“… gentle and cruel trans, between earth and sky, angels devouring demons,

demons devoted to angels.

Motion, the transformation of all things, nothing is born, nothing dies,

a continuum of transmutations, eternal and impermanent.

Angels in the cells… tonal modulations… transparent and ethereal…

opaque and solid… golden skins, argent skies…

the journey of our bones into the memories of our lives…

embryonic vibrations…

a release in movement and its echo in unveiled dimensions… 

A tender painting to the sky, a crying song to the earth,

a shamanic ritual descending into what never settles and never is.

Entwined sensitivities and organic visions,

a pulse that captures the manifested from heaven and earth,

possessing them in order to sublime harmony, to merge into oneness.“

“Motional is a choreographic language I am actively developing through the last decade. It is an embodied and in motion research which aims to animate, nurture, and awaken the subtle body of the dancer. It emerges from natural patterns and addresses the most physical as well as the most vibrational aspects of the self. My approach to the self in motion considers the body as a genuine and sensitive landscape, dived into and nurtured by our earthly condition. I relate to the motional body by entering the resonances containing and contained in us, by rooting in the ground of breath and by following the dynamic growth of spirals through our connectivity, from the depth of the bones to the surface of the skin and beyond.

Motional is a profound movement practice that intensifies physical engagement and explores inspirational and creative potentials. By guiding motion through the fibers of our tissues we allow our reflective and somatic intelligence to watch movement lead us to present/presence. The balance between active/passive engagement transforms our mindfulness into an encompassing witnessing. This way, we enter motion with resilience so that the point of balance between known and unknown can be met and unfold.

Motional exists as an embodied poetry at the cross-point of ancestral and actual somatic practices. It embraces the self in its holistic and cosmic dimensions and attunes our vibrancy and potency in resonance with the wholeness. This research is an ongoing process, a pool for remembrance and offspring.

I orient the developmental process of Motional towards the manifestation of a healthy and resourcing movement practice. As dancers/performers, we may sometimes feel drained at the level of our inspirational, energetic and physical realities. These labs are a space to regenerate physically and energetically, to nurture our inspirational field, explore and expand our choreographic syllabus and reconnect to our inner and intimate personal impulses as dancers/performers.

These Labs are addressed to any dancer/performer interested into the further study of their body-knowledge, physical creativity, and cellular/collective awareness.” Louise Chardon

Testimonies from the previous lab:

“In Motional regular time stops. Space becomes an eternal nourishing web that expands both outwards and inwards. By exploring motility, which is the energetic origin of movement, and different spectrums of pulse, which bring motility towards movement, you encounter different pathways that bring forth new movements that feel deeply supported. My arm is never simply rising up or down, it is ever connected, carried by different micro and macro motions of human and more than human realms. By practicing Motional, one experiences the elasticity between time & space which evokes refreshing internal poetic landscapes of anatomical, experienced, emerging, lost, never found, or yet to be imagined intelligences and sensitivities.  Louise guides you delicately through deep dives in your body that make you feel alien and yet profoundly connected to the direct environment. The spirit is the air on which our inner butterflies beat their wings” Christine Sollie

“It is hard to put in words the processes that were accompanying me during these 9 days of laboratory because there were many at the same time. My body woke up slowly to a deeper understanding of its basic needs and abilities. Stepped on a path of revisiting patterns. I connected with the spiral that is passing through my pelvis, holds it, and started to wake up more my sensuality. The rhythm of the practices was very organic for me and the circular flow was becoming more mine each day. I felt connected with the practice of combining the movement with drawing. Would love to do more of it. The long process of shaking was also very good for my body, teaching how to melt my muscles, bones, connect with the strength and pleasure at the same time. I feel it is a constant search that can continue forever. Thank you for the image of constellations and telepathic connections, it will stay with me and my personal research.” Natalia Lis

