If discovering the 5 Rhythms is already a highlight …
… it is an even bigger one to dance them under the guidance of Andrea.
She observes and feels very carefully what the group needs in each moment. Thus she engages or steps back according to what each situation “needs”. By her choice of music, her way of speaking, her character she represents what the 5 Rhythms mean to me: no judgement, anything goes, everything is good the way it is, people may be themselves and discover themselves time and again.
It is a great pleasure and benefit for me to join her workshops. Thank you, Andrea.
Karin, Wiesbaden.
Your gentle and constantly steady presence have created a space for me …
I want to thank you once again for the workshop. Your gentle and constantly steady presence have created a space for me in which I felt safe and in which healing was possible!
Lyn Jantoska, midwife
I can’t remember the last time I felt so much alive, so well (physically and emotionally, psychologically and mentally) and so much within myself …
The presence workshop as well as the whole weekend has just been marvellous and I can still feel the effect. I can’t remember the last time I felt so much alive, so well (physically and emotionally, psychologically and mentally) and so much within myself (and at the same time could get out of myself). I am still fascinated and deeply grateful to feel once again how the rhythms weave a web and awaken my soul. For this I am very thankful. There is one thing that I find particularly precious about your workshops: the groups and the sense of community. The connections that can be created through dance are so extraordinary. It takes a unique way of opening oneself up and showing oneself, of getting g involved and respectfully accepting one’s partner. For me, it is a gift of trust when I am allowed to catch a glimpse of the other’s nature. It is something very subtle that evolves, as if all by itself, in the dance, especially with partners.
It always evolves when I dance, but it does so in a very special way in your groups.
Kathrin Diener, student
When Andrea Brecht introduced me to the 5 Rhythms many years ago, I had no idea what kind of adventure I was going to embark on …
When Andrea Brecht introduced me to the 5 Rhythms many years ago, I had no idea what kind of adventure I was going to embark on.
At first, it was a great pleasure for me to dance the Wave, but I soon realized that this dance held much more in store than some sort of barefoot disco. This wasn’t about right or wrong, good or bad, beautiful or ugly. This was about getting into contact with oneself and the world and about giving oneself over to different dynamics of the 5 Rhythms.
On this path Andrea Brecht played and still plays a decisive role with her steady, yet discreet presence: she creates a space in which I can move without judgement and with benevolence towards myself, in which closeness and distance are explored and experienced in a playful way, with mutual respect, in which everything, that wants to be seen, may show itself in the dance.
From her I’ve learned to move with the energy of the very moment, without pushing me nor holding me back. She gives me space for experiment and she is there when I need counsel, help or encouragement. With her own passion for the 5 Rhythms she invites me to embark on these adventures over and over again.
Jasminka Lesar, breath, speech and voice teacher
For years now I’ve been dancing the 5 Rhythms with you and I am glad to have chosen this path.
Dear Andrea,
For years now I’ve been dancing the 5 Rhythms with you and I am glad to have chosen this path. Thank you for the inspiration you share in your classes and for allowing that which sleeps deep in our soul and our existence to be there. Nowhere else could I make this experience.
I distinctly remember the first classes. My head was ringing with sounds, my head was heavy, I thought my head didn’t belong to me at all. My thoughts went in circles around me like a merry-go-round. Dancing I realized that this could not go on any longer, that I didn’t feel well at all. It took quite a few hours until I could get off this merry-go-round of thoughts. I’ve learned to accept thoughts but also to let go of them. To be with myself at last, to be even able to deal with it at last, this was an art for me. All the words in the world could not have taught me that, only by dancing my emotions I could cope with that.
Also, I could live through my own feelings and let them be with me, in exactly the way they are, without being dominated or influenced by anyone else. Among many others there are the feelings of sorrow, pity, compassion, honour, joy, solidarity, courage. They come from heart, they want and they should be with us and positively affect us.
It is lovely to dance without words, with oursleves and the selves of the other dancers.
