Workshops
You are welcome to sample the buffet of Janet’s training courses, and specialty and general workshops. She can offer much more by directly catering to your group’s or studio needs. Contact Janet with your inquiries...
LMA Pre Requisite Training
Laban Studies (LIMS), Movement Analysis and Body-Mind Pre-Requisite Course
This 17-hour introductory workshop deepens sensory awareness through facilitated first-person experiential anatomy, body connectivity, developmental movement re-patterning, and the “Basic Six” Bartenieff Fundamentals. In addition, we will explore Laban’s Movement Analysis as viewed through Body, Effort, Shape, Space (BESS) categories: Basic Effort factors, elements, affinities; modes and qualities of Shape; Dimensions, Planes, and pathways of the Icosahedron; as well Motif reading and writing will be introduced and explored. This workshop fulfills the pre-requisites for the Laban Studies and Movement Analysis and Body-Mind Practice for LIMS and LSSI®. Available to dancers, actors, musicians, body-based practitioners, Pilates and yoga instructors, and anyone curious about the field of movement in human lives and development.
Post Secondary Courses
Introduction to Laban Movement Analysis (LMA) in Theatre
This 3-hour workshop is an experiential introduction in discovering how LMA can support you in developing and embodying your role/character in theatre. We will begin with playful warm- ups individually and in groups, and then transition into developmental movement patterns as these form the movement basis for your character. Subsequently, we encounter ‘still forms’, the ‘snapshots’ of habitual patterns of your character, and apply these in sensing more deeply how your character relates to others and is perceived by others. We then will apply and play with this in your current role in the university’s theatre production.
Breath, Vocalizing and the Planes
In this 2-hour workshop we will explore how to support your voice in theatre. After a playful vocal warm-up, we will explore the three Dimensions of breathing, create Shaping inside our naso-and laryngo-pharynxes, and then find vowel sounds that are affined to these shapes. We will also apply our discoveries in moving: linking breath, body, movement.
Developmental Patterns for Performing Artists
This workshop introduces performing artists to both the pre-vertebral and vertebral movement patterns. Vibration, cellular breathing, sponging, pulsation and navel radiation are primarily fluid patterns that underlie and provide easeful and resilient support for subsequent spinal, homologous, homolateral, and cross-lateral vertebral patterns. In its presentation style, you will discover how development is more cyclical than linear, that each of the various patterns are contained in each other. In exploring, you are able to clarify your own movement patterns and discover that which is nascent, still developing.
Developmental and Repatterning Series
the Moving Child film: supporting early development through movement
While developmental movement may be thought to relate only to infants within the first year of life, it extends well beyond that. Adult movement is the product, not only of our current physical training, sports, and work habits, but also the culmination of early experiences within the womb, through birth, relationships withing our family of origin, and environments in which we find ourselves. Movement is our primary language as expressed through our bodies, and is critical in establishing neural/brain connections. Co-produced by Janet Kwantes, the Moving Child film is a beautiful sensitive exploration of the critical role of movement in physical, emotional, mental and social health of the child...who later becomes an adult. Leading experts in Dance/Movement Therapy, Body-Mind Centering ®, Attachment Psychology, NeuroPhysiology, and more demonstrate how movement awareness supports healthy development. Along with the film screening, Janet will discuss her interest in infant developmental movement, how it informs her perception of movement in adults at a deep level, and how she integrates this on a daily educational basis. For movers of any age: come curious and with questions regarding your own movement story.
Baby Moves
Come and explore your baby’s movement in natural and spontaneous play. Learn how underlying reflexes and body righting reactions integrate with developmental movement patterns as your baby progress towards being an independent mover. Discover how your baby develops body ego and awareness, internal connectivity, the ability to interact socially, the capacity to be a self-motivated, independent learner....and more! Baby Moves is a series of 8 classes for moms, caregivers, and babies (0-12 months of age) wherein we all will deepen our awareness of movement through movement that parallels infant development in an adult-friendly way. In doing so, caregivers will enhance their own body connectivity and movement, as well as deepen their relationship with baby in a fresh and exciting somatic way.
