Workshops | NoHo Pilates

November 19, 2024

Irene Dowd presents:

PNF: Proprioceptive Nueromuscular Facilitation Patterns: effective full-body warm-ups for dance and sports and everyday activities

Hybrid Course: In Person & On Zoom

In this workshop, we will review and practice the basic PNF patterns for all parts of the body. This will be a movement class suitable for most levels of fitness and movement skill. This does not require you to have learned these patterns before this workshop. The PNF patterns we will practice include: PNF patterns for head/neck, shoulder girdle/scapula, hand/wrist, upper limb, pelvis, foot/ankle, lower limb.

Date: Novemebr 19, 2024

Time: 2:30-4:30pm

Fee: $80

Instructor(s):Irene Dowd is on the dance faculty of the Juilliard School and Hollins University graduate program, and a regular guest at academic and dance institutions throughout the US and Canada. Author of Taking Root to Fly, she has maintained a practice in kinesthetic anatomy and neuromuscular re-education for 48 years in NYC. Irene has been awarded the 2014 Balasaraswati/Joy Ann Dewey Beinecke Endowed Chair for Distinguished Teaching at the American Dance Festival, and the 2015 Julliard John Erskine Faculty award, and the 2016 Dance Science and Somatics Educators Lifetime Service Award from DSSE (Dance Science and Somatic Educators),and 2018 Honory Fellowship from Trinity Laban Cocservative of Music and Dance. Free access to her digital archive is available at: irenedowdchoreographies.com

To Register: email Stephen Williams at nohostudio@yahoo.com. Download the flyer for this workshop here.

November 2, 2024

Irene Dowd presents:

An Introduction To Ideokinesis: a strategy for enhancing motor learning

Hybrid Course: In Person & On Zoom

Ideokinesis is a strategy for enhancing our ability to move. It involves a process of visualizing a pathway or vector of motion through one’s body, with the purpose of fine-tuning movement performance. The practice of Ideokinesis can be utilized to refining and heightening coordination, equilibrium, motor skill, efficiency and ease during performance of everyday activities such as being on Zoom or other on-line interfaces, reading, talking, lifting and carrying a heavy bag; or more specialized activities such as engaging in intense physical exercise, performing as a musician, dancer, actor, etc.

In this workshop, I will provide a very brief introduction to the teachings of Lulu Sweigard as I received them at the Juilliard School in the time between 1968 and 1974. I will present some of the applications I have made of the practice of Ideokinesis to optimizing such activities as walking, sitting down and standing up, picking up and carrying a heavy weight, using a computer or other electronic devise without getting a sore/tired neck, upper back, lower back.

Date: Novemebr 2, 2024

Time: 2:30-4:30pm

Fee: $80

Instructor(s):Irene Dowd is on the dance faculty of the Juilliard School and Hollins University graduate program, and a regular guest at academic and dance institutions throughout the US and Canada. Author of Taking Root to Fly, she has maintained a practice in kinesthetic anatomy and neuromuscular re-education for 48 years in NYC. Irene has been awarded the 2014 Balasaraswati/Joy Ann Dewey Beinecke Endowed Chair for Distinguished Teaching at the American Dance Festival, and the 2015 Julliard John Erskine Faculty award, and the 2016 Dance Science and Somatics Educators Lifetime Service Award from DSSE (Dance Science and Somatic Educators),and 2018 Honory Fellowship from Trinity Laban Cocservative of Music and Dance. Free access to her digital archive is available at: irenedowdchoreographies.com

To Register: email Stephen Williams at nohostudio@yahoo.com. Download the flyer for this workshop here.

October 19, 2024

Irene Dowd presents:

Increasing Range of Motion Through Muscle Training: role of stretching, releasing, strengthening and coordination

Hybrid Course: In Person & On Zoom

It is not always obvious what is needed when we can’t achieve the full active range of motion with the ease that we aspire to. For many, the first strategy is to stretch, but that isn’t always effective and may even decrease range and ease. Being able to exert the muscles required to produce the motion, can be the limiting factor (and exerting muscle/s on one side of a joint may reflexively release/relax the muscles on other side of the joint being moved due to reciprocal inhibition). Sometimes it is our idea of the movement that is getting in our way of being able to perform (e.g. locating hip joint in a different place than it actually is, assuming that only that one joint is allowed to move when most activities involve motion in many if not all our joints). We will first consider general principles and strategies that enhance muscle length, muscle relaxation or contraction, strength, endurance and coordination, and other strategies of muscle training. Then we will consider specific joints including hip joints, knee joints, ankles, spine – as each provides unique challenges.

Date: Saturday October 19, 2024

Time: 2:30-4:30pm

Fee: $80

Instructor(s):Irene Dowd is on the dance faculty of the Juilliard School and Hollins University graduate program, and a regular guest at academic and dance institutions throughout the US and Canada. Author of Taking Root to Fly, she has maintained a practice in kinesthetic anatomy and neuromuscular re-education for 48 years in NYC. Irene has been awarded the 2014 Balasaraswati/Joy Ann Dewey Beinecke Endowed Chair for Distinguished Teaching at the American Dance Festival, and the 2015 Julliard John Erskine Faculty award, and the 2016 Dance Science and Somatics Educators Lifetime Service Award from DSSE (Dance Science and Somatic Educators),and 2018 Honory Fellowship from Trinity Laban Cocservative of Music and Dance. Free access to her digital archive is available at: irenedowdchoreographies.com

To Register: email Stephen Williams at nohostudio@yahoo.com. Download the flyer for this workshop here.

October 5, 2024

Irene Dowd presents:

Adaptive Goal-Orientated Strategies for Mentoring Dancers - Focus on the Foot

Hybrid Course: In Person & On Zoom

In this workshop, we will review how to create adaptive strategies to address the needs and dance goals of different types of dancers – each with their own unique body and mind and individual goals as an artist. This will be a practical class in which Irene will demonstrate strategies adapting to individual volunteers. The volunteers must present specific dance goals of their own, especially focused on dance issues pertaining to the foot such as: functional and dysfunctional pronation, balance issues, pushing off and landing from a jump or leap, etc. Irene will teach a series of warm-up & training choreographies, Then she will coach dance volunteers.

We will all practice and see the results – Irene will measure “before-and-after” differences in the desired performance of the strategies she will devise, which can include specific warm-ups, movement sequences, increased clarity about anatomy/kinesiology the joint motions and muscle use patterns required to perform the dance skill, imagery, and pursuit of clear spatial and theatrical intent.

Date: Saturday October 5, 2024

Time: 2:30-4:30pm

Fee: $80

Instructor(s):Irene Dowd is on the dance faculty of the Juilliard School and Hollins University graduate program, and a regular guest at academic and dance institutions throughout the US and Canada. Author of Taking Root to Fly, she has maintained a practice in kinesthetic anatomy and neuromuscular re-education for 48 years in NYC. Irene has been awarded the 2014 Balasaraswati/Joy Ann Dewey Beinecke Endowed Chair for Distinguished Teaching at the American Dance Festival, and the 2015 Julliard John Erskine Faculty award, and the 2016 Dance Science and Somatics Educators Lifetime Service Award from DSSE (Dance Science and Somatic Educators),and 2018 Honory Fellowship from Trinity Laban Cocservative of Music and Dance. Free access to her digital archive is available at: irenedowdchoreographies.com

To Register: email Stephen Williams at nohostudio@yahoo.com. Download the flyer for this workshop here.

September 17 - December 3, 2024

Irene Dowd presents:

Kinesthetic Anatomy and Biomechanics of Motion: The Spine/Trunk

Hybrid Course: In Person & On Zoom

In this course we will review the anatomical bone structure, joint motion, muscles and potential actions of the spine/trunk. Focus will be on joint motion (kinematics) and on movement choreographies that engage all the muscles of the spine and trunk.

Emphasis will be especially on how each bone of pelvis, each vertebra, each rib, skull and bones of skull move at their various joints. We will locate each of these joints in our own body and visualize all the potential motion that can take place at each of these joints.

