dancing a deepened presence
WITHIN ME, BETWEEN US, AND BEYOND
Performance Works NorthWest & FLOCK, Portland OR
Thursday March 5th 6-9pm & Friday March 6th 3:30-8:30pm, 2026
$50-150 (& reduced tuition options available)
registration is closed (no tickets available at the door)
This 2-day workshop and movement research lab will be centered around exploring some of the following questions: How can I connect with my true feelings, and dance, move and voice my authenticity moment by moment? How can I dance hidden depths beneath me (grotesque, murky, imploded, hopeless feelings, etc) and also dance hidden heights above me (ethereal, subtle beauty, serenity, tenderness, etc)? How can I refine, curate, cultivate, and nourish these authentic movements into something deeper, more precise, more exquisite and sacred? What does it do to orient towards presence and authenticity in three different registers – within me, between us, and in some kind of field that is greater than us? How do I discern between the different emotional threads I am feeling at a given moment and "choose" which one to follow? What does it do to stay with one emotional register vs flit between multiple? And more...
The workshop/lab will have 3 parts to it:
Part 1 (Thursday 6-9pm) We will orient towards presence as something inside of us. We will use solo and partner exercises to explore how to work with that which is deeply alive in us (and dead in us) and then use witnessing and mild feedback to bring out what facets of that can be carried forth, integrated, re-shaped and refined. This section will combine techniques from Process Oriented Psychology, Authentic Movement and Fool Expression (Christie Animas).
Parts 2-3 (Friday 3:30-8:30pm) Part 2 will orient towards presence as relational. We will begin with some techniques drawn from circling, authentic relating and sociometry to bring us authentically into the relational sphere, and then integrate that presence with some clowning techniques and our work from the first part of the workshop to try to dance what is between us. This section will mainly be in dyads. After a short break (participants are encouraged to bring a light dinner with them) we'll transition into Part 3, which will be an orienting towards the transpersonal, i.e. thinking of presence as something beyond us – a field stretching and permeating between me, you and the world. We'll begin with imaginal techniques drawn from butoh, working with collective images. Then we will conclude with a psychodrama-inspired practice that involves moving into "parts" or "archetypal energies" and using the group members as auxiliaries who will move between parts in an open/fluid field.
The workshop will be centered on movement. But sounding (vocalizing) will also be something we explore. And occasionally words may come in too.
Price & Registration: The workshop is priced on a sliding scale between $50-150. To register go to the paypal link here and select an amount between $50-150 that works for you. Participants who would like to attend but cannot pay at that range are also encouraged to reach out ([email protected]) as the workshop can accommodate a limited number of reduced tuition participants.
Maximum Number of Participants: 20
Location: On Thursday we will be at Performance Works Northwest 4625 SE 67th Ave, Portland, OR 97206. And on Friday we will be at FLOCK Dance. 2516 NW 29th Ave STE 60, Portland, OR 97210
NOTE ON EMOTIONAL REGULATION: This workshop will involve the exploration of diverse emotional landscapes that unfold within and among our psyches. Many of the practices we explore are designed to cultivate vulnerability, with its pleasures and hardships, and might be compared to the way one's deepest romantic relationships sometimes surface one's most challenging psychological material. Conflict and hurt may arise that might conventionally be quieted or minimized. It is not uncommon for participants to encounter triggers of psychological wounds within these practices, and this should be considered a possibility. The facilitator will use techniques to contain and care for what arises, but will not be able to provide ongoing care for emotional fallout. We invite you to be watchful of one's own safety and opt out in little and big ways as needed, and to have emotional processing methods in place (such as therapy, meditation, journaling, processing with friends, etc) that can help you learn with and from what happens at the intensive. Additionally, we ask that you have some inner settledness and calm available so we can play deeply together. If at this moment in your life you find you are highly activated by something you cannot set down, it may be best not to participate at this time. We understand that therapy can be very expensive and trusted therapists are hard to find, and there might be some temptation to come to this group for that kind of care, but it is not designed for that kind of individual attention.
About the Deep Play Institute The Deep Play Institute is a nonprofit organization committed to exploring life’s deepest questions through transformative play. DPI’s facilitators – therapists, artists, coaches, and philosophers – aim to use play to bring people into an experiential questioning of what it means to exist. Each program that DPI runs is a unique container, creatively constructed and inspired by practices that include: Gestalt therapy, Process Work, Psychodrama, Internal Family Systems Therapy, Tavistock Group Relations, Relational Psychoanalysis, Authentic Relating, Nonviolent Communication, Circling, coaching, performance art, contact improvisation, experimental theater, LARPs, surrealism, existential games, and various schools of meditation.
