What ambitious, me?!

A couple of days ago I was standing at my big kitchen window taking a long moment to just watch the rain dripping and sliding down the glass pane. My partner Rajendra joined me and we started a conversation which was mostly about me feeling overwhelmed with all the projects I am juggling. I wanted to understand what I could let go off. He didn't have an answer for me but he did reflect that he thinks I am an ambitious person. That statement astounded me! I have never considered myself ambitious, not even lightly. Noticing my hesitation, he started to tell me what I have done over the last 5 years and hearing him list all those accomplishments it did indeed sound quite ambitious. I did not really know what to make of it. I was completely taken by surprise. And yet, it is true, I am a community organizer, facilitator, dancer and therapist. I'm very invested in creating and sculpting spaces for people to deepen and soften their body-mind-movement relationships. Isn't it a paradox that my ambition is mainly turning around serving others and that I am nurtured by it too? I feel simultaneously proud and uncomfortable when I recognize that I am adamantly pursuing these interests – old patterns of wanting to hide appear. Am I even allowed to be ambitious and do the things that make me happy? I am sensing the comfort and failure of old family lineage strategies that are still resting in my bones. But I am also aware that they are shifting and all denser tissues in my body are slowly feeling lighter.

My trip to the Bay Area is approaching and as events in Bellingham are thriving and opportunities in other places of this huge continent are presenting itself, I invite you to come to my last Contact Improvisation workshops in Berkeley and Sebastopol this year. I won't be coming back soon and if you like a private session while I am in Berkeley please contact me. This time I offer psoas work (inspired by Liz Koch) and movement/dance/CI coaching. Dates for sessions are 12/10 - 12/12.

NOVEMBER
11/10 - 12/1 - Bellingham, WA

Radical Softness

I will be teaching a class series for the Bellingham Repertory Dance in Nov/Dec. https://www.bhamrep.org/class-calendar/11/10/24 sign up here: https://www.bhamrep.org/classes In those 4 classes you will be exposed to a river of movement in resonance with each other. There

Carmen SerberCarmen Serber

2 more Be Body morning classes
11/15 and 11/22 - Bellingham, WA

Be Body mornings

Friday morning dance class 10-12. 6 classes $100 Drop in $20 Dates: Oct 11, 18 Nov 1, 8, 15, 22 Aikido Peace Education Center Registration Who doesn’t want to start the day with a good dance class!? A movement class where you won’t imitate a teacher in front of a

Carmen SerberCarmen Serber

DECEMBER
12/5 - 12/8 - Berkeley, CA

I'm coming back to Berkeley for the last module of the Single Moment Training of 2024. We'll be focusing on the Diaphragm with special guest teacher, Mary Armentrout! She will bring in her expertise in Feldenkrais work relating to the diaphragm and adding some voice into movement exploration. This time we offer to join in parts or the full module. Please reach out to Merrick for more info: merrickjacob16@gmail.com
This will be my last workshop in Berkeley for awhile, come, dance and learn with us.

Single Moment 2024

Contact Improvisation Immersion with Carmen Serber and guests in Berkeley, CA. Somatics into Contact Improvisation Application and registration form and prices. This year long training provides a modular education into Contact Improvisation moving between sensing, practice, theory and somatic integration. We experience the body as a vessel of experimental inquiry,

Carmen SerberCarmen Serber

December 14 - Sebastopol, CA

The Art of Waiting

Saturday December 14th 10am - 4:30pm in Sebastopol, CA The workshop is open to all bodies, all identities. Some familiarity with Contact Improvisation can be helpful but is not necessary. We are making efforts to create a more diverse space for practicing and encourage queer and racially diverse identities

Carmen SerberCarmen Serber

JANUARY
1/11 - 1/12 - Bellingham, WA
Workshop with Nica Portavia and Karen Nelson

Faking It With Gravity

A workshop with Nica Portavia and Karen Nelson January 11 and 12 10 am - 4:30pm Open Saturday JAM with live music by Evan Strauss ~ 7-10pm Workshop and evening Jam Sliding scale: $170 -$270 Sliding scale: QTBIPOC $110 to $190 Jam only: $10-20 (paid at door) Registration The

Carmen SerberCarmen Serber

January 10
Dojo SALON
All things experimental, arty, cerebral and somatic. A space for the individual and the collective. Sharing confidence and the vulnerable, being witnessed and cared for by the community. 
7 pm - 9 pm - $10-20
At the Peace, Education and Somatic School 
Come see the first dojo salon: A shared evening of work by Nica Portavia, Karen Nelson (dance), Evan Strauss (music) AND Noa Schnitzer (dance) 

More events Winter/Spring 2025

January 17 - May 30 ~ Be Body Mornings Contemporary Dance, Bellingham, WA
February 28 - March 2 ~ End of Winter JAM, Bellingham, WA
March or April ~ Workshop with Andrew Harwood, Bellingham, WA