Learning a series of short movement sequences choreographed by Irene will not only give us a kinesthetic experience of all of our spine/trunk muscles, but can potentially enhance our dynamic stability, mobility, control, coordination, and readiness to move our spine/trunk in all directions - including our head, rib cage, pelvis.

We will consider such issues as hypermobility/hypomobility of spine, spine/pelvis asymmetries, functional postural concepts, etc. Common daily life and skilled activity challenges will be considered and addressed as time permits - potentially inducing the creation of some new training choreographies.

Time: Tuesday's, 2:30pm-4:30pm (12 weeks)

Fee: $800 must be made to Stephen Williams

Instructor(s): Irene Dowd is on the dance faculty of the Juilliard School, Movement Research, and Hollins University/ADF MFA program in dance. She has been a long-time regular guest to NYU Tisch School of the Arts and Canada's National Ballet School. Author of Taking Root to Fly, she has maintained a practice in kinesthetic anatomy and neuromuscular re-education since 1970 in NYC, while continuing to be a guest teacher in academic and dance institutions throughout the US, Canada, and Europe. Irene is recipient of the 2014 Balasaraswati/Joy Ann Dewey Beinecke Endowed Chair for Distinguished Teaching at the American Dance Festival, 2015 Juliard John Erskine Faculty Prize, 2016 Dance Science & Somatics Educators Lifetime Service Award, and 2018 Honorary Fellowship from Trinity Laban Conservative of Music and Dance.

To Register: email Stephen Williams at nohostudio@yahoo.com. Download the flyer for this workshop here.

June 14-16, 2024

Irene Dowd presents:

Hybrid Course: In Person & On Zoom

Evolving Effective Strategies For Mentoring Dancers

What IS a mentor? According to the Cambridge English Dictionary, a mentor is “an experienced and trusted person who gives another person advice and help, especially related to work or school over a period of time.” Thus teaching, at its best, IS a form of mentoring. The amount of time isn’t necessarily specified – as sometimes a single meeting can be remembered as a very important mentorship.

How does one go about mentoring effectively?

1) find out what the other person wants and needs

2) be clear about one's own limitations and biases

3) determine if there can be common ground

4) if that is possible, collaborate in creating a progressed program that has potential to bring the person from their current condition and abilities into one of being able to achieve their goals

5) keep intercommunicating so that both you and other person are understanding each other and the reasons for pursuing the chosen path; recognizing the points of disagreement/incomprehension on the way; re-configuring the pathway in acknowledgement of the confusions/discomforts and other impediments, so that new pathways can be formed that goes around these difficulties

use every possible sensory means of achieving/sustaining clear intercommunication (visual, auditory, tactile, kinesthetic, etc.)

7) continually reconsider assumptions/beliefs/theories in order to adapt and change strategies as needed to achieve a common dance goal (which itself might also transform and change)

Date: Friday June 14- Sunday June 17, 2024

Time: 2:30-5:30pm

Fee: $350

Instructor(s):Irene Dowd is on the dance faculty of the Juilliard School and Hollins University graduate program, and a regular guest at academic and dance institutions throughout the US and Canada. Author of Taking Root to Fly, she has maintained a practice in kinesthetic anatomy and neuromuscular re-education for 48 years in NYC. Irene has been awarded the 2014 Balasaraswati/Joy Ann Dewey Beinecke Endowed Chair for Distinguished Teaching at the American Dance Festival, and the 2015 Julliard John Erskine Faculty award, and the 2016 Dance Science and Somatics Educators Lifetime Service Award from DSSE (Dance Science and Somatic Educators),and 2018 Honory Fellowship from Trinity Laban Cocservative of Music and Dance. Free access to her digital archive is available at: irenedowdchoreographies.com

To Register: email Stephen Williams at nohostudio@yahoo.com. Download the flyer for this workshop here.

March 2, 2024

Irene Dowd presents:

Enhancing Eccentric Contraction to Build Functional Strength and Resilience: Using Pilates Equipment and Equipment-free Training Practices on Zoom

Eccentric contraction is the type of muscle work that makes our muscles stronger (producing a thicker cross-sectional area), our tendons stronger and more resilient, and even plays a role in maintaining adequate bone density. It also makes us sore, and is most likely to result in musculo-skeletal dysfunctions when we are not adequately prepared for what we are currently doing.

What is eccentric contraction? It is what we do when we are contracting a muscle even as it is elongating. Examples of activities that require eccentric contraction include landing from a jump as quietly as possible, lowering a sleeping child into bed and tiptoeing away, or lowering the ladle into the gravy dish without spillage. It serves everyone who wishes to enhance skill, control, and safety from the sports field to the dance theatre to the dinner table.

In this workshop, we will see how the use of Pilates-equipment springs, straps, push- bars, and gravity can efficiently serve us in the creation of gradually progressed and safe eccentric muscle strengthening programs for various specific muscle group.

We will also learn some sequences choreographed by Irene that emphasize eccentric control of various major muscles groups of spine/trunk - designed to enhance ability to perform extravagant spine motion with control and safety.

In other words, we will study the What, When, Where, How and Why of eccentric contraction - and learn strategies for pursuing it most effectively.

Date: Saturday, March 2, 2024 On Zoom

Time: 2:30-4:30pm

Fee: $80

To Register: email Stephen Williams at nohostudio@yahoo.com. Download the flyer for this workshop here.

February 6 - April 9, 2024

Irene Dowd presents:

Nerve Dances and Mapping of our Peripheral Voluntary Nervous System

Hybrid Course: In Person & On Zoom

The human nervous system provides connections throughout our entire being, everywhere in our body. It is a prime "communicator" and "coordinator" of all our bodily actions and functions. It also connects us with the world we live in, and also initiates our interaction with that world.

The central nervous system includes all the nerves and their connections contained within our skull and spine. The peripheral nervous system includes everything outside of those bony structures - all the nerves passing throughout the rest of our body.

The peripheral nervous system includes our "voluntary" nervous system that innervates our muscles and joints, and our "autonomic" nervous system that innervates our organs and glands. We will focus primarily on our voluntary nervous system, in this course.

The nerves of our voluntary nervous system enter/exit at apertures between our skull, all of our vertebrae, and our sacrum. We will consider each, including their pathways of joining and separating outside of our spinal cord

Nerve signals are electro-chemical in nature (and can vary in effect according to the exact properties of the signal being conveyed). Sensory signals travel from everywhere in our body to our spinal cord and potentially to our brain. Motor signals travel from our brain and spinal cord to our muscles. A motor nerve signal is necessary in order for a muscle to contract (except under very special circumstances).

If a nerve signal arrives to or departs from the cerebral cortex ("skin of the brain") - we can become "consciously aware" of it. This means that we can "feel" a sensation, and we can intentionally direct our body to move in a particular way or toward a specific action goal (through the coordination of our muscles).

In order to gain a functional kinesthetic experience of our voluntary peripheral nervous system, we will:

a. chart the mappings of each major nerve (note that an individual named nerve is composed of many individual nerve fibers)

b. practice a series of "nerve dances": choreographies that involve traversing the pathway of each nerve with our own touching fingers, stroking the areas from where the sensory part of the nerve provides sensation, and actively exerting the muscles that the motor part of the nerve innervates. Some nerves are exclusively sensory, motor, or both sensory and motor.

Time: Tuesday's, 3:00pm-4:30pm

Fee: $500 must be made to Stephen Williams

To Register: email Stephen Williams at nohostudio@yahoo.com. Download the flyer for this workshop here.

