Eliza Sanders - classes and workshops

Moving with pressure and ease

This workshop explores moving with ease and pressure in conversation. Informed by principles from  the Alexander Technique and Contact C.A.R.E we unpack the nuances of what ‘the path of least resistance’ means. Exploring the intersection of the physical, social and emotional to develop our capacity to listen deeply and respond intuitively to the body's impulses and blocks. 

Through opening up the experience of body parts that have experienced injury and inviting the sensitivity to micro movements we can uncover new pathways, find pleasure in awkwardness, sensation in new places and work to untangle our aesthetic biases. 

movement can be huge or tiny

usually it is both at once. 

  • Designed for professional contemporary dancers 

  • Appropriate for all curious moving bodies 

  • Min 1 hour

Note: I am an avid student of the Alexander Technique for 12 years but am not a certified teacher. 

I am currently in training to become a certified practitioner of Contact C.A.R.E

instantaneous poetry:

Associative dance &  memory mining

This workshop works with the body and the voice simultaneously to connect our movement with our associative mind. Beginning with light hearted group work to open up our playful sensibilities and instinctive receptivity we work to wake up our imaginative and associative minds. Moving through repetitive states which release the pressure of decision making and bring about an easeful continuation of movement. Inviting our voice and our imagination into the equation we eventually find our way to speaking while we dance, creating a continuous stream of poetry and movement informed by and inspiring each other. Our associative brain exposes the memories stored in our bodies and we feel how our past experiences have shaped our physical landscape. 

The past is present in the body now

The mind is the body, then and now

  • Designed for professional contemporary dancers 

  • Appropriate for all curious moving bodies

  • Min 1.5 hrs

The Method:

improvisation and score writing for groups

In 2019 I began the development of a new method of score creation for group improvisation in collaboration with a group of artists. The method aims to create entirely improvised works that sit within a predetermined aesthetic framework.  The framework can come from collective decision making or from one leading creative voice. The objecting is to give freedom and agency to the performers while also expressing a delicately nuanced choreographic voice.

In this workshop we will work together to develop a ‘macro-code’ and write scores for performative group improvisations. Our focus will be on enjoying the experience of navigating space, time and energy together while exploring the possibilities for SURPRISE, AWARENESS, PRESENCE, CONNECTION, RISK that improvisation enables. We will unpack our different creative motivations and analyse the process of collective and individual decision making. 

This workshop often opens up discussion around  the intersections of process &  product,  performance & creations, ‘success’ & ‘failure’ and choice & chance. 

  • Designed for professional contemporary dancers 

  • Appropriate for all curious moving bodies with an interest in performance and collaboration

  • Min 3hrs


Key artists who contributed to the creation of this method include - Sophie Gargan, Gabriella Mersi, Christina Guieb and Ella Williams.

Countertechnique CLASS

Countertechnique is a movement system to help the dancer think about the dancing body, focusing on the process of incorporating information into action. Within a clear structure of exercises, the Countertechnique class thoroughly prepares the body for rehearsal and performance, enabling dancers to move bigger, more fluidly and more spatially, while becoming stronger and more flexible.

By continuously and sequentially directing parts of the body away from each other in space, Countertechnique allows the moving dancer to work with an ever-changing dynamic balance. This dynamic balance reduces the pressure on the overall body structure and can be changed at any given moment.

Countertechnique has been developed by Anouk Van Dijk throughout her career as a dancer, choreographer and artistic-director. It can only be taught by certified teachers. 

  • Designed for professional contemporary dancers 

  • Appropriate for professional contemporary dancers

  • Min 1.5 hrs

Selection of moments from Classes

Photography: Caroline Bindon & Gregory Lorenzutti