The Greek word soma means ‘living body’ and refers to the experience of the body from within – as a feeling, perceiving and acting subject. This course introduces somatic practices that train intuition and body awareness and enable a differentiated exploration of embodiment.

Through the activation of the senses, the use of touch, imagery and anatomical knowledge, physical habits are explored and new ranges of movement are opened up. The aim is to expand and refine one's own movement and expressive abilities – towards integrated, articulated and conscious performative actions.

The focus is on practical experimentation and the interplay of various somatic techniques – including applied anatomy, ideokinesis, meridian stretching, fascia work, myoreflex practice, body-mind centring and improvisational approaches. These are related to concepts such as gravity, momentum, space, dynamics, horizontality and embodiment.

The module invites participants to engage in a reflective dialogue with their physical selves and to understand ‘narratives of the body’ as a means of embodying aesthetic, social and political contexts. Somatic processes thus become tools and starting points for individual and collective artistic research.

It will be possible to link up with the artistic research project ‘Shaken Grounds: Seismography of Precarious Presences’ and their exhibition at Angewandte Interdisciplinary Lab.

Regular and active participation in somatic explorations, performative investigations, discussions, and submission of a written, module-related reflection (somatic process logbook) at the end of the semester. 

Please bring comfortable clothing, notebooks and pens!

Logbook submission until 13.07.2026 at 1:00 pm

The course is part of the APL (Applied Performance Laboratory).

Further information here: https://apl.uni-ak.ac.at/

Dates:

We will start on Tuesday, 3rd of March at APL from 10:00 a.m.–11:30 a.m.

As a kick off we will begin the summer semester with an event on 4th March 2026, 6:00 p.m. at TanzQuartierWien! All course participants are invited to use the TQW students code to receive reduced ticket fees! I will send that asap!

Here some info on the work “This Variation” by Tino Sehgal: https://www.tqw.at/en/events/this-variation

This is an optional offer: On the 17th March, at 6:30 p.m. you are invited to join an event at World Museum in Collaboration with the Lab for Regenerative Design!

Here some details: chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.weltmuseumwien.at/fileadmin/user_upload/PT_WMW_Regenerative_Design_EN.pdf

 

Classes:

3 March 2026, 10:00 a.m.–11:30 a.m.

4 March 2026, 10:00 a.m.–11:30 a.m.

10 March 2026, 10:00 a.m.–11:30 a.m.

17 March 2026, 10:00 a.m.–11:30 a.m.

17 March 2026, 18:30 p.m.–20:00 p.m.

24 March 2026,10:00 a.m.–11:30 a.m.. Special Guest: Marte Sidney from the Curiosity Lab / Fontys in Tilburg (NL)

21 April 2026, 10:00 a.m.–11:30 a.m.

28 April 2026, 10:00 a.m.–11:30 a.m.

12 May 2026, 10:00 a.m.–11:30 a.m.

2 June 2026, 10:00 a.m.–11:30 a.m.

16 June 2026, 10:00 a.m.–11:30 a.m.

Course completion: 23 June 2026, 19:00-21:00 Open Stage

Location:

Studio Angewandte Performance Laboratory, alte P.S.K., Georg-Coch-Platz 2, A-1010 Wien, Hochparterre