February 7 - April 10, 2024

Irene Dowd presents:

Kinesthetic Anatomy of Lower Extremity: Focusing on Joint Motion (Kinematics) and Full Range of Motion

Hybrid Course: In Person & On Zoom

Content and Goals of the Course: In this course, we will be studying our lower limbs: pelvis, thigh bones, hip joints, lower leg, knee joints, ankle joint and foot. We will be focusing on how each bone moves on the adjacent bones in detail. We will precisely locate each of these lower limb joints on our own bodies. Then we will visualize all the motion that can potentially take place at that joint. This serves to clarify our understanding of how our lower extremity moves. We will also learn choreographies that engage each of the muscles that move these joints from its most elongated to its most shortened length – providing a strong kinesthetic experience of our muscles that move our hip joints, knees, ankles and feet. All the choreographies together can provide a warm-up, conditioning, and training program for our lower extremity. The choreographies can also be tailored toward different goals such as: enhancing active range of motion, strengthening muscles, both protecting and mobilizing our joints, addressing joint motion imbalances, etc. Our feet are often our interface with the ground and so they are engaged in walking, running, jumping, and all other locomotor activities. How our feet contact the ground (and therefore, how the ground contacts our feet) involves our entire lower extremity and coordination with the rest of our body - and many of the choreographies reflect that coordination of our whole body in every little or big action of our feet/legs.

Week #1 - basic elements of joints and of hip joint in particular 

Week #2 – movement of the hip joint and choreographies for the muscles of the hip joint 

Week #3 – coordination of hip joint, pelvis and lower spine 

Week #4 – structure and movement of knee joint 

Week #5 –choreographies for the muscles crossing the knee joint 

Week #6 – choreographies to stabilize knee joint in action 

Week #7 – structure and movement of the ankle joint and the joints between the tibia and fibula

Week #8 – choreographies for the muscles crossing the ankle joint 

Week #9 - structure and movement within the foot 

Week #10 - choreographies for the muscles of the foot 

Time: Wednesday's, 2:30pm-4:00pm

Fee: $500 must be made to Stephen Williams

To Register: email Stephen Williams at nohostudio@yahoo.com. Download the flyer for this workshop here.

November 4, 2023

Irene Dowd presents

Iliopsoas: A Mysterious and Multi-Function Complex (On Zoom)

Content of the workshop includes:

Reviewing anatomy and location of ilio-psoas (e.g., psoas located behind diaphragm crura, in front of kidneys and ureters, behind other organs including liver and digestive tract, iliacus located behind pelvic organs, both then attach to lesser trochanter on femur)

Considering functions of the ilio-psoas: note that these two muscles serve slightly different functions but generally work together - with variable amounts of one predominating over the other in different actions and joint positions - the story is convoluted

Strategies that can elongate ilio-psoas

Protocols that can strengthen ilio-psoas

Ways of enhancing quick response time of ilio-psoas

Learning a series of short sequences that involve releasing, elongating, exerting, shortening iliacus and psoas - each and both - weight-bearing without equipment and utilizing Pilates-based practices

Coordinating in daily life of ilio-psoas with other hip joint muscles, abdominal wall muscles and spinal muscles

Date: Saturday, November 4, 2023

Time: 2-4pm

Fee: $75

To Register: email Stephen Williams at nohostudio@yahoo.com. Download the flyer for this workshop here.

October 21, 2023

Irene Dowd presents

Knee: A Delicate Balancing Of Forces (On Zoom)

Content of the workshop includes:

Reviewing exactly how the knee moves (kinematics) between bending, straightening, and hyperextending.

Locating the structures that support the complex motion of knee.

Organizing weight from spine to feet, and/or feet to spine, in order to minimize unnecessary twisting forces on knee

Balancing the muscle action of muscles crossing the knee to protect the knee from excessive twisting and sheering forces on knee

Building control, coordination, strength, flexibility, and endurance of the muscles that control knee motion Practicing sequences to promote these goals - both weight-bearing without equipment and utilizing

Pilates-based practices

Date: Saturday, October 21, 2023

Time: 2-4pm

Fee: $75

To Register: email Stephen Williams at nohostudio@yahoo.com. Download the flyer for this workshop here.

October 11 - Decemebr 6, 2023

Irene Dowd presents:

Kinesthetic Anatomy of Upper Extremity: Focusing on Joint Motion (Kinematics) and Full Range of Motion

Hybrid Course: In Person & On Zoom

CONTENT AND GOALS OF THE COURSE:  I’m resuming my kinesthetic anatomy course after the hiatus caused by covid shut down, just as I was getting ready to teach the upper extremity. Instead of continuing with the old plan, this will be a different approach to upper extremity, based on the work and thinking I have been doing between then and now. We will be focusing on how each bone moves on the adjacent bones in detail. We will precisely locate each joint on our own bodies. Then we will visualize all the motion that can potentially take place at that joint. This serves to clarify our understanding of how our upper extremity moves. We will also learn choreographies that engage each of the muscles that move these joints from its most elongated to its most shortened length – providing a strong kinesthetic experience of our muscles that move our shoulders, arms, and hands. All the choreographies together can provide a warm-up, conditioning, and training program for our upper extremity. The choreographies can also be tailored toward different goals such as: enhancing active range of motion, strengthening muscles, both protecting and mobilizing our joints, addressing joint motion imbalances, etc. Using our hand in even the simplest actions, involves our entire upper extremity and coordination with the rest of our body - and many of the choreographies reflect that coordination of our whole body in every little or big action of our hands.

Week #1 - shoulder girdle 

Week #2 – shoulder joint 

Week #3 – shoulder girdle and shoulder joint coordination

Week #4 – elbow joint and forearm joints

Week #5 – wrist joint 

Week #6 – hand 

Week #7 – hand/wrist/forearm/elbow/shoulder coordination

Week #8 – review of sequences

Time: Wednesday's, 2:00pm-4:00pm (8 weeks with "snow-date" December 13, 2023)

Fee: $550 must be made to Stephen Williams

To Register: email Stephen Williams at nohostudio@yahoo.com. Download the flyer for this workshop here.

March 11 and 25, 2023

Irene Dowd presents

Classic PNF Patterns and Ways to Adapt them to Different Goals (On Zoom)

Workshop ONE on March 11: Lower Limb PNF patterns

Workshop TWO on March 25: Upper Limb PNF patterns

In each workshop, we will:

*Learn the classic PNF pattern

*Observe the presence of the pattern in many daily life activities (e.g. walking, running, jumping, kicking; throwing, putting on coat, picking up a heavy knapsack and throwing it over shoulder)

*Practice focus on initiating from most distal parts of body (i.e. toes/fingers) with an action intention, as is recommended for maximizing whole body integration

*Consider strategies to stabilize vulnerable areas such as sacro-iliac joints and shoulder joints (which can be destabilized in efforts to perform these patterns, especially if seeking to maximize range of motion)

*Pursue strategies that involve entire body engagement (rather than leaving out some areas of chronic "tension" and "holding")

*Personalize orientation relative to gravity, etc. in a way that more fully enhances action goals

Date: Saturday, March 11 and March 25, 2023

Time: 2-4pm Zoom Recording available for viewing for 7 days afterwards

Fee: $120 for both or $75 each

To Register: email Stephen Williams at nohostudio@yahoo.com. Download the flyer for this workshop here.

October 22 and November 12, 2022

Irene Dowd presents

Honoring Individual Anatomical Structure with Individualized Adaptive Training (On Zoom)

It is easy to think that there is "one ideal structure" and that any deviations from that aberrations or distortions. Nothing could be farther from the reality. There are enormous variations in skeletal structure within the human race, each and all of which have their special advantages. In this series of 2 workshops, we will consider areas of the body that vary considerable between people.

Workshop ONE on October 22: the hip joints and pelvis and lumbar spine

Workshop TWO on November 12: the feet and ankles

In each workshop, we will review those variations associated with a body part, consider the functional advantages of each of those variations, and explore how to adapt the training and usage protocols for each person's structure toward their chosen activities.

Date: Saturday, October 22 and November 12 2022

Time: 2-4pm Zoom Recording available for viewing for 7 days afterwards

Fee: $120 for both or $75 each

To Register: email Stephen Williams at nohostudio@yahoo.com. Download the flyer for this workshop here.

