SG 2002 - Report - BMC & Performance Enhancement

TUTOR'S REPORT • STAMPING GROUND 2002

Body-Mind Centering® 7-11th Jan, 2002
Performance Enhancement 7-11th Jan, 2002
Llewllyn Wishart with Kim Sargeant-Wishart

EVALUATION
WORKSHOP DESCRIPTIONS & TUTOR'S BIO

From: llewellynwishart@earthlink.net
Date: Tue, 19 Feb 2002 17:23:12 EST
Subject: SG 2002 Feedback
To: dancemen@midcoast.com.au

G'day Peter,
First, thank you for inviting me to work on the Stamp again, t'was a real pleasure to be there. I learnt a lot and particularly felt the performance enhancement classes were one of the high points of my experience. I received formal evaluations from participants in the BMC program and was wishing I had managed to do the same for the Performance Enhancement, nonetheless the feedback I got anecdotally was very, very positive.

BMC Workshop Evaluations
Some specifics connected to SG - organisation wise:

One area that some participants said could be improved from the Stamping Ground end was the quality of information about the workshop and the contact prior to workshop commencement. I'm trying to remember whether I sent you a blurb with adequate information describing the course. I guess having photocopies of that info would be good to hand out to participants. I remember we did have that on hand year before last.
(Directors comment: the course was fully booked prior to the event and those participants either rec'd the workshop outlines by email or post prior to the event - During Stamping Ground 6 people pushed their way into the course causing crowding problems. They would not have seen the pre-event workshop outline)

The other area which stood out in relation to SG was the structuring of the course. It became clear through a number of folks writing (in the suggested areas of improvement section of the evaluation) that a beginners level and experienced level course would work better in the future. eg. I would recommend running a separate beginners level workshop and also a workshop for folks who have at least attended one BMC workshop, class or program prior to coming to SG.

Also someone commented that they felt that there should have been an equal number of places for men and for women in this course because there were men who missed out, which I agree with but (and this is my feedback) if BMC were to be in high demand next year again it would need to be conducted in a larger venue. There were a number of complaints about the venue being too small which I think was a fair observation. This might be obviated by having a separate beginners and experienced BMC workshop.
(Directors comment: Well, we all know that most men never get off their arse in time to reply to a letter promptly or make that phone call or do things like pre-book themselves into a course, don't we?)

Feedback specific to Llewellyn and Kim:
Overall the quantitative feedback (on a scale from poor-fair-good-excellent) in the areas of teaching/leadership, content, methods of presentation, timing of learning activities and attention to personal and group dynamics were pretty much all in the 'good-excellent' rating. So for me and Kim this was very affirming. We received 12 evaluations out of a group of about 20 participants.

On reflection...I hope this is all useful. I think the performance enhancement and motivation class has wonderful potential, perhaps it could also be called performance enhancement and mentorship. Clearly much of what we did in these classes was about getting a group of people to reflect and ask themselves deeper questions about what motivates them to dance, where they are headed in their life as movers, performers, artists, community workers etc...what is important to them, where they would like to see themselves. I LOVED facilitating this group and if we don't make back in January 2003 I hope that if SG is on in 2004 that I might be able to lead such a class again, it was a privilege to do.

Lastly, maybe you could run a mentorship class or workshop at SG 2003?

Llewellyn Wishart
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WORKSHOP DESCRIPTIONS & BIOGRAPHY
_____________________________________
Dancing the Mind-Body Map
7th-11th January, 2002
for M E N & W O M E N
Llewellyn Wishart
A 5 Day Course for all Adults - 3 hrs daily
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Body-Mind Centering® with a creative/contemplative focus
Dancing the Mind-Body Map is a 5 day journey of sound and movement meditations exploring Body-Mind Centering® (BMC) from a creative and contemplative perspective. We will practice the art of witnessing our own life process from moment to moment. This witnessing process is sometimes called "tracking" which means developing skills at reading the sensory information arising from the physiological/energetic rhythms, pulsations and internal motion of our own bodies and from the wider quantum field.
-From a BMC point of view, tracking is considered a process of conscious evolution. Tracking can be used as a tool for increasing our wellbeing, self awareness and as a rich resource for creative expression for movement/dance, vocal work, meditation practices and bodywork. Our intention over the 5 days is to deepen the ground of our somatic reality: so that we more clearly understand the difference between our thinking or conceptualising of ourselves and the phenomenal world and our actual sensory/kinesthetic experience. In short, who we think we are, in any given moment may be very different to who we actually are in the realm of embodiment and in movement.

These explorations based on Body-Mind Centering® principles may involve contemplative dance, meditation, sounding, gentle bodywork, guided visualisation, developmental movement, full blown gutsy dancing, deep states
of rest and open space. (Please bring a cushion to sit on, maybe a blanket to lie on and of course wear loose comfortable layers of clothing).

ABOUT BODY-MIND CENTERING® (BMC)
BMC is an evolving holistic study of embodiment with educational and therapeutic applications. It is based on anatomical, physiological and developmental movement principles it uses voice, touch, movement and mind training to support an individuals growth and creative development at any point in the life-span. BMC is the pioneering work of visionary movement educator, Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen who has been developing and refining this approach over the last 25 years in USA, Europe and beyond.
There are a number of books available on BMC these are:
SENSING, FEELING & ACTION The Experiential Anatomy of Body-Mind Centering® Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, Wisdom of the Body Moving
An Introduction to Body-Mind Centering® Linda Hartley,
BODY STORIES - A Guide to Experiential Anatomy Andrea Olsen with Caryn
McHose and Mirka Knaster - Discovering the Body's Wisdom.
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Performance Enhancement and Personal Development Workshop
for all dancers
7th-11th Jan, 2002
_____________________________________
This 5 day sequence of one hour workshops aims to support and enhance your practice as a dancer and performer through exploring a number of key principles from Body-Mind Centering® (BMC), Bartenieff Movement Fundamentals™ and meditation practices which have been used to great effect in my own work with elite athletes & dancers - and for personal and team development purposes.

The workshop offers participants some new ways of working with the body to support their dance practice, centering methods, alignment techniques and breath based mind training to enhance performance presence and to better prepare for the stress of performance.

We will also try to individualise your learning experience by helping you to clarify your life goals and purpose in relation to dance.
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Llewellyn Wishart BA, Grad Diploma Movement and Dance,
Certified Body-Mind Centering Practitioner®.
One of the first Australians to receive certification as a practitioner of Body-Mind Centering®, studying over a 4 year period in Amherst Massachusetts USA with BMC's founder, Bonnie Bainbridge-Cohen. Llewellyn's experience in movement and dance education and the human potential field spans some 14 years. He lectured for a period of 3 years at the University of Melbourne in the Graduate Diploma of Movement & Dance, and the Graduate Certificate in Dance Therapy programs. He is a former teacher/consultant for Zoeros Integral Learning, a Melbourne based personal development company. Currently a consultant to the Victorian Institute of Sport one of Australia's leading edge sports training organisations, he has been involved with the training and development of elite athletes to world championship level. He has also worked in professional development with dancers, physical theatre practitioners, coaches, sports science practitioners and sports psychologists in high performance sport. Llewellyn has spent the past year working with a mentor and a life coach to support completion of a Graduate Certificate in Adult Education in Training at University of Technology Sydney (UTS).

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