Past events and workshops
01/23 - 06/23
“I do not intend to speak about; just speak nearby.”
Shot in Senegal, Reassemblage is a 1982 experimental montage documentary by Vietnamese filmmaker Trinh T. Minh-ha. It is a non-linear exploration of the relationship between the filmmaker and her subjects. The film is an important work of visual anthropology and ethnography. Foregoing traditional documentary filmmaking techniques such as the use of an authoritative voice-over and observational long takes, the film may be understood, writes film scholar Erika Balsom, as anti-ethnography: it “reflexively dismantles the objectification and exoticization of otherness which mark the ethnographic and colonial projects alike.”
Film run time: 40 minutes
Followed by an informal discussion
Saturday 24 June 2023
19:00
The Ground Flow
Donation-based community event
Tea and snacks will be provided
Please feel free to bring fruits or snacks to share.
Are you interested in learning more about the techniques and principles of Thai massage?
During the 4-hour workshop, we'll delve into the fundamentals of the ancient healing art, covering essential techniques such as palm pressing, thumb pressure, and stretching. You'll learn how to apply these techniques effectively to various body parts, promoting deep relaxation, improved circulation, and relief from muscular tension, following the foundational concepts of energy lines (sen) and acupressure points.
Through hands-on practice, you'll learn basic massage sequences that you can take with you and use with partners and friends for at-home relaxation and everyday embodied wellness.
When:
Sunday 11 June 2023
10am - 2pm
Where:
The Ground Flow Koh Phangan
(https://thegroundflow.space)
See Contact page for directions
Exchange:
THB 1,000
Come with a friend for THB 800 each
Registration
DM @thegroundflow on Instagram/Facebook or email dance@thegroundflow.space
About the instructor:
Map (@flowmaps_movement) is a Thai teacher of yoga, dance, and movement flow based on Koh Phangan. His teaching draws on his research into dancing arts, embodiment, anatomy, and neuroscience of movement and wellness. In addition to academic studies in art history, he holds a certificate of Thai Traditional Massage from the Watpo Thai Traditional Medical and Ayuravate Association, one of Thailand's oldest centers of traditional Thai massage.
***This course is intended for educational and personal wellness purposes only. It does not constitute medical or therapeutic advice.***
**new date: FRIDAY 9 JUNE**
In the 1930s, anthropologists Gregory Bateson and Margaret Mead spent two years living in Bali, immersing themselves in the local culture. In the process they pioneered the use of sound and image to capture their experiences there. One of the fruits of their research was the short documentary Dance and Trance in Bali, a landmark film in visual anthropology released in 1951 (they had shot most of the footage in 1937). Through the lens of dance, the film also provides an early example of cultural analysis informed by a theory of choreographic symbolism. As Sally Ann Ness writes:
During their Balinese work, Mead and Bateson articulated a perspective on the meaning-making capabilities of human body movement that no one of their generation, or the generation following them, came anywhere near. The couple observed movement practices as capable of conveying abstract forms of intelligence previously assumed to depend upon the constructions of linguistic syntax alone.
Watching the film today, we may also raise questions about the ethics of ethnographic work, whose voices get foregrounded and how. For anyone interested in dance and spirituality, the symbolism of the body in movement, as well as the importance of “‘place”—as Bateson and Mead had understood Bali.
Run time: 21:40
Film screening followed by an informal discussion
Friday 9 June 2023
19:00
The Ground Flow (https://thegroundflow.space)
For directions, see Contact page
Email: dance@thegroundflow.space or DM @thegroundflow on Instagram/Facebook to register
Donation-based community event.
Tea and snacks will be provided.
Please also feel free to bring fruits and snacks to share.
Second meeting of the Ecosomatics reading group. We'll discuss "An Ethics of Wild Mind," an interview with poet, translator and author David Hinton.
From Emergence Magazine:
"In this conversation [...] David Hinton calls for a radical reweaving of mind and land. Tracing the shifts in human consciousness that distanced us from nature, he draws on Tao and Ch’an Buddhist philosophy in an effort to help us navigate the sixth extinction with an ethics tempered by love."
Have a read or a listen to the conversation at: https://emergencemagazine.org/int.../an-ethics-of-wild-mind/
________
23 March 23
17:30-18:30
The Ground Flow
Free community event
Tea and light snacks will be provided. Please also feel free to bring food to share.
The Ground Flow warmly invites every body to join a creative harvest from Koh Phangan's growing CI community. To seed inspiration and enjoy the fruits of the films, poetry and photographs that have emerged within our various projects.
______________________
Program (subject to improvisation)
18:30 -- Arrival. Sharing of tea, fruits, snacks
19:00 -- Film screenings
Dance to The Backyard
Filmed by Eli Hill, featuring Geraldine Acevedo Espana and Reimar Wen Shen (6 min)
Ying Yang Tao
Filmed by Geraldine Acevedo de Espana, featuring Reimar Wen Shen, Francisco Borges (2 min)
Michael and Emilia
Filmed by Daria Lukina at Land and Water 2020 (2 min)
Stones
Filmed by Daria Lukina, featuring Ekaterina Basalaeva (6 min)
River Paintings
Filmed by Eli Hill, featuring Alexandra Wuzyk, Mikis Taguchi, Giulia Isobel (8 min)
-- Poetry and still images
Being Nature Readings
Poems by Dolores Dewhurst Marks with projected photography by Ken Buslay (20 min)
We are Flying with You
Art research focused on biodiversity and the birds of Koh Phangan by Veronica Olariu (10 min)
Blue Paintings and Water Poems
by Alexandra Wuzyk (3 min)
In Spiral
Contact improvisation poems by Alexandra Wuzyk (10 min)
-- Open mic (10 - 20 min)
>>>> Bring your poems, favourite books, and imagination
20:30 -- Q&A discussion into dissolution
_______________________
Donation-based, all are welcome
Please feel free to bring fruits and snacks to share.