January 14 - March 31, 2020

Irene Dowd presents

Understanding Individual Muscles Through Multiple Senses: Focus on the Muscles of the Lower Trunk

The purpose of this course is to understand the "functional profile" of individual muscles in a deep, multi-sensory physical way. We will do that by looking at the muscles, drawing them, feeling them on our own bodies, and performing mini- choreographies for each muscle in which muscle is engaged from its most elongated to its most shortened length (concentric contraction), and then from its most shortened to its most elongated (eccentric contraction) while sustaining its ability to contract and exert effectively. Most functionally useful, we will consider how each muscle can coordinate and collaborate with other muscles in the actions of daily living.

As a result of experiencing our body through drawing, touching and moving, we can become more skilled at visualizing and kinesthetically experiencing the ways in which each muscle serves our whole body to produce our movement through time and fully three-dimensional space. We might be able to more easily identify our "lazier" muscles and our "over-achieving" muscles, and how they might fully collaborate together.

The muscles of the lower trunk that we will investigate include: latissimus dorsi, lumbo-sacral and thoraco-lumbar erector spinae and transverso-spinalis muscle groups, abdominal wall muscles, and ilio-psoas. These muscles not only serve to stabilize the lower spine and trunk during weight shifts, walking/running, and arm/leg gestures; but also produce the significant actions of changing the relationships between pelvis and rib cage that are basic elements of our daily lives.

Dates: January 14 - March 31,20 (storm "make-up" day on Tuesday April 7 or 14, 2020)

Time: 1:15pm-2:45pm Tuesdays (12 classes)

Fee: $650

Instructor(s): Irene Dowd is on the dance faculty of the Juilliard School and Hollins University graduate program, and a regular guest at academic and dance institutions throughout the US and Canada. Author of Taking Root to Fly, she has maintained a practice in kinesthetic anatomy and neuromuscular re-education for 48 years in NYC. Irene has been awarded the 2014 Balasaraswati/Joy Ann Dewey Beinecke Endowed Chair for Distinguished Teaching at the American Dance Festival, and the 2015 Julliard John Erskine Faculty award, and the 2016 Dance Science and Somatics Educators Lifetime Service Award from DSSE (Dance Science and Somatic Educators),and 2018 Honory Fellowship from Trinity Laban Cocservative of Music and Dance. Free access to her digital archive is available at: irenedowdchoreographies.com

To Register: Email Stephen Williams at nohostudio@yahoo.com.

Pre-registration is essential since the course will be limited; payment by check or cash only.

Download the flyer for this workshop here.

January 16-April 23, 2020

Irene Dowd presents:

Kinesthetic Anatomy & Biomechanics of Motion: The Limbs

This course has been created to provide participants with functional and kinesthetic comprehension of our musculoskeletal system of the extremities, i.e. the legs and arms. We will study the bones, joint biomechanics and muscles of the limbs. We will focus on how these joints move and the patterns of muscle coordination which move them in the activities of daily life, such as walking, lifting, carrying and manipulating objects. The schedule of topics is as fallows (subject to slight changes):

January 16 – structure and range of motion of hip joint

January 23 – muscles crossing the back and outsides of the hip joint and what they do

January 30 – muscles crossing the front and insides of the hip joint and what they do

February 6 – structure and motion of knee joint

February 13 – muscles and tissues crossing knee jont, their functons in motion

February 20 – strategies for enhancing knee joint function

February 27 – structure, motion, muscles of leg and ankle joint

March 5 – architecture and motion of foot

March 12 – muscles of the foot

March 19 – structure, motion, muscles of the shoulder girdle

March 26– structure and motion of shoulder joint, and rotator cuff function

April 2 – all muscles of shoulder joint, coordination of shoulder girdle with shoulder joint

April 9 - elbow joint and joints of the forearm, muscles and actions

April 16 - wrist joint and muscles; bones, structure and motion of hand

April 23- muscles, movements and activities of hand

Time: Thursdays, 2:00pm-4:00pm (15 weeks with "snow-date" April 30, 2020)

Fee: $900 no refunds after January 15. Pre-registration is essential; check or cash only. All payments must be made to Stephen Williams

To Register: email Stephen Williams at nohostudio@yahoo.com. Download the flyer for this workshop here.

Past Workshops

October 12, 2019

Irene Dowd presents

Hypermobilty and How to Train People who are Hypermobile

Hypermobility syndrome is being more and more widely recognized. This is because many individuals exhibit genetically-based collagen laxity and/or potential overstretch and weakness of the soft tissues of their bodies. Since collagen is a major component of skin, fascia, ligaments, tendons, blood vessel walls, and the encasement of organs, lax collagen can contribute to quite a variety of functional challenges. Aging is also associated with collagen becoming more lax (this is why older people become more and more wrinkled, for example). Sometimes people can develop more hypermobility of a particular joint, or joints, as a result of injuries or from intense long-term training practices (e.g. yoga, gymnastics, dance, etc.).

Whatever the cause of a person's hypermobility, training someone who possesses hypermobile joints requires special attention to proprioception (which is less accurate in presence of hypermobility), protection of joints from over-mobilization and forceful stretching (that could contribute to joint injuries and degenerative changes), carefully progressive dynamic strength training and muscle balancing (to provide a "protective physical insurance policy" which facilitates sustained sense of safety while preserved freedom of motion in action), and careful attention to how daily life activities are performed (so as to avoid unconsciously over-mobilizing particular areas).

In this workshop, we will learn how hypermobility is actually defined and identified. We will review some of the most recent research pertaining to various potential consequences for a person living with hypermobility, as well as what might be done to minimize the un-desired consequences. Participants will be introduced to training strategies and protocols that are designed to optimize function of people who are hypermobile, and will be guided through physically experiencing examples of each of these strategies.

Date: Saturday, October 12, 2019

Time: 1:30pm-5:30pm

Fee: $200 cash or check only

To Register: email Stephen Williams at nohostudio@yahoo.com. Download the flyer for this workshop here.

September 10 - November 26, 2019

Irene Dowd presents

Understanding the Mechanics of Skeletal Joint Motion through Multiple Senses

The purpose of this course is to understand the details of joint motion in a deep, multi-sensory physical way. We will do that by looking (utilizing drawing our bones and joints as a vehicle for truly seeing them), touching (feeling our own bodies in just the right locations in order to perceive the nature of motion taking place between articulating bones), and performing each of the possible joint movement in ways that intensify our kinesthetic experience of them (by creating subtle variations in compression/decompression, weight bearing/non-weight bearing, etc. which greatly increase the feedback to our brain from our joints and the tissues that surround them).

As we deepen our knowledge of the shapes of our bones and particularly the articular surfaces between them, we understand the actual and potential configurations of bony relationships within our own bodies as well as in others much more clearly. As we come to perceive the actual rolling/sliding/spinning/spiraling/orbiting pathways of motion taking place between those surfaces we will greatly deepen our understanding of how our bodies can move most easily, fluidly and through a greater range of motion with many more choices than we might have imagined we had before. As we draw/feel/move our skeletons, we may come to experience a greater integrity and cooperation of all our joints moving in harmony with each other.

We will be drawing from real human bone, both from a fully articulated skeleton as well as from individual bones, because only these have the exact reality that can teach us most effectively. By simply attending to and drawing what we see, we will organically come to understand the skeletal body more three dimensionally as it really exists and moves. Laura Ferguson, who is the resident artist at NYU Medical School, plans to join us occasionally as a guest. She has been my colleague in teaching a number of anatomical drawing classes. Her art is extraordinary (see her website at: lauraferguson.net). I will provide basic drawing supplies, although you should feel free to bring your own.

As a result of experiencing our body through drawing, touching and moving, we can become more skilled at visualizing and kinesthetically experiencing the articulated skeleton moving in time through fully three-dimensional space. This practice can be extremely useful for those of us who wish to analyze, coach, and create more effective physical performance.

