If you were to walk into a Continuum
Movement class, you would find a montage of bodies in diverse
expressions of arcing, spiraling, and suspension. Your attention may
be drawn to a slowly undulating belly, or to an arm gracefully
exploring space as if a tentacle investigating its watery environment.
Participants may be emitting primal sounds or exhaling soft, textured
breaths. You might sense an atmosphere of discovery or a feeling of
welcoming spaciousness. Like many others before you, you may feel
compelled to join the next class and explore this new territory.
Continuum Movement, founded in 1967 by Emilie Conrad, is an
innovative approach to movement education. After spending many years
in Haiti as a choreographer and lead dancer in a folklore dance
company, Emilie returned to New York City with the awareness of how
deeply culture influences movement. Continuum Movement recognizes that
our bodies are an important avenue to our wholeness. Our cultural
emphasis on thinking has dwarfed our awareness of bodily intelligence.
We have not fully realized what our bodies, as biological systems, can
offer the exploration of human potential.
Continuum Movement recognizes a profound relationship between the
human body and the underlying matrix of the universe. We know that our
bodies are affected by the rhythms of the earth and seasons, by light
and darkness and temperature changes. We are in a constant dialogue
with our environment, continually making physiologic adjustments. We
often remain unaware of these biological processes as they are
happening. Our attention may recognize this through a yawn, stomach
rumbling, goose bumps, or a shiver, but there are thousands of organic
changes taking place. We are constantly generating and inventing
ourselves.
In Continuum Movement, we make a distinction between functional
movement and organic movement. Functional movement assists us in our
daily tasks to ensure our survival. Underneath our personal and
cultural identities, there is a life full of creativity and aliveness.
Continuum Movement focuses on this organic health and vitality. Our
heart is pumping, we’re digesting, breathing, moving lymph, and
eliminating toxins – it is all movement. In this sense, we can see
movement is not only something that we do, but what we are. We are a
process of movement, not a finished product
A fundamental aspect of Continuum Movement is the belief that we
can contact and participate with the inherent intelligence of the
creative source through our own biology. We come into rapport with
this wisdom through the creative use of sound, breath and subtle
movements. When we interrupt habitual ways of breathing and moving, we
can begin to dissolve structural tendencies and old ways of thinking.
Once we’re in a less conditioned state, our movements often take on
intuitive, improvisational tones as we learn to follow the cues
inspired from our internal impulses.
Our consciousness serves as a partner to the intelligence that
flows in our bodies. There is a marriage between our capacity to use
our mind and the more primitive, instinctual responses of our body.
Unlike many other movement forms, Continuum Movement offers an
approach where the form unfolds itself moment to moment, shaping each
person’s individual expression. These experiences can be
transcendent and transformational.
Most of us have a rich inner life composed primarily of dialogue,
characters and sub-personalities. We can develop an internal
environment that is awash in textures and tones of sensation.
Continuum Movement cultivates a meditative awareness of our personal
landscape. As the rough waters of our internal chatter subside, our
participation with ourselves deepens. We can begin to hear the
messages that are delivered through our bodies more distinctly.
A Continuum Movement class might use sound to enhance the natural
undulation of an organ, or initiate a spiral movement by following the
gentle curve of a rib. Joining with the subtle rhythms of cranial
bones and noticing the sensations brought about by making specific
sounds can lead participants into uncharted territory. When our
habitual stances have relaxed, our bodies often reorganize to a
healthier state.
Participants have noticed increased mobility and fluidity,
decreased pain, new movement in the body, clarity of thinking,
insights, less stress, more emotional ease, and feeling profound
levels of connection both within and to our planet.
After years of exploring the subtle world of intrinsic movement,
Emilie discovered that a healthy body responds quickly to changing
circumstances. A body that is adaptable and mutable has a better
chance for survival. Derived from this insight, Emilie Conrad’s
Jungle Gym Workout was born.
Using the principle sounds and breaths of Continuum Movement,
Emilie incorporated the world of fitness. Jungle Gym is a dynamic,
revolutionary workout that engages the entire body, emphasizing
non-linear, non-repetitive movement. It is a lively, sensuous workout.
Emilie believes that the mechanical repetition of most exercises
makes the body rigid and over-patterned, leading to increased
likelihood of injury and decreased possibilities for movement. Unlike
workouts where participants do the same thing over and over, Jungle
Gym breaks the boundaries of habitual patterns. Conventional workouts
often develop isolated, one-dimensional strength; Jungle Gym
cultivates resilience, flexibility, and multi-dimensional core
strength.
