In the project TIPPING POINT ResearchLab, the changes and properties of a dynamic system in the immediate proximity of a tipping point are researched.

In the ecological and social realms, a tipping point is the point at which a series of small changes or events in a dynamic system becomes significant enough to cause a large, uncontrollable shift.

 

If we take our body as the representation of a complex dynamic system (body-mind-spirit), how can we investigate the tipping point, as the threshold between different states of being?

By state of being, we refer to states of consciousness as the ways in which we perceive the self in relation to time and space. Consciousness is a tricky subject and science still hasn't found a clear definition for ordinary state of consciousness nor for altered ones. What is certain is that we can experience alteration of states, through different methods or substances: breath work, excessive dance, lucid dreaming, sexual intercourse, sleep deprivation, fasting, music, meditation, sensory deprivation, hypnosis, psychoactive substances, and physical exercise.

 

The TIPPING POINT researchLab is a series of workshops where we explore some of these methods through movement exercises inspired by somatic and ritualistic dance practices. The exercises address collective balance, spinning and trust falls, contagion through imitation and repetition of movements and gestures, such as shaking, laughing, sighing, vocalising and contemplative states induced by breath work, slow motion movements and meditation.

Each workshop lasts 4 hours and it includes task-based exploration and free music and dance improvisation. We invite a group of movers and sound makers who are interested in self-exploration, at the threshold of tipping their perception of space and time.