Adults Only: Re-Membering Your-Self (8 weeks)
This workshop series is geared towards adults who desire to discover who they are based on a movement context! I invite you to adopt a ‘beginner’s mind’ by retracing your early movement patterns. In this series we revisit patterns that relate to our individual vibration and cellular breathing to our amoeba- starfish- fish- frog- lizard- and cat patterns and how these manifest in our current adult lives. In each of these patterns, we explore the psychophysical implications of our movements, as well as discover ‘adult-friendly’ ways to nurture our current mobility challenges. In this series I draw on the wisdom of Laban’s Time, Weight, Space, and Flow effort factors as well as Bartenieff’s adult movement explorations. Come join! Expand your perception! Expand your movement potential!
Introduction to Adult Repatterning Series –Part I (15 weeks)
The desire for easeful fluid movement in our adult bodies is rarely achieved via ‘working harder’ or ‘getting stronger’. Rather it is through revisiting, re-membering and integrating the basic patterns that manifested as we grew from conception until our first birthday! This introductory series explores movements both before and after we developed a spine and limbs, and the interrelationship amongst these patterns of movement. Each week will begin with a check-in, an introduction to our theme, an experiential with helpful props and images to help you develop your awareness and movement potential, a time of integration via drawing, discussion and questions, and then options for further explorations to do at home.
Ontogenetic Development and Repatterning Series – Part II (10 weeks)
This series delves into our personal ontogenetic development from conception until our adult life. We embody foundational movements as they relate to our perceptual experience of our selves in relationship to gravity, space and with time. Explorations include: revisiting our ‘drone’ of expanding and condensing in utero, discovering our three vertical lines of axes, clarifying our nervous system responses of primitive reflexes, righting reactions, and equilibrium responses as they underlie our spinal, homologous, homolateral, and cross lateral movement patterns. At each stage, we relate these patterns to our current adult life with playful movement explorations and games, and seek integration of psychophysical implications in relationships with daily tasks, our hobbies, careers, and social interactions.
Fluids, Glands, and Basic Neurocellular Patterns – Repatterning Series Part III (10 weeks)
Rivers have tremendous potential to carve through prairie and mountain landscapes, creating pathways of live-giving support to the soil, plants and animals. In a similar way, the fluids in our bodies are a powerful support for easeful flowing movement. In this repatterning series we will develop awareness of our fluids (such as cellular, CSF, blood, lymph, synovial, fascia and periorgan fluids) and explore how this awareness can facilitate easeful movement in our adult developmental patterns. We will also open ourselves to the subtle yet significant possibility of our neurochemical transmitters--our glandular fluids.
Teacher Training
Experiential Anatomy for Movement Teacher Trainees
Learning anatomy can frequently lead to feelings of overwhelm, particularly when you are already enrolled in a teacher training program (Pilates, Yoga, personal trainer, and so forth). Janet will make anatomy personal, relevant, and transformative as you embody your own anatomy through movement, images, safe respectful touch, and practical application. Janet will guide you through bony relationships, muscle sequencing in both proximal and distal movements and why this is significant, feel the treasured support of your organs and fluids, encounter the guidance of your connective tissues (fascia, ligaments, tendons, etc), and create balance in the nervous system. Join in for a paradigm shift in your approach to anatomy!
Your Shoulder and its Girdle: Teacher Training for Movement Instructors (4 x 2h sessions)
This 4 part series, exploring the shoulder and its girdle, is an IN-DEPTH workshop for movement instructors. Key elements found in each of the 4 parts are: palpation of pertinent anatomical features, movement principles, injury considerations, rehabilitation, personal explorations, and application to one’s respective field (Pilates, yoga, etc). In specific, the format of the series is: • clarity of bones—we explore bony relationships in the upper body, palpation of joints as the space between bones, use of props, and various injuries and follow-up considerations • support of organs, power of muscles—we explore how lungs and the heart support our upper body movements; open and closed kinetic chains as well as proximal and distal movement in terms of neuromuscular sequencing and why this is HUGELY important to consider; 4 stages of rehabilitation • directionality of ligaments/fascia—a brief traverse into embryology highlights why fascial connectivity guides our movement, how do we support ourselves after injury? • Case study—this session offers an opportunity for movement professionals to collaboratively offer their suggestions and approaches to considering a presenting client, how they support, and what to offer based on the learning of this 4 part series.
