Performing Arts
Suzanne Miller > Choreographer/dancer/
teacher/company director
Photo: François Bergeron, Dancers: Suzanne Miller and Karsten Kroll
Suzanne Miller
I have been working as a professional artist for the past 25 years in the field of contemporary dance. For the past 30 years, I have been training as a dancer with strong foundations in classical ballet including contemporary dance techniques (Graham, Cunningham, Limon), yoga, improvisation and the somatic arts. My current work “Dancing with Skeletons” focuses on movement inspired by the iconic skeleton. As a choreographer/dancer I was/am interested in new ways of moving ‘from the bones’, encouraging the dancer to visualize the ‘core’ of their body (their skeleton) and to realize that bones are not static but are in fact, in constant motion. As part of my research to develop working methodologies that could easily translate into the rehearsal studio with dancers, I thought it would be useful to gain new perspectives based on the wealth of information and hands-on practice that Bob offers.
In the fall of 2008, I started training with Bob, who I think is an expert Alexander instructor who passionately imparts his knowledge of an integrated body aspiring towards interconnectedness and optimum efficiency. Bob encourages new habits in body consciousness that better reflects one’s full potential. For instance, how does tension in ones’ rib cage interrupt potential fluidity elsewhere? Are you aware of how the body organizes itself in order to lift a finger? He would then ‘listen’ to how my ‘whole body’ would then respond to lifting a finger. This kind of inquiry helped foster an integrated body. Is your tongue working too hard? I loved to contemplate this since it had never occurred to me that my tongue was indeed ‘working too hard’! One-hour sessions with Bob were intensely rich, the kind of concentration that requires complete openness where discoveries are born. Between sessions I was able to employ the technique at ‘will’ and reveled in small changes, the stepping-stones towards moving with greater agility and awareness.
Bob’s experience training/performing as a contact improviser lends itself perfectly to his practice where touch helps to stimulate consciousness. Our sessions included guided contact while moving through certain ‘warm-up’ routines I’ve employed for many years. I was interested in how differently I would perform these routines using the tools I had learned from Bob and the Alexander technique. This was so much fun! It was as if I had taken a magnifying glass to the movement, so many new sensations and opportunities became apparent. Outside of these sessions, I still imagine that Bob is with me, supporting optimum efficiency and “good use of self”.
Thank you Bob!
To learn more about Suzanne Miller visit www.MillerPaivio.com.