“… Beyond… Motional touched me deep into the inner layers of my body & my soul. From my core I feel awakened and vibrant. I feel supported by gravity & the earth. We bounce, we spiral, we find movement in a gentle way…   in connection with the other & with our Self.    Movement in silence or with our voice. Louise teaches with freedom and without judgement … there is space to discover, to unblock patterns and become aware. I feel connected to my core and alive into all my cells. We dance, we move, we discover, we embrace and we release. In Motional I am asked to look inside into depth. To practice Motional feels nourishing, strengthening and strongly releasing. I sense and discover my bones, layers in my heart, muscle and body tissue. Louise’s teaching gives deep inside in anatomy in a unique and tactile way. I always discover many new… … grateful” Hanna Balke

“How to be taken apart and put together at the same time? How to be scientifically geographically mapping this human bodyscape, yet dissolving bodies as shifting fluid, beyond fluid, partic(le)ular / particle-perculiar essence? I feel emotional, deeply moved, yet grounded in bones, flesh, newly found & newly felt anatomical rigour. The Motional mapping is so multi-layered, across all bodies that is feels like a gentle yet profound re-calibration, re-sensitisation, a multi-linguistic re-set … a re-memberence of a wholistic bodily dance. There’s much that’s yet to settle. The Motional landscape is so rich I feel it still may take some time to land. To meet such micro detailed anatomical embodied/bodily wisdom with macro cosmic energetic dance & welcomed com-union felt like the expansive-collapse of the quantum, the present, the now, a fractal of the all reflected in a single precise dot (or movement). With love & gratitude” Helena Allan

“Motional is you sharing your divinity. It is endless in its forms and potentials – it is your ways of infinity manifest. A magnificent gift to this world.   Love moves you in your teaching. The closed eyes drawing of sensation, the passionate anatomical exploration of sensual details, the mandalas coming to life, the energetic centers pulsating, and all of these combined – are just a taste of your widening expression so very ready to be shared.   You mentioned that you would like us to be the ripples of Motional in time and space. Well, In all honesty, I do not think you need us. The time is now, and your ripples reach as far as you trust them to go.   You know this, but I repeat to echo, that any manifestation of your unique vision – is a blessing. If documenting is not natural to you – it’s not needed. I saw your eyes sparkle when you mentioned big scale drawings – please follow that. Your version of anatomy is what the dance world needs, and still doesn’t know.   As for me, I love being lost, not knowing what my day will bring. I love the singularity of each moment and encounter, the surprises and the revelations, the dreams and the awakening. More than all, I love the surrender of anything I’ve ever learned. All of me, known and unknown, is loved when I surrender. In presence, I find, I am everything already.   So, dear Lou, I will not be joining the telepathic encounters. I trust your light to shine through anything you encounter. It’s all you anyway.” Almog Loven

After a long and intense professional career as a dancer and performer, Louise Chardon develops further her life path through somatic practices enhancing spiritual growth and self-inquiry. For more than 30 years, she dedicates herself to the study of being (in) motion. She specialized in listening to the profound sensitivity of the self and how our subconscious manifests into our embodied nature. She mainly applies her researches to her visual and performative art and shares it through her pedagogic and therapeutic approaches which she defines as Embodied Philosophy & Energetic Physiology. Louise is a certified Body-Mind Centering® Practitioner. She embodies Chi Kung, Tuina, Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy, Feldenkrais, Alexander Technique, Authentic Movement and Yoga for more than 20 years.

The frame: we will practice every morning from May 4th till May 10th for 3 to 4 hours, starting at 10am (7 sessions / 21<28 hours of practice).

These practices main focus will be the transmission of Motional as a choreographic language. Simultaneously, they will have the freedom to unfold organically as the inspiration and interest evolves and transforms day by day. We may have some sessions addressing movement via bodywork, other via embodied studies, other via meditative states.

In the afternoons, the space remains available for personal research, exploration, individual sessions with me and or hands-on sharing.

If you wish to stay, over on the land during this period, please contact me personally (see my contacts here bellow).

Contribution: sliding scale 105€ < 180€

info & registration: chardon.lou@gmail.com / +351 91 051 81 01 (Telegram & WhatsApp)

Location: A Mandorla / Monte do Carvalhosinho https://goo.gl/maps/qUbM7JvcrdnBuYq5A