The workshop/lab will have 3 parts to it:
Part 1 (Thursday 6-9pm) We will orient towards presence as something inside of us. We will use solo and partner exercises to explore how to work with that which is deeply alive in us (and dead in us) and then use witnessing and mild feedback to bring out what facets of that can be carried forth, integrated, re-shaped and refined. This section will combine techniques from Process Oriented Psychology, Authentic Movement and Fool Expression (Christie Animas).
Parts 2-3 (Friday 3:30-8:30pm) Part 2 will orient towards presence as relational. We will begin with some techniques drawn from circling, authentic relating and sociometry to bring us authentically into the relational sphere, and then integrate that presence with some clowning techniques and our work from the first part of the workshop to try to dance what is between us. This section will mainly be in dyads. After a short break (participants are encouraged to bring a light dinner with them) we'll transition into Part 3, which will be an orienting towards the transpersonal, i.e. thinking of presence as something beyond us – a field stretching and permeating between me, you and the world. We'll begin with imaginal techniques drawn from butoh, working with collective images. Then we will conclude with a psychodrama-inspired practice that involves moving into "parts" or "archetypal energies" and using the group members as auxiliaries who will move between parts in an open/fluid field.
The workshop will be centered on movement. But sounding (vocalizing) will also be something we explore. And occasionally words may come in too.
Price & Registration: The workshop is priced on a sliding scale between $50-150. To register go to the paypal link here and select an amount between $50-150 that works for you. Participants who would like to attend but cannot pay at that range are also encouraged to reach out ([email protected]) as the workshop can accommodate a limited number of reduced tuition participants.
Maximum Number of Participants: 20
Location: On Thursday we will be at Performance Works Northwest 4625 SE 67th Ave, Portland, OR 97206. And on Friday we will be at FLOCK Dance. 2516 NW 29th Ave STE 60, Portland, OR 97210
NOTE ON EMOTIONAL REGULATION: This workshop will involve the exploration of diverse emotional landscapes that unfold within and among our psyches. Many of the practices we explore are designed to cultivate vulnerability, with its pleasures and hardships, and might be compared to the way one's deepest romantic relationships sometimes surface one's most challenging psychological material. Conflict and hurt may arise that might conventionally be quieted or minimized. It is not uncommon for participants to encounter triggers of psychological wounds within these practices, and this should be considered a possibility. The facilitator will use techniques to contain and care for what arises, but will not be able to provide ongoing care for emotional fallout. We invite you to be watchful of one's own safety and opt out in little and big ways as needed, and to have emotional processing methods in place (such as therapy, meditation, journaling, processing with friends, etc) that can help you learn with and from what happens at the intensive. Additionally, we ask that you have some inner settledness and calm available so we can play deeply together. If at this moment in your life you find you are highly activated by something you cannot set down, it may be best not to participate at this time. We understand that therapy can be very expensive and trusted therapists are hard to find, and there might be some temptation to come to this group for that kind of care, but it is not designed for that kind of individual attention.
About the Deep Play Institute The Deep Play Institute is a nonprofit organization committed to exploring life’s deepest questions through transformative play. DPI’s facilitators – therapists, artists, coaches, and philosophers – aim to use play to bring people into an experiential questioning of what it means to exist. Each program that DPI runs is a unique container, creatively constructed and inspired by practices that include: Gestalt therapy, Process Work, Psychodrama, Internal Family Systems Therapy, Tavistock Group Relations, Relational Psychoanalysis, Authentic Relating, Nonviolent Communication, Circling, coaching, performance art, contact improvisation, experimental theater, LARPs, surrealism, existential games, and various schools of meditation.
ABOUT THE FACILITATOR
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Aaron Finbloom identifies as an ideological polytheist devoted to worshipping the Gods of: play, truth, authenticity, imagination, transformation and beauty. His life work is to creatively expand, collage and integrate healing & fine arts practices through conversation scores, relational games, live action role play, performance art and dance. He is the co-founder of The School of Making Thinking (SMT) and the director of The Deep Play Institute (DPI). Aaron has training in Circling, Psychodrama, Buddhist Meditation and Processwork and holds a PhD in relational practice from Concordia University in Montreal. His projects have been featured internationally at venues such as the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, Gallery 151 in New York, Maschinenhaus Kulturbrauerei in Berlin, UNAM in Mexico City, Performance Works Northwest in Portland, and MainLine Theatre in Montreal. He currently teaches philosophy at the City College of New York. finblooming.com
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