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In my classes I propose a technical and investigative work. We relate to dance, not so much from the “form” (steps), but more from its “content”. That means, from its principles/ qualities of movement: fluidity and personal expression (ORGANICITY) ; relationship with the ground (ROOTING); listening, dialogue, group dynamics, relationship with music, “groove” (RELATIONAL PRESENCE / PLEASURE / INTERDEPENDENCE).

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My formative work has three different axes:

  • dance with technical emphasis

  • dance with somatic emphasis

  • dance with community emphasis

 

I´m work as an expressive arts facilitator is rooted on the Life/Art Process, a powerful healing modality that uses somatic practices and artistic languages ​​(movement, voice, drawing, writing) as a means of understanding and expressing life narratives. Many diseases and psychosomatic manifestations can be diluted when we develop a more integrated listening and find ways to express challenges. Expressive arts offers a therapeutic model that recognizes the body in its total dimension, facilitating the connection with pre-verbal and symbolic aspects of the self. Somatic work addresses not only the physical dimension, but also the sensory, cognitive and emotional body. As clients increase their ability to experience the body more deeply, new connections and possibilities are discovered.

In the classes I facilitate, I encourage a holistic view of health and teach a series of somatic resources - grounding, centering, connection, flow, expansion - developing a state of listening about how certain postures or bodily habits affect our emotions (and vice versa). I provide a safe creative space for clients to explore personal and interpersonal themes, and generate new resources to bring into their lives. Always having as a guiding questions:

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How working with the body can improve my relationship and care for myself,

with each other and with the world?

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My trainings combine artistic expression, personal growth and social engagement. I stimulate creativity, readiness and autonomy, because to reconnect the person with their creative power is to reconnect the person with their power of accomplishment. I try to cultivate a state of presence, empathy, a sense of belonging and a safe space, where we can remember our shared humanity.

 

NOTE: Classes suitable for different ages and levels, from beginners to professionals. The workshops are one-off trainings; the courses are cumulative proposals, which have a continuity. Whether your intention is reconnecting with yourself, relieving stress, relieving a chronic body condition, or going through a life challenge or transition, this work is for you.

Somatic Movement & Expressive Arts

Through the exploration of different expressive languages ​​(movement, drawing, voice and writing), in these classes we will work from the 5 levels of consciousness: physical, mental, emotional, social and environmental.

A space to develop listening and trust in one's own body, sensitivity, awareness "from the inside out", freedom of expression, and the construction of a safe space in oneself and with the group.

It is an invitation to broaden the experience of oneself, of the other, and of the potential of body and creative work for healing and greater well-being.

Designed for people interested in movement, conscious living, communication, self-knowledge and performing arts.

COURSES

Contemporary Dance & Organic Movement

This course aims to develop essential notions of movement, focusing on different languages: contemporary dance, Gyrokinesis, Gaga, Capoeira, and other physical practices.

Tools and choreographic sequences will be developed based on movement patterns common to these practices (waves, circles, spirals), as well as laboratories with games/ group dynamics. Discovery of organic ways of going/ returning/ crossing the floor, space awareness, impulse, breathing, continuity, mechanics, expansion and fluidity of movement. Special attention to work body awareness & intelligence, presence, readiness, connection with oneself and with other bodies.

Body Awareness & Flow

This practice combines stretching, body awareness, joint mobility and postural alignment. In the light of somatic techniques such as Yoga and Gyrokinesis (a hybrid method that combines elements of dance, yoga, swimming, tai-chi), the focus will be on discovering organic principles of movement, inspired by patterns from Nature, thus developing more strength, stretching, toning, joint mobility, rooting, vital energy and flow of movement. Along with somatic work, body awareness will also be developed, in order to prevent day-to-day injuries. Classes are open to all bodies and physical moments.