_______________________
Curated by Alexandra Wuzyk
Hosted by The Ground Flow
Danced Stories:
Practice-Based History of Modern / Contemporary / Contact Dance
3-Day Mini-Course
What?
Learn the history, theory, and context of dance in the twentieth century to the present through three nodal points: modern dance, contemporary dance, and contact improvisation. Each day will include lecture, demonstration, archival image and video viewing and, most importantly, opportunities to practice and embody the techniques and styles discussed in your own body.
Who?
The mini-course is designed for everyone regardless of previous background or knowledge of dance. It provides an embodied taster of dance history for anyone who’s interested in movement, the body, and the arts. For those with an existing practice in dance, contact improvisation and/or related modalities, this mini-course will provide a historical framework through which they can situate their practice and make new creative connections across time.
When & where?
20 / 21 / 22
March 2023
17:30 – 20:30
The Ground Flow
Cost
THB 3,500 early bird (by 13 March)
THB 4,000 regular
Email: dance@thegroundflow.space or DM @thegroundflow to register
About the instructor
Paisid Aramphongphan (“Map”) holds a PhD in art history from Harvard University with a specialization in the intersection of art & dance. He is the author of Horizontal Together: Art, Dance, and Queer Embodiment in 1960s New York (Manchester University Press), which was shortlisted for the de la Torre Bueno Dance Studies Book Awards. Since a young age, Map has been a passionate dancer and avid learner of dance history, having also received training in modern, contemporary dance, jazz, ballet, and related techniques. As part of the wider ecology of movement communities on Koh Phangan, Map would love to provide space for the integration of practice, history, and theory.
With guest teachers Geraldín Acevedo España @hojadeltropico (contact improvisation) and Nisan Ter @nisanx (contemporary)
About the instructor:
Anna Leona spent 10+ years dancing and enjoys the celebratory aspect of twerk & dance; something Twerk Flow wishes to share with others. She has also been a practitioner of yoga for 7 years and a yoga teacher since 2019. Her dance flows & fusion yoga style are fluid, smooth, & strong
Drop-ins welcome.
To register for the full series, email: dance@thegroundflow.space or
DM us on Instagram/Facebook
We look forward to spreading the joy of Thai dancing with Kwang (@the_calm_cook)
What?
Dance the beauty of Thai culture through fun storytelling and dancing. Learn the close relationship between Thai dance, way of life, and food culture.
When?
11 March: Rice farmer
18 March: Fishmonger
17:30 - 18:30
Drop-ins welcome
Where?
The Ground Flow | https://thegroundflow.space
Exchange
THB 400 drop-in
THB 700 for the series (two classes)
About the instructor
Born and bred in Bangkok, Kwang learned and practiced traditional Thai dancing when she was young and still love to dance to this day. She would like to help preserve and support traditional Thai dancing, which is becoming harder to find nowadays. Kwang cooked with her mother since she was 8 years old and spent a decade working as a professional chef in many countries. Now based on Koh Phangan, she also teaches traditional Thai cooking as well as yoga.
Up next in our dance film screening series: Blush (2005) by Wim Vandekeybus, a film version of his choreographic work performed by his company, Ultima Vez. Vandekeybus is one of the key figures of the loose genre known as European dance theater. Blush is described by Ultima Vez as “a dazzling voyage swinging between the heavenly landscapes of Corsica and the slummiest depths of Brussels. It is an exploration of the savage subconscious, of mythical forests, of conflicting instincts, of imagination, where the body has reasons unknown to the mind. In dance sequences of attraction, confrontation and repulsion the performers take on animal metamorphoses…”
Run time: 52 minutes
Post-screening informal discussion facilitated by Nisan Ter
13 March 2023
18:00-19:30
The Ground Flow
Donation-based community event
Light snacks and tea will be available. Please also feel free to bring your own to share.
About the discussion facilitator:
Nisan started her dance education at an early age with classical ballet and contemporary dance. Since then she has been exploring different disciplines and movement methods. She performed with Modern Dance Company Ankara for 7 years and has taught at several universities and festivals at home and abroad. For many years, she has been travelling while performing and sharing her passion. Her intention is to stay in touch with the universe through movement and continue to be a channel for the energy that heals herself and her surroundings.
Google thinks “Kylie” means Kylie Jenner and one just has to wonder:
How did we get here?
A dance class in celebration of the iconic.
An all-Kylie playlist.
Contemporary/pop dance with signature Kylie moves.
Good times.
1 March 23
17:00-18:00
THB 400
All levels of dance experience welcome
We gathered to watch Evidentia, a film conceived by former ballet star Sylvie Guillem who, starting from the mid-1990s, shifted her attention and movement practice toward contemporary dance. For this dance film, she worked with renowned contemporary choreographers such as Mats Ek and William Forsythe to create a work of art designed specifically for the medium. As Guillem put it, “We have always wanted to film dance, but here it’s just the contrary: we leave the film to dance.”
Informal post-screening discussion will be facilitated by Nisan Ter.
18:00 - 20:00
A donation-based community event
Tea and light snacks will be provided. Feel free also to bring food/fruits to share.
About the discussion facilitator:
Nisan started her dance education at an early age with classical ballet and contemporary dance. Since then she has been exploring different disciplines and movement methods. She performed with Modern Dance Company Ankara for 7 years and has taught at several universities and festivals at home and abroad. For many years, she has been travelling while performing and sharing her passion. Her intention is to stay in touch with the universe through movement and continue to be a channel for the energy that heals herself and her surroundings.
ECOSOMATICS reading group #1
Sunday 12 February 23
17:30-18:30
The first meeting of the ECOSOMATICS reading group.