Dates: September 10 - November 26, 2019 (storm "make-up" day on Tuesday December 3)

Time: 1:15pm-2:45pm Tuesdays (12 classes)

Fee: $650

Instructor(s): Irene Dowd is on the dance faculty of the Juilliard School and Hollins University graduate program, and a regular guest at academic and dance institutions throughout the US and Canada. Author of Taking Root to Fly, she has maintained a practice in kinesthetic anatomy and neuromuscular re-education for 48 years in NYC. Irene has been awarded the 2014 Balasaraswati/Joy Ann Dewey Beinecke Endowed Chair for Distinguished Teaching at the American Dance Festival, and the 2015 Julliard John Erskine Faculty award, and the 2016 Dance Science and Somatics Educators Lifetime Service Award from DSSE (Dance Science and Somatic Educators),and 2018 Honory Fellowship from Trinity Laban Cocservative of Music and Dance. Free access to her digital archive is available at: irenedowdchoreographies.com

To Register: Email Stephen Williams at nohostudio@yahoo.com.

Pre-registration is essential since the course will be limited; payment by check or cash only.

Download the flyer for this workshop here.

September 12 - December 5, 2019

Irene Dowd presents:

Kinesthetic Anatomy & Biomechanics of Motion: Spine/Trunk

This course provides participants with a functional and kinesthetic introduction to our musculoskeletal system. We will study bones, joint biomechanics and muscles of the spine and trunk, as well as pelvis, rib cage, and skull. We will consider how our trunk functions as a 3D volume that contains, supports,and moves us through space. We will examine coordinated activity patterns of our trunk muscles during basic movements of daily life in varying relationships with gravity. The schedule of topic presentations is:

September 12 – skeletal structure of spine as a whole, locating vertebra

September 19 – bony landmarks of pelvis, movements within the pelvis

September 26 – landmarks of lumbar spine, mechanics of joint motion of lower spine

October 3 - muscles of the back

October 10 – muscles of the abdominal wall

October 17 – role of trunk and spine muscles in sustaining various lower spine orientations & movements of the lower trunk

October 24 - bony landmarks, muscles and movement of thoacic spine & thorax

October 31 – moving the volume within thorax: introduction to respiration

November 7 – muscles of respiration, muscular patterns involved in breathing,

November 14 – bony landmarks and joints of the skull & cervical spine, movements of head, jaw and neck, mechanics of joint motion of the upper spine & trunk

November 28 – muscles and movement of the posterior neck & upper thorax

December 5 - muscles and movement of lateral and anterior neck and upper thorax

Time: Thursdays, 2:00pm-4:00pm (12 classes) NO CLASS on Thanksgiving day.

Fee: $750, paid one week in advance, no refunds after September 11 (24 hours before beginning of course), pre-registration is essential, all payments must be made to Stephen Williams

Instructor(s): Irene Dowd is on the dance faculty of the Juilliard School and Hollins University graduate program, and a regular guest at academic and dance institutions throughout the US and Canada. Author of Taking Root to Fly, she has maintained a practice in kinesthetic anatomy and neuromuscular re-education for 48 years in NYC. Irene has been awarded the 2014 Balasaraswati/Joy Ann Dewey Beinecke Endowed Chair for Distinguished Teaching at the American Dance Festival, and the 2015 Julliard John Erskine Faculty award, and the 2016 Dance Science and Somatics Educators Lifetime Service Award from DSSE (Dance Science and Somatic Educators),and 2018 Honory Fellowship from Trinity Laban Cocservative of Music and Dance. Free access to her digital archive is available at: irenedowdchoreographies.com

To Register: email Stephen Williams at nohostudio@yahoo.com. Download the flyer for this workshop here.

May 4, 2019 (sold out)

May 5, 2019 Repeat

Irene Dowd presents

The Multiple Aspects of Rotation in our Body, From a Pilates Perspective

Often, when we talk about rotation of the body, we are thinking about the rotation of our head to right/left, rotation inward/outward at the hip and shoulder joints, and rotation of our pelvis in one direction as our rib cage rotates to face in the opposite direction, etc.

Another kind of rotation is the movement, in all dimensions, that takes place at our ball and socket joints (i.e. spinning/rolling of one joint surface in relationship with other). This rotation optimally takes place in a fashion that maximizes range of motion while keeping the articulating bones in fullest possible contact with each other. If we can understand this optimal motion and visualize it when we perform challenging actions, we are quite likely to experience greater freedom of movement and ease.

In this workshop, we will consider both kinds of rotation while focusing primarily on some areas of the body which are involved in virtually every action we perform in the course of a day: our hip joints, shoulder joints, and spine (including our neck).

During the workshop, we will:

*Practice observation skills in seeing where the rotation is taking place or not taking place in someone's body.

*Bring functional rotation into Pilates practices, and add rotation practices to some of the traditional Pilates protocols.

*Practice cuing strategies that facilitate desired rotation during performance of these protocols.

Date: Saturday, May 4, 2019

Time: 1:30pm-5:30pm

Fee: $200 cash or check only

Instructor(s): Irene Dowd is on the dance faculty of the Juilliard School, and is a regular guest at academic and dance institutions throughout the US and Canada. Author of Taking Root to Fly, she has maintained a practice in kinesthetic anatomy and neuromuscular re-education for over 45 years in NYC. Irene has been awarded the 2014 Balasaraswati/Joy Ann Dewey Beinecke Endowed Chair for Distinguished Teaching at the American Dance Festival, and the 2015 Julliard John Erskine Faculty award. Free access to her digital archive is available at: irenedowdchoreographies.com

To Register: email Stephen Williams at nohostudio@yahoo.com. Download the flyer for this workshop here.

March 9, 2019 (Sold Out)

March 10, 2019 (Repeat) (Sold Out)

Irene Dowd presents

The Abdominal Story

The abdominal story is a story of the very dynamic and adaptive relationship between our rib cage and our pelvis, our upper and our lower spine, our arms and our legs. While this relationship is very much moderated in the front of our body by our abdominal wall muscles, those muscles can only be fully effective when cooperatively engaging with our spinal muscles and hip muscles, and even the muscles of our arms and legs. Indeed, the story is wonderfully complex.

How do we train all these muscles to be strong, flexible, appropriately responsive and able to work in constantly changing coordination with each other? What are the possible intimate and functional relationships between breathing and our abdominal wall muscles? Are there exercises that are more effective than others in preparing us for the physical demands of real life? These are just some of the questions we will address in the workshop.

Participants will learn some highly effective and adaptive physical practices that can serve us towards ensuring that all these muscles are ready to do what we need of them. These practices can be done lying down, standing up, or sitting without needing to use any special equipment except our own purposive brains and the constant presence of gravity. Fee:

Date: Saturday, March 9, 2019

Time: 1:30pm-4:30pm

Fee: $150 cash or check only

To Register: email Stephen Williams at nohostudio@yahoo.com. Download the flyer for this workshop here.

January 15 - April 9, 2019

Irene Dowd presents

Communicating, Seeing and Doing: Strategies for Enhancing Function in Action

This course is designed for teachers, trainers, dancers, and movement coaches who wish to enhance their skills in communicating, analyzing and coaching movement, both for themselves and for others with whom they work. In order to refine movement performance, we must first be able to perceive what is being done in the present. In order to achieve that refinement, we must be able to devise a strategy for arriving at the movement goal more effectively. Critically important, we must be able to communicate our perception and our strategy to the person with whom we are working. Unless the communication between us is clear and undistorted, we can neither establish nor achieve mutual goals.

Once we have seen what appears to be the case in the present and understood what the person hopes to achieve in the future (including that person's functional and activity goals), we can begin to create strategies for coaching that person along a pathway toward that future goal. In this course, we will focus on strategies that involve re-configuring the what and the how of our thinking (concept and visualization of the movement) as well as strategies that involve re-coordinating our muscle work while practicing different muscular use patterns. In other words, we will practice changing our idea of the movement as well as our way of engaging our musculo-skeletal system in order to perform the movement (re-training our physical being in the process).

The purpose of this course is to be able to more effectively figure out ways to address the questions: "what do we SEE, and what shall we DO in order to achieve our mutual goals?"

