Ibiza Movement Arts Culture Intensives

Rock, Water, Space

9th – 13th October 2023

with Gemma Mallol & Romanie Sanchez Smele

Content: During this five-day intensive, mornings will be spent with Gemma Mallol, who will guide contemplative, somatic explorations into the solid, fluid and spacious qualities of the elemental terrain of Ibiza, and how they dialogue through the body into movement.

Afternoons will be spent painting with Romanie Sanchez, an artist who grew up immersed in the landscapes of Ibiza, and whose creative response to the island is one characterised by innocence, nostalgia, magic and nature. Through meditative, playful and deconstructive methods, she will help the group to access a subconscious field that can express the embodied elemental experiences of rock, water and space in painted form.

For five days we will encounter Ibiza through somatic process, movement, contemplation, exploration, painting, and play, giving form and creative expression to the wild elemental body of the island.

Locations: On this intensive elemental movement work will take place outdoors (site specific) in the mornings and in the afternoons painting sessions will take place both outside and in Romanie’s studio in San Antonio.

Schedules: Workshop starts at 9am on Monday 9th October and ends on Friday 13th October. Daily Outdoor Elemental Movement from 9.00 – 12pm. Daily Afternoon Painting from 4 – 7pm

Facilitator Biographies: Romanie Sanchez Smele is an artist who grew up immersed in the landscapes of Ibiza. She paints as a way of discovering the unknown. She doesn’t search for beauty, she searches for messages that come from the subconscious. She never knows what she will paint, She just follows the shapes. For the last two decades she has balanced her time between developing her artistic practice, facilitating creative workshops and fighting forest fires in the summer months. The sum of these activities has enabled Romanie to follow a path of exploration in the way we communicate and give voice to our inner subconscious.

https://instagram.com/romaniesanchez

Gemma Mallol half from Ibiza is currently an embodied dance and movement researcher (Master’s at Plymouth University), a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner, Senior Yoga and Mindfulness Teacher Trainer (22 years teaching) and works with somatic movement, nature and creativity in the resolution of trauma. She is currently researching where Butoh Dance, Somatics and Buddhist meditative movement forms such as walking meet.

https://instagram.com/ancestral_body

Unmasking the Body: Sculpting the Mask

16th – 20th October 2023

with Gemma Mallol & Joanna Hruby  

Content: For millennia, humans of all the world’s continents have crafted puppets, masks and ritual objects in order to harness deeper relationships with the landscapes which surround them. Through sculpting a material and imbuing it with a thought or intention, these shapes can become spells and prayers, offered back to the land which first birthed them.

During this five-day intensive, Gemma’s morning explorations in the elemental body, within the raw, rugged terrain of Ibiza, will cultivate an embodied field of creativity which will be developed further in the afternoons with artist, puppet-maker and storyteller Joanna Hruby. Through their ongoing exploration of the Ibizan landscapes, participants will learn how to give physical form to a puppet-mask being, using cardboard sculpture and papier-mâché, via crafting and adorning. Following this process, we will find a lost language that enables us to rebuild bridges of connection with the earth upon which we stand. Our embodied creations will lead us back to the vital, primal essence of an island whose territory has been dulled for too long by the influences of mass tourism and globalisation.  

For five days we will encounter Ibiza through somatic process, movement, storytelling, crafting and sculpting, giving form to a wild, ancient, pine-scented force that is greater than ourselves. 

Locations: On this intensive elemental movement work will take place outdoors (site specific) in the mornings and in the afternoons mask/puppet making sessions will take place in a local artist’s rooftop studio on the west coast of Ibiza, near San Antonio.

Schedules: Workshop starts at 9am on Monday 16th October and ends at 7pm on Friday 20th October. Outdoor Elemental Movement from 9.00 – 12pm. Afternoon Mask Making from 4 – 7pm

Facilitator Biographies: Joanna Hruby is an artist, puppeteer, performer and storyteller originating from the South West England. On settling on Ibiza eight years ago she formed “Theatre of Ancients” whose highly-visual and ritualistic puppet and mask performances bring to life the history, myths, folklore and traditional culture of Ibiza. All of the facets of Joanna’s work strive to create a dialogue and communion with the wild, ancient landscapes of Ibiza which have been silenced by mass tourism and globalisation. https://www.theatreoftheancients.com

Gemma Mallol half from Ibiza is currently an embodied dance and movement researcher (Master’s at Plymouth University), a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner, Senior Yoga and Mindfulness Teacher Trainer (22 years teaching) and works with somatic movement, nature and creativity in the resolution of trauma. She is currently researching where Butoh Dance, Somatics and Buddhist meditative movement forms such as walking meet.

https://instagram.com/ancestral_body

Further Logistics and Organisational Details:

Accommodation: These are non-residential intensives. We have a list of suitable places we can recommend in the area and it is up to you to arrange your own accommodation. We are recommending simple places on the west coast of Ibiza that charge between 30 – 60 Euros per night per person to keep costs as low as possible. Obviously if you want to book something more expensive that is up to you.

Food: We are not providing food on the workshop. We recommend that participants have a light breakfast before morning practice and then bring a packed lunch, snacks and water to drink for the day, we also have some local recommendations for a Spanish menu of the day lunch. There will be the option or going out for dinner together over the course of the 5 day workshop.

Cost: Non- Residential / 350 -450 Euros (sliding scale) per workshop

Bookings & Info: Please email Gemma on stillflowing@hotmail.co.uk or Whats App 00 44 7745300237

We warmly welcome all bodies, brain types, ages, ethnicities and genders

Places are limited to 12 and accommodation books up in Ibiza so please book well in advance