Body Mythology

This workshop is based on the LIFE/ART PROCESS®, an expressive arts approach that supports personal, interpersonal and social transformation, developed by Anna Halprin (USA). From exploration of movement, drawing and writing, participants will embark on a journey of exploring their body mythology - stories lodged in the body. Memories, beliefs and blocks associated with each body part will be revisited, with the aim of creating a self-portrait at the end of the process. This experience invites transformation processes, allowing each person to embrace and engage with their personal mythology, identifying and rewriting their own history.

WORKSHOPS

Symbiosis:
Dancing with Nature

Being in Nature enhances a sense of peace and belonging. When we connect with a meaningful landscape - we are reconnecting with ourselves.

Through a combination of movement, drawing, writing, witnessing, group dynamics and site specific, participants will develop an awareness of the responsive interrelationship between body, self and environment. We will explore different parts of the self, expanding presence and awareness from inside out, using the natural elements to support and inspire our expression. In this context, nature is not just a scenario, rather becomes another partner in dance, a mirror of what is alive within us.

Dance & Capoeira

This workshop offers a combination of contemporary dance, body awareness and capoeira angola. We will focus our attention on the principles common to these practices: dialogue, personal expression, three-dimensionality, multidirectionality, readiness with flexibility, contralaterality, flow, playfulness, unpredictability, grounding, finding “supports” and ways of crossing the floor with more fluidly. Taking these principles and qualities of movement as inspiration, participants will be involved in different dynamics of play, improvisation and interaction.

This workshop also aims to develop greater body awareness in order to prevent injuries and restore a freer, expressive and more pleasurable quality to movement.

Special attention will also be given to the metaphorical, dialogic and performative capacity of capoeira, focusing not only on its physicality, but also on the attitudes, principles and metaphors that sustain this culture of movement.

YourDance

The purpose of this workshop is to explore creation-composition procedures that allow participants to generate their own choreographic material and get in touch with their particular way of dancing. A journey of self-knowledge through dance. This workshop is aimed at people interested in working their being in movement with autonomy and creative curiosity.

Team building

Regular classes or occasional workshops in the context of companies. Workplace gymnastics, body awareness, postural correction, group dynamics, and interaction & body expression games.

The workshop with Teresa was one of the most beautiful experiences I've ever had, especially in this so uncertain period we are living. I was able to reconnect with my center.

Teresa Bacelar

(Portugal)

What a pleasure this class... I feel my body has been asking for this, moving my spine more freely... And the way Teresa teaches is super calm and clear.

Diane Assis

(Brazil)

I'm in love with Teresa's classes! She is a great teacher with great ability to communicate and explain proposals while understanding the different contexts of each student and adapting to each one. Her classes are rich and we are accumulating experiences that make the classes more interesting and new.

Margarida Silva

(Portugal)

The classes with Teresa were my first contemporary dance classes and it was a joy to get in touch with this universe through this portal. There were many movements and sensations discovered. Teresa conducts everything in a fun and passionate way, with a lot of knowledge and respect for the students.

Louise Kanefuku

(Brazil)

I loved participating in the Body Mythology workshop. A safe place to explore and cross the languages ​​of movement, visual art, writing. I found a space for freeing creativity, open to all levels of experience, with a diverse and very interesting group of people.

João Mota

(Portugal)

Teresa is a beautiful soul with whom I was fortunate to learn to use dance as a healing. I am grateful for her teachings and for her dedication to this beautiful work. May it continue to touch hearts!

Belinda Sobral

(Portugal)

These classes were an amazing thing in my life. It slowly entered, at first I thought it was an activity without further development. Over time, I understood in the body the changes that were happening: going up a slope, spreading the sheet on the bed, pushing the supermarket cart, dance practices, everything, everything became different, with a very interesting integrated and spiraling consciousness”.

Mariana Terra

(Brazil)

Working with Teresa brought me benefits in everything: my spine and my body give thanks, and my head calmed down… After a few weeks I felt real progress!

Susana Bravo

(Portugal)

When I met Teresa, I felt like I was in a physical "no man's land". I didn't inhabit my body. I just knew I needed something organic, a fluid, non-violent rhythm. Teresa not only has fine knowledge but all the passion to transmit this. She embraces each one in their singularities and knows how to give us all the freedom to evolve at our own pace. Private lessons accelerated my body awareness and paved the way for my ancestral place. That is, for me, alignment with my nature.

