Somatic Movement and Creative Dance Practices
THEA-40040
This course is designed for adults with an interest in movement and dance, in particular somatic and creative practices. All students are welcome with a minimal to moderate background in dance, movement, other physical discipline, or artistic practice. Whether you wish to feel connected and creative in everyday life or to develop your embodied and artistic practice as a dancer, actor, musician/other artist, please join us.
Movement and dance are vital topics for health, wellbeing, the arts (especially dance/theatre), and culture/society. The main goals of this course are for you to nurture your relationship with your inner connectivity and outer expressivity.
- Through somatic movement practices, you'll tune into your soma and deepen your felt sense of body-mind connection; and through creative dance practices, you'll expand your capacity for exploring, creating, and expressing.
- You'll have the opportunity to generate movement from personally meaningful stimuli, interweave other artistic disciplines such as poetry or visual art, and share ideas and work in a supportive group environment.
Students will leave this course with somatic and creative practices which can be incorporated into artistic practice and/or daily life, and an understanding of how somatic and creative principles support movement, connection, and expression.
Quarters Offered: Fall | Winter | Spring | SummerCourse Duration: 10 weeks
Prerequisite: None
Course Information
Course sessions
Section ID:
Class type:
Textbooks:
No textbook required.
Policies:
- No refunds after: 1/18/2025
- Early Enrollment Discount: $290 ($315 if enrolled after 12/9/2024)
- Early enrollment advised
Note:
Schedule:
| Date | Day | Start | End |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1/11/2025 | Sat | 9:00 a.m. | 11:00 a.m. |
| 1/18/2025 | Sat | 9:00 a.m. | 11:00 a.m. |
| 1/25/2025 | Sat | 9:00 a.m. | 11:00 a.m. |
| 2/1/2025 | Sat | 9:00 a.m. | 11:00 a.m. |
| 2/8/2025 | Sat | 9:00 a.m. | 11:00 a.m. |
| 2/15/2025 | Sat | 9:00 a.m. | 11:00 a.m. |
| 2/22/2025 | Sat | 9:00 a.m. | 11:00 a.m. |
| 3/1/2025 | Sat | 9:00 a.m. | 11:00 a.m. |
| 3/8/2025 | Sat | 9:00 a.m. | 11:00 a.m. |
| 3/15/2025 | Sat | 9:00 a.m. | 11:00 a.m. |
Instructor: Amanda Banks
Amanda Peñaloza-Banks
CMA-SP, RSME, BA Hons Contemporary Dance & Choreography
Amanda Peñaloza-Banks is a Certified Movement Analyst & Somatic Practitioner (CMA-SP), a Registered Somatic Movement Educator (RSME), and a facilitator/educator of movement and dance in community, educational, and professional settings. She is invested in exploring how movement connects us with ourselves, others, the natural world, and spiritual/philosophical perspectives.
Amanda trained at London Contemporary Dance School, UK, and was a contemporary dancer, choreographer, and teacher in Europe for 15+ years. She has lived in the USA for 12 years, and teaches movement and dance for actors, dancers, artists, educators, adults, older adults, and children. Current and recent work includes faculty on The Movement Arc’s “Expressive Movement Facilitator Certificate Program”; faculty on Laban/Bartenieff Somatic Studies International’s “CMA-SP Program”; lead artist for CoTA (Collaborations: Teachers and Artists); consultant/mentor for dance practitioners and companies; guest lecturer at San Diego State University; and adjunct faculty at University of San Diego.
You can read more about me and organizations I work for here…
Amanda - https://www.ourembodiednature.com/
The Movement Arc - https://themovementarc.com
Laban/Bartenieff Somatic Studies International - https://labaninternational.org/
CoTA - https://cotaprogram.org/
