“Expressing more of my heart,” Nicole Sclafani from Robin Becker Dance reveals what the somatic practice of Continuum offers dancers.

Continuum & Creativity interview with Nicole Sclafani (video transcript):

My experience with Continuum started in college, where I met Robin Becker. I remember being in class and she was doing some of the movement and she said, “I’m not making this happen, this is just happening”, and I remember being completely blown away. As dancers we’re so trained to move our body in a certain way and have control over it, and so for me it was a whole other way of thinking of movement.

Since then it’s really just been through Robin and rehearsal process and warming up to Continuum and connecting with dancers through that fluid movement and sounding together. I think Continuum helps you find a full body awareness. So, it’s a practice I think we’re always striving to feel, or to sense more, but it helps to have a full 360 awareness. I don’t think my body fully comes to a concrete stop, there’s always energy flowing or something that extends out.

Being in a piece with someone else or several people, knowing where they are and what they’re doing at all times on stage is really essential for the piece to go well. I would say to other dancers it’s definitely a compliment to what they already know. Being able to sense into your body better just gives you not only better technique but also being able to express maybe more. Being connected to someone allows for a greater expression, through your face, through your movement. You can be vulnerable with each other, you can allow for more warmth to come through or. Yeah, for me it’s just a way of expressing more of my heart.