Fernanda dos Santos (Portugal)

I was initially afraid to participate in the 'Body Mythology' workshop as I am a somewhat uncoordinated person with no knowledge in this area, but I strongly advise anyone to experience and participate. Teresa has a very sensitive and empathetic way of approaching the ideas that he transposes, both through words and through movement.

Andreia Sousa-Mateus

(Portugal)

These classes are wonderful. I feel more energetic and move more freely... in addition to breathing better... I feel like I have lungs at the base of my spine... My body wants to fly!

Tessa Nelson

(UK) 

The classes with Teresa are spectacular! She is very professional and has a special ability to teach. The work is very inclusive and great for those who want to improve their posture and achieve more dynamism, strength and flexibility.

Viento Vivas

(Germany/Germany)

For those who like challenges and personal development through the body, Teresa provides tools, supports and contains this process of transformation. Super recommended, I became a fan.

Mercedes Barrote Meira

(Portugal)

I came into contact with Teresa's work in various therapeutic (Life-Art Process, Gyrokinesis, etc) and artistic contexts (classes and improvisations). In all of them, I felt inspired by Teresa´s contagious and questioning confidence that led me to listen and communicate better.

André Mourão

(Portugal)

A dancer and choreographer with immense creativity, sensuality and depth. Teresa breathes Nature and Nature breathes through Teresa's body and spirit. An excellent teacher and professional, a brilliant mind and a full heart. Teresa is the 5 senses in person. I recommend it both as an artist and as an educator or performer, as she creates and defends them eloquently, sincerely and completely transparently – a rare quality these days.

Elisa Lima

(Portugal)

Teresa's massages have been a combination of meditative experiences as well as a valuable opportunity of letting go and relax at the hands of someone else. She brings her in depth awareness of the somatic body with the knowledge of how to move the body to release tension. I recommend her for those looking to bring awareness to their bodies, deeply relax, and experience someone who cares about you.

Nicole Combeau

(USA)

A deep respect for what she does. An attentive and careful look for those who are willing to be together. From the perspective of the dance proposed by Teresa, the engagement in a dancing-sensitive-reflective action takes place with conscious organicity. In the Body Mythology workshop I was able to celebrate profound discoveries, always feeling supported by Teresa's competence. What a beautiful experience!

Elane Fonseca

(Brazil)

These classes made me reconnect with the dancer I once was, as a child and teenager. It brought back to me the desire to move, shake, dance, rotate, during classes, but especially in everyday life. A body that now "remembers" to jump, run, dodge, in the rhythm and improvisations of life...

Marina Teixeira

(Brazil)

My body feels more awake and alive. Don't miss the chance to get to know Teresa's work.

Jazz Baptiste

(USA)

Excellent professional! Very complete classes that helped me regain mobility and body awareness. I recommend it to anyone regardless of their level of contact with dance or body practices.

Roxana Suarez

(Colombia/Portugal)

I was afraid to do the Body Mythology workshop because I'm old and I've been stopped for a long time. But it's part of Teresa's job to respect the rhythm of each one, without imposing it, so it was very peaceful. I am really happy!

Stella Katz

(Brazil)

I loved the classes with Teresa. After just a month, I already recognized a different feeling and awareness of my body during everyday activities or even dancing at the club. I recommend!

Desiree Desmarattes

(Germany/Germany)

In Teresa´s classes, we understood the body based on the principles behind movement and breath, and not so much based on form. An experience that allowed me to perceive, through body exercises, ways to flow in my body. This state of fluidity and conscious awareness expanded beyond the limits of the class, resonating in my ways of living, and establishing in my daily relationships.”

Ludmila Aguiar

(Brazil)

Teresa's massage quickly freed me from the pain in my back and neck, very efficient. I strongly recommend it!

Michael Delterra

(France)

TESTIMONIES

TESTEMUNHOS
WORKSHOPS
CURSOS
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