Amersfoort in time for most of the conference.
The theme of the conference was “Allowing the inner musician to blossom”. Which felt very appropriate for Feldenkrais, and other disciplines too. Part of the joy of the conference was the cross-fertilisation of ideas. I caught up with Lucy Russell and met Ruth Phillips, two UK musicians specialising in mindfulness. There are so many crossovers with what I’m doing in Feldenkrais with mindfulness. Some of my colleagues describe Feldenkrais as Mindful movement. I met Ásdis Valdimarsdottir a fellow violist, who specialises in bodymapping, again – much of concepts of her work I see in Feldenkrais.
I was also introduced to some new ideas! I loved the work of Alex Welsh and Maya Felixbrodt who teach movement together with mindfulness in Amsterdam. They teach mainly adults from a more dance-exploration perspective. but I’ll be borrowing some of their warm-ups for my young violinists for sure. (http://www.movingstrings.com/#/ ) I also loved the work of Cecile Broche. She brings avant garde music into her work with children to encourage improvisation.
I went to the lectures of Alison Garner and Eloise Hellyer, two American violinists. I’d met them online, so it was lovely to meet them in 3D. Alison includes concepts from many different somatic practices in her work. And Eloise spoke about the importance of nurturing amateur musicians. Not only focussing on professional ones.
As teachers we sometimes we overlook the importance of regular input. To have new ideas, or be reminded of old ones, to add to our teaching. The lectures I saw were refreshing, alongside some wonderful conversations with colleagues. Which made up a little for the regular clash of having two sessions I wanted to see at the same time! There were many people I didn’t make it to, whom I would have liked to. And on the last day, I had my own session, which I enjoyed presenting. (No pictures, sadly!)
I also went on a boat trip around Amersfoort by boat on one afternoon. There’s something special about travelling by waterway. It gives you a completely different perspective of a place to walking on land. And sometimes that’s what we need, to see our world from a changed vantage point.
the Feldenkrais Method with Emma Alter 