Sound Body Improvisation by Moreskinsound (all levels)

“Sound is a present absence; silence is an absent presence. Or

perhaps the reverse is better: sound is an absent presence;

silence is a present absence?

In this sense, sound is a sinister resonance – an association

with irrationality and inexplicability, that which we both

desire and dread.

Listening, then, is a specimen of mediumship, a question of

discerning and engaging with what lies beyond the world of

forms.”

— David Toop, Sinister Resonance

“Butoh is opposite to contemporary dance. Traditionally, it has

a special relationship to sound which provokes deep

listening.

Butoh is a place in-between things, a place of becoming,

viewing everything from a perspective of matter rather than

function, exploring your limits, valuing everything equally –

including other beings, animals, spaces, non-human beings

and inanimate objects.

This links to an eco-feminist or environmental philosophy:

how can we live and act in the world without destroying it?”

— Ania Psenitsnikova

What is Soundbody?

This workshop is an intensive exploration of how sound

and movement can expand our sense of self. Through

improvisation with sound and movement, in particular, the

voice, participants can release emotional blocks, reduce

inhibitions, and deepen awareness of space, body, and

different states of presence.

Soundbody is a resonant, listening being, investigating its

inner and external spaces, experimenting with sensory

potential, physicality, and stillness.

We will explore silence, micro-sound, stillness and non-

intentional movement as ways to expand listening capacity,

leading to an ecological approach to being in space.

The first step is to listen intensively to unfamiliar sound

worlds, extending beyond hearing through the ears to the

whole body. The body becomes a complex ear, attuning to

the auditory life of objects, materials, and non-human

entities.

Through exercises in movement, attention, awareness,

breathing, inner listening, and sound improvisation, we will

develop a listening that deepens experience of spatial

awareness, our own bodies, emotional memory and each

other.To prepare both body and perception, we will begin with

exercises designed to enhance flexibility, strength,

endurance, and responsiveness. Developing awareness and

perception is also a key focus of this workshop.

We will include a voice warm-up, exploring it as a vital

resource of the body. Following this, we will experiment

with possible relationships between sound, objects, space,

our bodies and improvisation, opening possibilities for

creative exploration.

Finally, we will bring these elements together into a

performance practice, working on developing individual

solos as well as collaborative work in small groups.

Requirements: Comfortable, non-restrictive clothes for

movement, water, and simple objects to explore sound

potential.

About Moreskinsound

Moreskinsound is a duo of musician/writer David Toop and

movement artist Ania Psenitsnikova. They explore extremes

of stillness, working with space, presence, and the intensity

of punctuated silence and its impact on bodies.

Their work encompasses live performance using found

objects, instruments, flutes, aerial Butoh, and site-specific

inactions in remarkable spaces.

Since 2023, Moreskinsound performances have included:

National Gallery London, Punctum Prague, Basel,

Kultuuriklubi Tartu, Volume Festival Sydney, PunktFestival Kristiansand, Flowermarket Gallery Edinburgh,

The Old Hairdressers Glasgow, Knock Tokyo, Hidden

Christian Building Nagasaki, Enryuji Temple Isahaya,

Kunisaki Peninsula, University of Kyushu, Soto Kyoto,

Tatami Studio Tokyo, Atelier Arbor Inversa Tokyo.

Non-public “inactions” have occurred in Cornwall,

Australia, Norway, a cave of bats in Krabi (Thailand),

creaking floorboards of Ryogen-in (Kyoto), and the ancient

Viru peat bog (Estonia).

“From the ceiling of this dark room a swathe of material

hung down and the shadow of a shape began to dilate like

an accordion opening out, slowly an arm unfolded; this was

Psenitsnikova as chrysalis becoming human body."

Jazzwise, November 2024.

Ania Psenitsnikova
is a visual and performance artist and

curator from Estonia. From 2004 to 2008, she participated

in the Experimental Art Biennale and Dialogues Biennale at

the Manege State Museum of St.Petersburg. She has trained

in Butoh with Flavia Ghisalberti, Moeno Wakamatsu

Masaki Iwana, and Daisuke Yoshimoto, and has worked

as an aerial Butoh artist since 2011. Since 2015, she has co-

curated exhibitions exploring censorship and ecological art

across four countries, Her exhibition One Can Not Be Too

Careful, Feminist Edition was nominated for the Best

Visual Art Award at Brighton Festival 2018.

David Toop
is a musician, writer and curator. He has been

developing a practice that crosses boundaries ofsound, listening, music and materials since 1970. This

encompasses improvised music performance,

writing, electronic sound, field recording, exhibition

curating, sound art installations and opera. Artists he

has performed with include Ryuichi Sakamoto, Thurston

Moore, Sidsel Endresen, Elaine Mitchener, Henry Grimes,

Akio Suzuki and Rie Nakajima, along with Butoh dancers

Mitsutaka Ishii and Min Tanaka. His books include Ocean

of Sound, Into the Maelstrom, Sinister Resonance

and Two-Headed Doctor and his record releases include

Entities Inertias and Faint Beings, Apparition Paintings,

The Shell That Speaks the Sea, Garden of Shadows and

Light and his 1978 recordings of Yanomami

shamanism, Lost Shadows: In Defence of the Soul.

Tickets are non-refundable, as once they’re sold we often have a waiting list and are happy to help contact those guests to assist with reselling where possible🎟️💛. For our regularly occurring classes, we’re also very happy to rebook your ticket for a different date when needed 📅✨