A few weeks ago, I attended the first ever Bows and Arrows research week, led by Tom Weksler. It was 9 days of immersive study with him and his peers in Nataf, Israel. We all shared a farm-house, helped cook the meals, and danced in a horse stable converted into a beautiful circular movement space.
If you don’t know Tom, I suggest first watching a video of him:
Sick, right? When he freestyles, he harnesses some magical tornado power that I can’t even begin to imitate.
When you take his class, rather than learning tricks, he invites you into his non-linear and imaginative, internal world.
When Tom offers a suggestion, or correction, it’s rarely technical. He wants to send you deeper into the experience. Sometimes, he does so by intentionally confusing you—so that your focus is on a question. He prefers inquiry over certainty. Certainty is, as he would say, too easy.
Anyway, I really enjoy his classes. I laugh, I learn, and I tap into movements that normally go untouched.
Several of Tom’s peers gave classes, and I also learned some really game-changing things with them. I’d like to introduce you to the first one I took class with, Matan. Before I knew he would be teaching, I was his classmate. I couldn’t take my eyes off him because he was absolutely fascinating. As I watched his improvisation develop...HOLY MOLY it was like he was using great static pole technique—but with no pole in sight. His head positioning, his connection to the space around him, his momentum pathways were nearly identical what you would do if a pole followed you around the room (but better). When in his class, Ken and I kept looking at one another with bug eyes; we were awakening to a wellspring of technique that we were already familiar with, but in a different context. His exercises, progressions, and timing as an instructor were on point.
We can’t wait to work with Matan some more—we’re already looking at bringing him to the US in May 2018 so you can have have your mind blown, too.
He has a number of tutorial videos you may enjoy, here's one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myzl7GIL46M