Yoga in Ubud – Week 1

Posted on April 14, 2015 by heidi

Our first week of training in Bali is over – and it has surprised us.

First of all – our yoga course. It sounds crazy, but we think it has already changed us. Courses like this are often said to be ‘transformative’ – but it is still hard to believe until it happens! We didn’t expect to get information that is so motivating. It is truly widening our perspective on yoga and on life.

Just a few things we focused on:

How every moment, thought and action has an affect on your life force. Working on self awareness.
Learning what it takes to ‘strengthen your internal world’, so that you can manage the challenges of life.
Yoga helps you achieve a balanced state – not worn out or tired, not stressed or anxious. Your natural balanced state!
Amazing insights into meditation and breathing… and actually trying it.
There is a lot more to the art of Yoga than poses. A lot.
And yes – we meditated at dawn, did headstands during ‘reggae yoga’ and sat around a fire chanting sanskrit mantras. We even got a string of mala beads. Total yogis!

…there is so much more. We could write pages!

Our yoga teacher training course is with The School of Sacred Arts at The Yoga Barn. We are having an amazing time. Even if it finished now, we would be satisfied – and there is still 3 weeks left!

Oh, and secondly – Ubud is a wonderful place to visit. You should go.

Great things about taking a rejuvenating trip to Ubud! :

Amazing food – local, organic, raw, vegan or pretty much anything else… All at very low prices.
Yoga classes – the Yoga Barn alone has an amazing selection of classes, not to mention awesome stuff like ecstatic dance and healing music concerts.
All kinds of talks/lectures/healing therapies available… It is easy to do something for yourself and try new things.
Lots of cheap massage/spa treatments /reflexology etc to calm down your day.
Live traditional Balinese music and dance – presented in the evening at many temples around town throughout the week. You can really feel the spirit of Bali!
The scenic rice paddies – escape the motorcycles and go for a walk or hike into the green. It is so peaceful and beautiful out there!
Lots more! …local shopping on the narrow and busy streets – locally made yoga related clothes and jewellery – Balinese sculpture and art… The list goes on!

What an interesting and different holiday this could make for so many people! Open your mind. Do it for yourself. Find your balanced state! (Plus the rest of Bali is right there, waiting to be explored…)

We have a lot more to say, but thought we would start with this overview of our experience.

See you again soon – Namaste.

The Adventure Begins

Posted on April 4, 2015 by timothy

Sometimes in life you just need to leap off into the unknown.

We have already made some big changes this year… And the adventure is just beginning. Being dancers is an amazing gift, and we want to take it further. We want to take time for ourselves and to enjoy life! We thought that taking a break was long overdue, and so here we are.

First of all, we got married (finally!) in March and our wedding was probably the best day of our lives so far. It was a massive amount of work in only 2.5 months, but it was a dream come true. (We are working on a wedding post for you, but we are waiting on our official photos and video!)

And now, we have just arrived in Ubud, Bali, to begin our Yoga Teacher Training Course with the School of the Sacred Arts at the Yoga Barn. We begin on Sunday. We are nervous, but excited. How amazing for us, after all our dancing experience, to start at the beginning and learn something new… not just for our bodies, but for our minds.

Following our month long course, we will travel to Germany – sort of a big finale to our ‘honeymoon’. We are not sure yet where all these adventures will lead us, and our future is open and unknown. It is a little scary, but at the same time, we are open and free.

There is so much to see and do, and so much to give and share… We will be posting updates along the way so you can follow us on our journey. From the rice paddies of Ubud… Namaste!

‘The Soldier’s Tale’- Behind the scenes with choreographer Timothy Coleman

Posted on November 14, 2014 by heidi

This weekend is the premiere of an independent theatre show ‘The Soldier’s Tale’. ( http://www.ticketmash.sg/soldierstale ) A unique performance combining live musicians and dancers, to be ‘read played and danced’ in two parts. Timothy Coleman has created the choreography for this brand new production in Singapore, and shares his experiences behind the scenes…

What is unique about this production?

The original production was a Russian folktale to be “read, played, and danced”. We thought we could tell the story in a modern way through dance and interaction with live musicians, as well as narration. In the performance we have seven live musicians, three dancers, a narrator, and a conductor combining to tell the story.

What was the choreographic process like?

I didn’t start this project with a clear knowledge of what it was going to become. I just sort of let it evolve. This was a very different approach for me as I usually like to have everything planned out before I start.

I wanted to each of the characters to have very different and unique styles of movement. I selected pieces of music from different genres to come up with a movement repertoire for each of the characters. The Devil’s movement began from experimental- electronic/techno music and the Soldier’s movement started out to a recording of army marching drills. With this as a basis I started trying to fit it together to the incredibly difficult music by Stravinsky.

What makes this music challenging?

The music of The Soldier’s Tale is composed by Igor Stravinsky. If you are familiar with his music you will know that it can be a little ‘different’ to listen to – let alone dance to. Most often we dance to music that has fairly regular counts. Stravinsky’s music however is not like this at all. It jumps all over the place – sometimes a ten, followed by a six, then a thirteen. This means that the dancer has to learn the steps AND a seemingly random sequence of numbers. For some of the dances it took me hours of sitting and listening to figure out the most logical way to count the music.

What has the rehearsal schedule been like?

Finding enough rehearsal time has been a bit of a challenge! The dancers and I work full time with Singapore Dance Theatre and therefore have worked a lot of evenings and weekends to get this project finished. It has took about three months to complete. I haven’t been adding up the hours we’ve spent but let’s just say that creating choreography can be a slow process. I am so thankful that the dancers have been so willing give up their time for this project. They have been fantastic.

What was it like working with the musicians?

One of the biggest features of this production is the way the live music and the musicians themselves are part of the story. One of the most important aspects is the Soldier’s violin, so it has been great to bring the violin out of the ensemble and have him ‘dance’ with the Soldier. It was a lot of fun to choreograph a duet for these two performers from different disciplines, and watch them become comfortable sharing the space together.

You are only a couple of days from opening night. How has it all come together?

In the last week we have rehearsed the dancers together with the music ensemble. When you have a live group of musicians the music itself becomes variable and alive, so it is a big change for the dancers, who have been working from a CD recording. Dancers are very sensitive to small changes in tempo. Just 1% can make a noticeable difference. I have worked with Adrian, who is also the conductor, and the dancers to make sure all the cues are right and everything works together as it should.

In the end it has all come together very well and I think we are all set to bump in to the theatre. It has been a long process but an enjoyable one. We are all really looking forward to this weekend. It will be great to finally perform The Soldier’s Tale in front of an audience!