Public Workshops
Cellular Presence, Cellular Resonance: a pathway to post-COVID peace
A common effect of pandemic stress and isolation is a fragmentation of relationships with others and within ourselves. Through breathwork, movement and partnering, participants in this 2-hour workshop will discover new practical skills to ‘re-member’ self, and nurture relationships. Janet will lead the group through a warm-up to assist with relating to one’s presence via breath, and relationship to gravity and space. This is followed by vocal sounding in various planes of movement to assist with developing resonance. These are then applied to your personal exploration of sensing your own cellular presence and resonance through self touch and sounding, and then in dyads with clear safe protocols in touch. We will end the session in a group unifying movement.
Somatic Liturgy
Somatikus (Greek): ‘of the body’ Leitourgia (Greek): ‘of the people’ Join in a process-based workshop in which participants (‘of the people’) will co-create a simple non-religious spiritual practice using mindfulness, symbolism, and movement (‘of the body’). The resultant form offers participants a personal and/or communal practice in which to engage for personal or group ‘prayer’/mindful offerings pertinent to our current life situations. This workshop draws from practices in yoga, qigong, and native spirituality (with permission).
Moving Spirituality: a short course in Spiritual Formation
Growth in our Christian lives does not usually happen by accident, but is the result of intentionally turning our hearts to God in worship and to our neighbors in service. Over time we grow in depth, faith, peace, courage and love becoming whole-hearted people. Join Janet as we explore the seasons celebrated in the Anglican church (Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, and Pentecost) through an embodied approach to liturgy, scripture and teachings offered in the Sunday services. Janet and Rev Steve collaborate on each season’s theme and offer Sunday’s homily, with Janet’s Moving Spirituality, and Steve’s bible study as a pathway in your spiritual formation.
Painless in the Neck
Do you suffer from neck pain? Headaches? Forward head posture? Would you like help? If yes, then this workshop is for you! In this workshop, Janet facilitates: • explorations that will offer support to the movement of your head and neck (breath, reflexes, positive relationship to gravity, use of sensory perceptions, diaphragmatic supports, psychophysical queries, and more) and then guides you in • various short Pilates mat sequences (that are often the culprits of ‘sore neck’), and • offers individual explorations on the Reformer and the Caddy in different relationships to gravity to help you deeply integrate your new-found support for your neck.
In-Habiting Your Skeleton (4 part series)
This workshop series exploring the musculoskeletal system is comprised of FOUR parts. Participants will be led through structure, functional relationships, movement principles, and considerations unique to key areas of our skeleton through experiential anatomy, touch, and movement. While the workshops can be experienced in isolation, concepts and movement relationships will build consecutively. Join in as we explore the following: 1. Spine In his book, Return to Life through Contrology (1945), Joseph Pilates states that the measure of one’s true age is indicated by the degree of flexibility of one’s spine (pp. 26-27). This workshop addresses questions such as: What and where is our axial skeleton (spine)? What is the ‘normal’ development of our spine and how does that affect movement? What are primary and secondary curves? What is the function of our spine? How do our disks cushion movement? What comprises ‘good posture’? What is mid- line? What other ‘axes’ support our bony spine? Special considerations: herniated disks, scoliosis. This workshop is foundational in theory and practice to the latter three. 2. Shoulder and its Girdle ‘Carrying the weight of the world on one’s shoulders’ can be quite a task especially if one is injured! Considering that the shoulder girdle is the most mobile part of our appendicular skeleton, how can we find support? How do we find ease of motion as we swing, hug, reach, press, shake, twist, pull, carry, push...that is, as we interact with ourselves, others and our world? What does our spine have to do with our shoulders? How do our fingers relate to our shoulder girdle? How do lungs support arm and shoulder movement? Special considerations: rotator cuff injuries, impingements. 