Dates: January 15 - April 9, 2019 (storm "make-up" day on Tuesday April 16)

Time: 1:15pm-2:45pm Tuesdays (12 classes)

Fee: $600

To Register: Email Stephen Williams at nohostudio@yahoo.com.

Pre-registration is essential since the course will be limited; payment by check or cash only.

Download the flyer for this workshop here.

January 17-April 25, 2019

Irene Dowd presents:

Kinesthetic Anatomy & Biomechanics of Motion: The Limbs

January 17 – structure and range of motion of hip joint

January 24 – muscles crossing the back and outsides of the hip joint and what they do

January 31 – muscles crossing the front and insides of the hip joint and what they do

February 7 – structure and motion of knee joint

February 14 – muscles and tissues crossing knee jont, their functons in motion

February 21 – strategies for enhancing knee joint function

February 28 – structure, motion, muscles of leg and ankle joint

March 7 – architecture and motion of foot

March 14 – muscles of the foot

March 21 – structure, motion, muscles of the shoulder girdle

March 28– structure and motion of shoulder joint, and rotator cuff function

April 4 – all muscles of shoulder joint, coordination of shoulder girdle with shoulder joint

April 11 - elbow joint and joints of the forearm, muscles and actions

April 18 - wrist joint and muscles; bones, structure and motion of hand

April 25- muscles, movements and activities of hand

Time: Thursdays, 2:00pm-4:00pm (15 weeks with "snow-date" May 2, 2019)

Fee: $900 no refunds after January 17. Pre-registration is essential; check or cash only. All payments must be made to Stephen Williams

To Register: email Stephen Williams at nohostudio@yahoo.com. Download the flyer for this workshop here.

September 11 - November 27, 2018

Irene Dowd presents

Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF) Patterns and Their Potential Role In Daily Life

This course will involve practices designed to enhance our understanding of PNF patterns. We will refine our ability to perform the patterns ourselves as well as our ability to communicate these patterns to another person. With reference to communication, we will also explore a variety of strategies for providing assistance and resistance to another person during that person’s performance of these patterns. We will be particularly attentive to how these patterns can enhance our adaptability and mobility while sustaining stability and enhancing equilibrium. Included are:

• review of the joint movements and muscle activity involved in producing these complex PNF patterns

• observation of these patterns in walking, lifting and throwing, and other basic activities which we perform many times a day

• exploration of variations on the manner in which the patterns can be performed to enhance range of motion, stability, flexibility, strength, and refined motor control

• consideration of how to sensitively integrate the patterns into more effective performance of daily life activities

In summary, PNF patterns involve our whole body and are prevalent in everyday life. They require us to exert our muscles from their most elongated to their most shortened lengths while performing neurologically facilitating actions. As we refine our performance of these patterns, we may enhance our own daily life activities. If we can more effectively teach and coach these patterns, we may provide our students and colleagues with very powerful and far-reaching strategies for functional change.

Dates: September 11 - November 27, 2018

Time: 1:15pm-2:45pm Tuesday Afternoons (12 classes)

Fee: $600

Instructor(s): Irene Dowd studied with and assisted Lulu E Sweigard at the Julliard School from 1968-1974, and was designated and authorized by by Sweigard to teach her work. Irene Dowd is on the dance faculty of the Juilliard School, Movement Research, and Hollins University/ADF MFA program in dance. She is a regular guest to NYU Tisch School of the arts and Canada's National Ballet School. Author of Taking Root to Fly, she has maintained a practice in kinesthetic anatomy and neuromuscular re-education for over 45 years in NYC, while continuing to be a guest teacher in academic and dance institutions throughout the US, Canada and Europe. Irene has been awarded the 2014 Balasaraswati/Joy Ann Dewey Beinecke Endowed Chair for Distinguished Teaching at the American Dance Festival, and the 2015 Juliard John Erskine Faculty Award. Free access to her digital archive is available at: irenedowdchoreographies.com

To Register: Email Stephen Williams at nohostudio@yahoo.com.

Download the flyer for this workshop here.

September 13 - December 6, 2018

Irene Dowd presents:

Kinesthetic Anatomy & Biomechanics of Motion: Spine/Trunk

This course provides participants with a functional and kinesthetic introduction to our musculoskeletal system. We will study bones, joint biomechanics and muscles of the spine and trunk, as well as pelvis, rib cage, and skull. We will consider how our trunk functions as a 3D volume that contains, supports, and moves us through space. We will examine the coordinated activity patterns of our trunk muscles during basic movements of daily life in varying relationships with gravity. We will analyze protocols for trunk stabilization and mobilization in relation to real-life goals. The schedule of topic presentations is:

September 13 – skeletal structure of spine as a whole, locating vertebra

September 20 – bony landmarks of pelvis, movements within the pelvis

September 27 – landmarks of lumbar spine, mechanics of joint motion of lower spine

October 4 - muscles of the back

October 11 – muscles of the abdominal wall

October 18 – role of trunk and spine muscles in sustaining various lower spine orientations & movements of the lower trunk

October 25 - bony landmarks, muscles and movement of thoacic spine & thorax

November 1 – moving the volume within thorax: introduction to respiration

November 8 – muscles of respiration, muscular patterns involved in breathing,

November 15 – bony landmarks and joints of the skull & cervical spine, movements of head, jaw and neck, mechanics of joint motion of the upper spine & trunk

November 29 – muscles and movement of the posterior neck & upper thorax

December 6 - muscles and movement of lateral and anterior neck and upper thorax

Time: Thursdays, 2:00pm-4:00pm (12 classes) NO CLASS on Thanksgiving day.

Fee: $700, paid one week in advance, no refunds after September 12 (24 hours before beginning of course), pre-registration is essential, all payments must be made to Stephen Williams

To Register: email Stephen Williams at nohostudio@yahoo.com. Download the flyer for this workshop here.

October 6, 2018

Irene Dowd presents

Exploring Thorax/Shoulder Integrity with Steven Fetherhuff (Repeat due to high demand)

This workshop is a Pilates-based exploration of the exquisite versatility and dynamism of our thorax, shoulders and arms.

Irene Dowd will analyze the potential joint movements which the thoracic spine, rib cage, shoulder girdle and shoulder joint are capable of performing. She will lead participants through a kinesthetic experience of the muscles that produce movements of the thorax, shoulders and arms, with particular emphasis on removing impediments to breathing, mobilizing the scapula on the rib cage, and recruiting the rotator cuff and scapula muscles as needed in action.

Steven Fetherhuff will demonstrate various protocols on the Pilates equipment that enhance function of the thorax, shoulder and arm.

Both Irene and Steven will collaborate in reviewing common challenges, as well as approaches to modifying traditional protocols to avoid injury and enhance balanced muscle conditioning.

Date: Saturday, October 6, 2018

Time: 1:30pm-5:30pm

Fee: $175 cash or check only

To Register: email Stephen Williams at nohostudio@yahoo.com. Download the flyer for this workshop here.

September 29, 2018

Irene Dowd presents

Exploring Thorax/Shoulder Integrity with Steven Fetherhuff

This workshop is a Pilates-based exploration of the exquisite versatility and dynamism of our thorax, shoulders and arms.

Steven Fetherhuff will demonstrate various protocols on the Pilates equipment that enhance function of the thorax, shoulder and arm.

Both Irene and Steven will collaborate in reviewing common challenges, as well as approaches to modifying traditional protocols to avoid injury and enhance balanced muscle conditioning.

Date: Saturday, September 29, 2018

Time: 1:30pm-5:30pm

Fee: $175 cash or check only

To Register: email Stephen Williams at nohostudio@yahoo.com. Download the flyer for this workshop here.

May 12, 2018

Irene Dowd & Rebecca Dietzel present

Transforming Stress

Webster's dictionary defines stress as "any force exerted in any direction or manner on a body... tending to change its form or dimension". We can't actually live without stress. However, we can't live with excessive unremitting stress either. Forces are always acting on us, but how can we choose to change in response to them so as to enhance rather than degrade our circumstances?

