Robin Berkelmans is a dancer, performer, teacher and movement enthusiast based in Tilburg, the Netherlands. He has over 20 years of experience in teaching dance and movement. His broad curiosity has led him to practice, perform and teach contemporary dance, physical theatre, and Contact Impro. Next to that, his development in Thai massage, Somatics, Tai Chi and Chi Kung are informing his approach to movement, dance and one’s relationship to their body.
Since 2014 he is committed to sharing CI in the Netherlands. Residing in Tilburg, he organises in and outside of that region. There is an offering of half day, whole day, or weekend workshops and his 6 month program The Whole Dancer is the program for more experienced or advanced dancers, who want a more in-depth development of their dance. He co-founded The Netherlands Contact Improvisation Festival with Tom Goldhand and Janine Brouwer, and is a regular teacher in Freiburg since 2017. He also teaches at the Amsterdam Academy of the Arts, where he developed a dynamic CI-rooted partnering form centred on risk-taking and instinctual trust.
His approach is to offer insight and development in the somatic, technical, relational and creative dimensions of CI, drawing on his experience as a professional dancer and the legacy of originators Steve Paxton and Nancy Stark Smith.
www.robinberkelmans.nl / overview of his events on HIPSY / link to The Netherlands CI Festival and the CI Gathering
