Body Mapping
A Body Map is your self-representation in your brain of how you think you are constructed. Body Mapping can give musicians a profound array of knowledge about how we are anatomically constructed. And this information gives us another powerful tool to further develop awareness of ease and efficiency in movement. It is imperative that you have an accurate body map.
I cannot stress that enough.
Virtual online and in-person workshops have been presented to many types of artistic venues, including:
- The entire Jazz Dept. at the University of Northern Colorado.
- The National Puppetry Festival.
- As Guest Artist for the National Puppetry Center, Atlanta, GE.
- The Collaborative Artist Program, Piano, University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance, Ann Arbor, MI.
- Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Humanities, Voice and Collaborative Piano Departments, New York University, New York City, NY.
- Colorado State and Local Chapters of Music Teachers National Association Convention, Denver, Colorado.
Virtual Workshops are a great way for a group to learn about Body Mapping.
- It’s economic
- It is easily understandable information that can have immediate results.
- The Virtual Workshop is enhanced by a 3D Anatomical app.
- A life-size skeleton which can be disarticulated to show how joints really work.
- There’s a Q&A at the end.
Your body map must be correct, otherwise you will try to move in a way that is counter to your structure, which means, of course, that you are unwittingly introducing a great deal of tension. Body Mapping quickly and easily helps the student to understand how movement works in our “real” skeletal and muscular system.
Giving workshops on Body Mapping is one of my favorite things about being an AT Teacher: I am passionate about this body of work. Allowing one to move one’s body with awareness that is founded in truth and knowledge. It gives one a powerful sense of agency within any physical activity.
You will learn how you’re doing what you’re doing. That can be life-changing–it frees you from further discomfort and pain in an activity.
https://www.katywilliamsdesign.com
Katy Williamson with her tricky to operate fish puppet.
“As a professional puppeteer I find myself in some awkward and often uncomfortable positions. It was hard for me to understand how I could correctly move my body and still achieve the strange angles needed for successful puppetry. Thankfully I had stumbled across Larry’s AT workshop at the National Puppetry Festival! A few years later I found myself puppeteering a particularly tricky fish. I was having terrible back, wrist, and arm pain. After just one Zoom session I noticed results! He gave me very simple things to keep in mind. His teaching of Body Mapping showed me the “why” of it all, and he used extraordinary anatomy software to enhance our lesson. The next day when I puppeteered I noticed a huge difference. I highly recommend Larry for help with puppetry, singing, and any other time you are performing in a strange position!”