In this workshop, Irene will teach physical activities and visualization strategies that can transform and reduce our stress response, while simultaneously contributing to enhanced physical fitness and well-being. Rebecca will explain what happens in our bodies when we experience the stress response, and how we can mitigate the potentially harmful effects with the way we eat and organize our daily lives.

Date:Saturday May 12, 2018

Time: 1:30pm-5:30pm

Fee: $175 cash or check only written out to Irene Dowd to 70 East 10th Street #11K NYC, 10003

Rebecca Dietzel, M.S. is an anatomist and biochemist. She received her Master of Science from Columbia University’s Institute of Human Nutrition. She maintains private practices in New York City and Vermont teaching anatomy, physical re-education and nutritional biochenistry. Rebecca is the nutrition consultant for Canada’s National Ballet School, and co-author of A Dancer’s Guide to Healthy Eating. In the Eastern sciences, Rebecca is an Ayurvedic practitioner in the tradition of the Wise Earth School. She studied Ayurveda and the Vedic Tradition under the tutelage of Swamini Mayatitananda and has also been certified as an Ayurvedic Practitioner by the AYU Ayurvedic Academy

To Register:Contact Irene at 212-420-8782 or eidcas@gmail.com or Rebecca at rebecca.dietzel@gmail.com . Download the flyer for this workshop here.

April 14, 2018

Irene Dowd & Rebecca Dietzel present

Transforming Stress

Date:Saturday April 14, 2018

Time: 1:30pm-5:30pm

Fee: $175 cash or check only written out to Irene Dowd to 70 East 10th Street #11K NYC, 10003

To Register:Contact Irene at 212-420-8782 or eidcas@gmail.com or Rebecca at rebecca.dietzel@gmail.com . Download the flyer for this workshop here.

January 16-April 17, 2018

Irene Dowd presents

Evolving, Refining, and Adapting the Practice of Ideokinesis

Ideokinesis is a strategy for enhancing our ability to move, involving a process of visualizing pathways or vectors of motion through one’s body, with the purpose of fine-tuning movement performance. In this more advanced course, we will:

1) delve more deeply into the ways in which Sweigard's 9-lines-of-movement can be adapted and utilized to the needs of a specific individual, and investigate

strategies that can support the visualization of those lines

2) gain more in-depth practice of performing active movement in conjunction with ideokinetic visualization

3) explore opportunities to practice Ideokinesis in the course of our daily lives

Pre-Requisite: A Previous Course in Ideokinesis

Dates: January 16 - April 17, 2018

Time: 1:15pm-2:45pm Tuesday Afternoons (12 classes)

Fee: $600

To Register: Email Stephen Williams at nohostudio@yahoo.com.

Download the flyer for this workshop here.

January 18-May 3, 2018

Irene Dowd presents:

Kinesthetic Anatomy & Biomechanics of Motion: The Limbs

January 18 – structure and range of motion of hip joint

January 25 – muscles crossing the back and outsides of the hip joint and what they do

February 1 – muscles crossing the front and insides of the hip joint and what they do

February 8 – structure and motion of knee joint

February 15 – muscles and tissues crossing knee jont, their functons in motion

February 22 – strategies for enhancing knee joint function

March 1 – structure, motion, muscles of leg and ankle joint

March 15 – architecture and motion of foot

March 22 – muscles of the foot

March 29 – structure, motion, muscles of the shoulder girdle

April 5 – structure and motion of shoulder joint, and rotator cuff function

April 12 – all muscles of shoulder joint, coordination of shoulder girdle with shoulder joint

April 19 - elbow joint and joints of the forearm, muscles and actions

April 26 - wrist joint and muscles; bones, structure and motion of hand

May 3 - muscles, movements and activities of hand

Time: Thursdays, 2:00pm-4:00pm (15 weeks)

Fee: $900 no refunds after January 17. Pre-registration is essential, all payments must be made to Stephen Williams

Instructor(s): Irene Dowd is on the dance faculty of the Juilliard School, Movement Research, and Hollins University/ADF MFA program in dance. She has been a regular guest to NYU Tisch School of the Arts and Canada's National Ballet School for many years. Author of Taking Root to Fly, she has maintained a practice in kinesthetic anatomy and neuromuscular re-education for more thsn 45 years in NYC, while continuing to be a guest teacher in academic and dance institutions throughout the US, Canada, and Europe. Irene is recipient of the 2014 Balasaraswati/Joy Ann Dewey Beinecke Endowed Chair for Distinguished Teaching at the American Dance Festival, and the 2015 Juliard John Erskine Faculty Prize.

To Register: email Stephen Williams at nohostudio@yahoo.com. Download the flyer for this workshop here.

November 4, 2017

Irene Dowd presents

Our Interactive Feet with Steven Fetherhuff

Performing actions with our feet allows us to initiate coordinated exertion patterns that can re-organize our whole body! They are also our most direct interface with the ground we stand and move upon.

Most of us spend much of our lives on our feet, standing and walking. Our feet are intimately and essentially involved in every kind of locomotor activity such as running, jumping and skipping. We can also use our feet in order to more elaborately interact with our enviornment such as when we are kicking a ball, gesturing through space in a pirourtte turn, or grabbing and holding steady on an irregular surface when rock climbing. With practice, our feet can even function like hands.

In this workshop, you will receive an introduction to the anatomical architecture of the foot. Participants will learn and practice foot/ankle warm-up choreographies created by Irene and Steven that contribute to enhancing foot adaptability when we are balancing on one foot, walking with buoyancy and ease, or springing up into the air.

Date: November 4, 2017

Time: 1:00pm-5:00pm

Fee: $175 cash or check only

To Register: email Stephen Williams at nohostudio@yahoo.com. Download the flyer for this workshop here.

October 21, 2017

Embracing Typology - Enhancing Your Pilates & Movement Practice with Cary Twomey

As teachers and students we go through structured training and forms of learning. These forms serve a purpose, but underneath is the larger reality of the Unconcious and what Carl Jung called Individuation-the essential journey toward Wholeness that each of us is taking whether we are consciuos of it or not. The process of Individuation is the unique unfolding of the person. If one can participate with it consciously it opens up enormous creativity and freedom to truly become oneself.

Framed by the Jungian model of Psychological Typology, this workshop will shed light on the structure of the Psyche and how it informs us as teachers and movers. Cary will introduce the physical and psychological maps that hold our unique processes of Individuation. Through these we will identify our own typology. We will touch on how to support the less developed aspects in ourselves, and why those untapped areas are so important in our own development and in relating to those we serve in our teaching and in our work.

Understanding the underlying Mandala of the individual nourishes our creativity and leads us to the discovery of the Self. In this workshop we will learn how knowledge of our typology and the typology of our students will enhance and improve our teaching and our own physical practices.

In this workshop we will explore:

* Jung's map of the psyche and how it pertains to you and those you teach, serve & work with.

* Ayurveda's ancient and time tested knowledge of physical constitution and why it is influencing everything we do.

* Why the individual is always more important than any system, and how we can support our own Individuation process more consciously.

* How to bring more of yourself into your Pilates practice, movement and teaching.

* Pilates & Movement as an individual creative process, not forms that must be strictly followed.

* How & why different psychological types and physical constitutions need to approach movement differently.

Time: Saturday, 1:00pm-5:00pm

Fee: $200

Instructor(s): Cary Twomey is a former NYC professional Modern Dancer and Pilates teacher who co-founded Noho Pilates Studio in NYC with Stephen Williams in 1998. Cary now resides in Lincoln, Nebraska where she is a Jungian Psychoanalyst and a Practitioner of Ayurvedic medicine. She received her BFA in Dance and Choreography in 1991 and was part of the founding faculty for the Joffrey Ballet, New School University BFA program for professional Ballet dancers. She has been practicing and teaching Yoga and Pilates for 25 years. Alongside her individual work, Cary regularly teaches in Colorado and Nebraska leading group retreats on Meditation and Movement, Jungian Psychology and Ayurveda. She is a mentor for Tara Mandala Retreat Center in Pagosa Springs, Colorado. Cary and her husband Lee, are the founders of Haymarket Movement Studio and Utpala Dharma Center, where they have an established Pilates & Yoga Studio, Ayurvedic Healing Center and Jungian Psychotherapy practice in their home town of Lincoln, Nebraska.

