| Carola Robles (EN) | Ara En Moviment

Carola Robles

Peru

CAPSULES

Elastic Resistance / Being Earth

Capsule 1: Elastic Resistance

This class aims to feel the resistance in different tissues of the body, which involves recording their capacity to handle external forces, such as the tensions or compressions that occur while we dance.

We focus on finding resistance to fine-tune our attention to the directions at play and study how we organize ourselves, distribute forces, and channel energy.

In the dialogue of bodies sharing weight, we explore the boundaries between resisting and pushing and open ourselves to the psychophysics of interaction. We zoom in on the elasticity of resistance to feel our limits, allowing ourselves to move, traverse, lean on, or skirt around, trusting in the support of our structure.

How do we build organic and receptive strength? Whole and sensitive bodies.

In improvisation, we allow elastic resistance to nourish configurations in duets, trios, and to shape the fabric of the collective body.

Capsule 2: Being Earth

In this class, we focus on the root, our connection to gravity and the support of the ground. We explore our innate resources to experience this bond in the service of dance: the energetic physical power of the pelvis, the support of the bones, the weight of our blood, the wisdom of our earliest patterns.

In this context, we practice the action of rolling in different ways, honoring the receiving of the Earth to move through space, allowing ourselves to be transformed, recycled, softened, and curved.

With other bodies, we play by following the weight and adapting. We practice being Earth for others, offering our landscape.

In the depth of physical listening, we unfold layers of awareness. With the reliable support of the Earth, we can lay the groundwork for practicing from not knowing, letting go of control, and allowing the unpredictable to emerge.

ABOUT ME

Carola Robles was a gymnast in the 1980s and began dancing in the 1990s in Lima. She spent time in New York and Europe studying with teachers such as Jeremy Nelson, Julyen Hamilton, and Kirstie Simson.

She has been practicing Aikido for 20 years, holds a 4th degree black belt, and is certified as a Somatic Movement Educator at the School of Body-Mind Centering. She is currently specializing as a Practitioner in the BMC program in Spain.

She works as a university professor for the Diploma in Somatic Education and at the Faculty of Performing Arts at the PUCP in Lima.

She is a member of the dissemination and research collective Contacto Improvisación Perú, which offers artistic/educational projects between Lima and Cusco. She lives in the small town of Urubamba, in the Sacred Valley of the Incas, where she directs “Casa con.tacto,” a space that hosts workshops and group and individual support activities focused on well-being, art, and education. In parallel, she organizes residencies, meetings, and immersion sessions in nature. She also facilitates workshops and collaborates on international educational and artistic projects. Since 2017, she has co-organized the annual Contact Improvisation Meeting in the Sacred Valley of the Incas.

She has researched the experience of yielding from the perspective of BMC and Contact Improvisation as a resource for creating space in improvisation. In 2022, she published the book “Una práctica sin nombre” with Rita Ponce De León, Joelle Gruenberg, and Mariana De Los Ríos (ESPAC, CDM). This book is the result of a practice based on precarious balance, which explores states of attention that oscillate between equilibrium and imbalance. This practice opens and invites the body to touch uncertainty, change, support, curiosity, and listening; it sparks conversation and collective writing.