3. Pelvis = Basin As the cradle of life, your pelvis provides stability in supporting your body weight and ‘suspending’ your centre of gravity, as well as mobility in transferring weight. It also mediates between the spine and your legs. How does your pelvis relate to your feet? How can I sit in cross-legged position and be comfortable? How can I stabilize my pelvis so that my leg circles on the Reformer and Cadillac have ease? Are you right- or left-legged? Does this affect your balance? How does your pelvic floor relate to your shoulder girdle? Special considerations: scoliosis, SI joint issues. 4. Knees Knock-kneed, bow-legs, knobby knees and other painful issues... . Being a very complex joint in the body, knees deserve our full attention. Mediators of forces from below as well as from above, painful knees can diminish one’s quality of life. Is ‘locking’ my knees bad? My knee is a ‘ball-and-socket’? Pulleys, patellae, and cogwheels? Why does my knee hurt when I am in lunges and scooter on the Reformer? How can I be aware of and support the movement of my menisci? How does your knee relate to your foot and to your pelvis? Special considerations: meniscal tears, bursitis.
Sinking into your Psoas (Part I)
Your iliopsoas muscles are CORE muscles: providing STABILITY in centered standing, and providing MOBILITY as primary hip/trunk flexors in walking, jumping, squatting. They are also CORE muscles in ‘holding’ our fundamental human experiences: providing SUPPORT for our pelvic organs, and providing MOVEMENT for our body memories in sports, child bearing, dance, work. In this workshop we will explore the dynamic relationship provided by your iliopsoas muscles in terms of Stability-Mobility and Support-Movement with very practical suggestions in-studio and at home to enhance your awareness and integration into your daily living. Explorations will include individual inquiries in various relationships to gravity: supine, side-lying, supine, prone, all 4s, standing and walking. This workshop is appropriate for the general public, as well as for movement instructors.
Sinking DEEPER into your Psoas (Part II)
In this 3-part series of workshops we will re-visit and expand upon the theory and embodiment from our preliminary Sinking into your Psoas workshop in application to the Pilates equipment: Wunda chair, Reformer, and Cadillac. Integrating the themes of Stability-Mobility and Support precedes movement Janet will offer beginner, intermediate, and advanced explorations. Not only will we embody our iliopsoas in an articulate way, we will also discover how other synergistic and antagonistic muscles maintain ease and full range of motion of our CORE/iliopsoas muscles. We will explore anatomy via integrative self-touch, colouring, as well as muscle-currenting as experienced through proximal vs distal movements, and myofascial connectivity throughout our bodies. This workshop is appropriate for clients seeking to deepen their ease in movement, as well as for movement instructors.
Got the World on Your Shoulders (3 parts)
Your shoulders and shoulder girdle are part of your appendicular skeleton and fundamental in communication/expression in relationship with others and the world. Consider that this includes not only your upper arms, shoulder blades, and collar bones, but ALSO your ribs, breastbone, lower arms, hands….and more! Movements of the shoulder and shoulder girdle have a profound impact on your neck, jaw, head and (through your spine) tailbone. Experience a Body-Mind Centering ® approach to exploring easeful movement of your shoulder girdle in this 3-part series. This workshop includes: • Guided touch explorations • Movement on the mat and Pilates equipment • Integrative anatomy colouring pages • Home movement practices to assist a deeper awareness of your daily activities • In-class assistants: Oscar and BonaLisa The three sessions are as follows: • Clarity of BONES, including mishaps of broken clavicles, arms, wrists (and how to prevent them) • Power of MUSCLES, including torn rotator cuffs and other misfortunes (and how to maximize your potential) • Directionality of CONNECTIVE TISSUE (ligaments, tendons, joint capsules), including frozen shoulders, impingements, postural misalignments (and how to nurture and protect your soft tissues)