To Register: Email Stephen Williams at nohostudio@yahoo.com. Space is limited. Download the flyer for this workshop here.

September 12 - December 5, 2017

Irene Dowd presents

Ideokinesis In Action

Ideokinesis is a strategy for enhancing our ability to move. It involves a process of visualizing a pathway or vector of motion through one's body, with the purpose of fine-tuning movement performance. The practice of Ideokinesis can enhance coordination, equilibrium, fine-motor skill, efficiency and ease during the performance of everyday activities such as sitting and walking, as well as very challenging activities such as sky-diving and performing triple pirouette turns.

In this course, Irene will provide an introduction to the teachings of Lulu Sweigard as she received them at the Julliard School in the time between 1968 and 1974. She will review the 9-lines-of-movement, some of the movement practices and strategies she taught Irene, as well as her own adaptations of those practices.

Irene will present some of the applications she has made of her work in response to questions, movement challenges, contemporary concerns, and more recent neuroscience developments which have evolved during the ensuing 40 years of her own private practice and teaching.

Integrating a historical and contemporary perspective, she will introduce many strategies for bringing the practice of Ideokinesis into our daily life. Considering how to adapt Ideokinetic images to individual needs and circumstances as we stand, sit, walk, run, engage in our chosen professional work, adventure, dance and interact with others.

Dates: September 12 - December 5, 2017

Time: 1:00pm-2:30pm Tuesday Afternoons (13 classes)

Fee: $600

To Register: Email Stephen Williams at nohostudio@yahoo.com.

Download the flyer for this workshop here.

September 14 - December 7, 2017

Irene Dowd presents:

Kinesthetic Anatomy & Biomechanics of Motion: Spine/Trunk

This course has been created to provide participants with functional and kinesthetic comprehension of our musculoskeletal system. We will study the bones, joint biomechanics and muscles of the spine and trunk, as well as pelvis, rib cage, and skull. We will carefully consider how our trunk functions as a 3D volume that contains, supports, and moves us through space. We will examine the coordinated activity patterns of our trunk muscles during basic movements of daily life and different relationships with gravity. At the end of most class meetings we will analyze a specific protocol for trunk stabilization and mobilization in relation to real-life goals. The following provides a summary of the tentative schedule of topic presentations (subject to changes and adjustments):

September 14 – skeletal structure of spine as a whole, locating vertebra

September 21 – bony landmarks of pelvis, movements within the pelvis

September 28 – landmarks of lumbar spine, mechanics of joint motion of lower spine

October 5 - muscles of the back

October 12 – muscles of the abdominal wall

October 19 – role of trunk and spine muscles in sustaining various lower spine orientations & movements of the lower trunk

October 26 - bony landmarks, muscles and movement of thoacic spine & thorax

November 2 – moving the volume within thorax: introduction to respiration

November 9 – muscles of respiration, muscular patterns involved in breathing,

November 16 – bony landmarks and joints of the skull & cervical spine, movements of head, jaw and neck, mechanics of joint motion of the upper spine & trunk

November 30 – muscles and movement of the posterior neck & upper thorax

December 7 - muscles and movement of lateral and anterior neck and upper thorax

Time: Thursdays, 2:00pm-4:00pm (12 classes) NO CLASS on Thanksgiving day.

Fee: $700, paid one week in advance, no refunds after September 13 (24 hours before beginning of course), pre-registration is essential, all payments must be made to Stephen Williams

To Register: email Stephen Williams at nohostudio@yahoo.com. Download the flyer for this workshop here.

July 22, 2017 (Repeated July 23, 2017)

Irene Dowd presents

Knee Joint Harmony: Devising Appropriate Protocols for a Pilates-Based Training Program (taught with Steven Fetherhuff) (SOLD OUT)

The knee joint is the largest joint in out body and very complex. It allows us to change levels from sitting on ground to jumping off the ground and everything in-between. It can adjust for disharmony between our body core (pelvis) and our peripheral contact with ground (soles of feet). However, daily demands on its adaptability may eventually result in wear and tear to this joint. We all want to preserve our knee function.

In this workshop, we will review:

*how the knee moves "ideally" (biomechanics of joint motion)

*special challenges provided by deviations from that ideal including uncontrolled hypermobility, internal joint derangements, or arthritic changes (pathomechanics of knee)

*ways in which the individual session may be fine-tuned in order to optimize motion (analysis and coaching strategies)

*simple adaptations of traditional protocols to maximally nurture the cartilage-covered surfaces of the knee that allow it to keep moving smoothly and comfortably (innovative protocols adapted to the individual using traditional equipment)

Date: Saturday July 22, 2017

Time: 1:00pm-5:00pm

Fee: $175 cash or check only

To Register: email Stephen Williams at nohostudio@yahoo.com. Download the flyer for this workshop here.

April 29, 2017

Irene Dowd and Rebecca Dietzel present:

Healthy Bones

Bones are living tissues that are constantly responding to our daily life choices. Our physical activities and eating behaviors greatly contribute to the dynamic state of our bones.

In this workshop, we will consider how we can optimize our choices to elicit the responses of our bones that sustain their resilience, strength, and ability to withstand the forces we encounter.

Rebecca will explain basic biochemistry of bone metabolism and how the way we eat can serve our bone health.

Irene will teach movement practices that provide appropriate stimulus to bone tissue, as well as enhanced readiness of both brain and bones to respond to the unexpected and changing circumstances of living on our planet.

Both will collaborate in offering a variety of proactive and simple strategies for serving the well-being of our bones.

Date: Saturday April 29, 2017

Time: 1:00pm-5:00pm

Fee: $160 cash or check only, Written to Irene Dowd, 70 East 10th Street #11k, NY, NY 10003

Instructor(s): Irene Dowd is on the dance faculty of the Juilliard School, and isa regular guest at academic and dance institutions throughout the US and Canada. Author of Taking Root to Fly, she has maintained a practice in kinesthetic anatomy and neuromuscular re-education for over 44 years in NYC. Irene has been awarded the 2014 Balasaraswati/Joy Ann Dewey Beinecke Endowed Chair for Distinguished Teaching at the American Dance Festival, and the 2015 Julliard John Erskine Faculty award. Free access to her digital archive is available at: irenedowdchoreographies.com

To Register: Call Irene at 917-710-7447 or Rebecca at 718-383-3092 Download the flyer for this workshop here.

January 19-April 27, 2017

Irene Dowd presents:

Kinesthetic Anatomy & Biomechanics of Motion: The Limbs

January 19 – structure and range of motion of hip joint

January 26 – muscles crossing the back and outsides of the hip joint and what they do

February 2 – muscles crossing the front and insides of the hip joint and what they do

February 9 – structure and motion of knee joint

February 16 – muscles and tissues crossing knee jont, their functons in motion

February 23 – strategies for enhancing knee joint function

March 2 – structure, motion, muscles of leg and ankle joint

March 9 – architecture and motion of foot

March 16 – muscles of the foot

March 23 – structure, motion, muscles of the shoulder girdle

March 30 – structure and motion of shoulder joint, and rotator cuff function

April 6 – all muscles of shoulder joint, coordination of shoulder girdle with shoulder joint

April 13 - elbow joint and joints of the forearm, muscles and actions

April 20 - wrist joint and muscles; bones, structure and motion of hand

April 27 - muscles, movements and activities of hand

Time: Thursdays, 2:00pm-4:00pm (15 weeks)

Fee: $875 no refunds after January 18. Pre-registration is essential, all payments must be made to Stephen Williams

To Register: email Stephen Williams at nohostudio@yahoo.com. Download the flyer for this workshop here.