Free experiential workshop on discovering personal rhythms Feb. 12

Somatic educator Meriah Kruse will offer a unique, experiential workshop at Syracuse University on Saturday, Feb. 12.

“Discovering Personal Rhythms” will be held from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. in Room 137 of Sims Hall. A complimentary continental breakfast will be served at 9:30 a.m. The workshop is free and open to the University and greater Syracuse communities, but pre-registration is required by e-mailing Diane Grimes at dsgrimes@syr.edu. Parking is available in the Q4 lot.

The workshop is sponsored by Hendricks Chapel with support from the Health and Wellness Lecture Fund and the Department of Communication and Rhetorical Studies in the College of Visual and Performing Arts.

Participants are welcome to bring percussion instruments, although they are not required. No prior experience in movement, percussion or contemplative practices is needed. Attendees are advised to dress comfortably.

Kruse says that rhythm is the only element shared by every art form. “Painting, sculpture, music, dance and theater, as well as poetry, fiction writing and media arts all consider the use of time, rhythmic pattern and accent. This is no wonder, since all art emanates from the felt experience of the human body, a body existing in time and space,” says Kruse. “Each person has her own personal rhythm, evident in his walking, breathing, even the act of thinking. Discovering one’s personal rhythms can lead to a more intimate relationship with self, and provides an insightful tool for how we interact with life’s circumstances.”

The workshop will include the somatic methods Bones for Life® and the Feldenkrais Method®, Dynamic Contemplative Walking®, Body Percussion, and a showing of the 1993 documentary “When the Moment Sings,” which demonstrates the rhythmic beauty of the elegant, musical and practical walk of African women who carry heavy objects on their heads for miles with apparent ease.

Kruse is an experiential guide, movement artist and teacher with nearly 30 years of experience in movement education. After a long career in choreography and dance education, she is now in full-time practice as a somatic educator, lecturer and wellness writer in Lexington, Ky. She has studied African polyrhythmic ensemble drumming for many years and is currently a member of an African percussion ensemble and the drum corps for Lexington’s street band.

She is the founder and CEO of Be Free to Move and has been certified for 12 years in the Feldenkrais Method of Somatic Education®.