No Diagram Anatomy: The Distal Arm Complex and The Proximal Arm Complex

Hosted by Movement Research, Dark Room Ballet is designed specifically for the educational needs of blind and visually impaired adults.

No Diagram Anatomy for Dancers in the Dark Room:

The Distal Arm Complex (April 1)
The Proximal Arm Complex (April 8)

Dark Room Ballet Series is offered at no cost. This Workshop is offered online via Zoom.

To register email [email protected]

Workshop Description

In this two-part workshop on the complete arm complex, we will use movement, touch, and conversation to not only cultivate scientific knowledge related to the shoulder, arm, and hand, but also initiate a higher degree of body awareness and neurological learning in this area. Evolutionary history and the marvels of human variation will also be addressed in this workshop. No prior knowledge of human anatomy, dance, or self-audio description are required to participate, but all students will come away with deep anatomical knowledge, reduced movement anxiety, and tools to start learning how to talk about movement in a visceral way. Let’s get right down to the real nitty gritty!

Material covered in these two workshops will include:

The skeletal structure of the shoulder, arm, and hand

The locations and functions of musculature of the shoulder, arm, and hand, and their relationships to commonly known dance vocabulary

The nerves and nerve plexuses of the shoulder, arm, and hand, and what it means to cultivate neurological connection to this part of the body

The connective tissues (fascia, tendons, cartilages and ligaments) of the shoulder, arm, and hand.

All students will receive the complete script of the workshop two days beforehand, and the script can be reviewed either before or after the workshop. Although these two workshops are meant to be taken together, students are allowed to register for one or the other and they can both stand alone.

This workshop is designed for the educational needs of blind and visually impaired people and does not use diagrams.

About No Diagram Anatomy Workshop Series

No Diagram Anatomy workshops are in-depth dancer's anatomy workshops that de-center sight and are designed for the educational needs of blind and visually impaired people. Participants will learn about their bodies' layered anatomy from the outside-in using a combination of guided audio description, imagination, touch, and movement experimentation, and will also be given opportunities to practice talking about how the movement feels in the body (self-audio description).