Erika Arras
Feelings emerge, they pass … I ally myself, I say goodbye, dancing I allow myself … allowing to enter new ground …
Dance of the 5 Rhythms.
With Andrea Brecht.
The movement and the music that carries me – this is a wonderful form of expressing my feelings with my body. Here the body can join in loudly, find his and my expression, ever new and ever different.
Each evening anew the dance shows me a bit of myself, what sleeps within me, a great joy, a great strength, unknown forces and possibilities. It reminds me of myself and of the one I have once already been, of what I can be and of that which I hadn’t even known yet, but has been there already. Every time I catch a little glimpse of the beauty of this dance and of the things it renders possible, I gather hope.
In dance there are exciting, interesting, open, closed, quizzical, enigmatic, participating, giving, rejecting, accepting, gentle, sad, serene, powerful, …, and wonderful encounters. The dance reflects my way of dealing with others. Also, relationships are constantly changing in dance and in everyday life. There are moments when I can completely let go, when I don’t think, I rejoice in myself, let myself get carried by the music and the movement, and, thanks to the others, experience this wonderful state countless times around me, everything in the flow and everyone united, yet everyone in his own way. How beautiful we are then, how we shine … when I am finally at one with myself, then they are them and I am I … what might be possible then …?
Feelings emerge, they show themselves … I ally myself, I say goodbye, in dance I allow myself … allowing to enter new ground, to be surprised by myself and to develop this curiosity of discovery … full of joy, a laugh in me and light and comfortable, trusting, intimate, a connection that feels right, here I am at home, here I belong …
The longer I dance the 5 Rhythms, the more I change, I become more free, not only in movement, but also in mind, I begin to behave differently, to be more myself, to stand up for myself, for what I need, I get to know limits, mine and those of others, I build myself up through dance, bit by bit … Life enters me.
When I asked myself what makes Tuesday evening, when we dance the 5 Rhythms, so special, I immediately thought of the line of Hilde Domin “I set the foot in the air and it carried me.” And then I asked myself, why on earth this line? Then it occurred to me. It’s Andrea. She is a gift, an encore, the spice that makes it something really special. She has attention for the group and for individuals. She is simply there, present, there is a great care, she puts across the pleasure to discover oneself in dance. For me, because of her instructions how to try out different forms of dance, the bodies more and more commence to speak − about themselves, to each other, with one another, about each other …. I’m excited about what else they are going to tell…
Every time I feel a great gratitude for this opportunity. And my thanks also go to Andrea. When Andrea dances, it’s as if she would speak, in a different language, much more beautiful than any word could ever express. It’s an immense pleasure for me to watch her dancing.
When I first came here, I knew − although I felt quite uncomfortable at the thought of this way of dancing − that I was going to stay, that I had come to the right place, that here I may be who I am, that here I may grow. After one year I have the feeling that I have arrived − arrived to begin.
My thanks to you Andrea,
Britta
Through tears of joy and pain the waves have carried me, and each time I’m thankful to land on my two feet again, even though my head might still be in the clouds !
Dancing The Five Rhythms
It’s with great pride and pleasure that I tell you about my experiences of dancing to Flowing, Staccato, Chaos, Lyrical and Stillness.
Each particular rhythm provides a unique experience and no two waves are ever alike. Thanks to Andrea who introduced me to this magnificent practice over ten years ago, I’ve been able to move to my heart’s delight.
I’m eternally grateful to her for showing me a way to express myself through movement and dance. With great sensitivity she guides this process of exploration and discovery, and every time I emerge from Stillness, I’m aware of a new sensation. In other words – I’ve truly been moved.
Through tears of joy and pain the waves have carried me, and each time I’m thankful to land on my two feet again, even though my head might still be in the clouds !
September 2001 was a rather difficult period in my life; Andrea created a candlelight ceremony to let me have a safe place to express my profound sadness and grief.
Meine Dankbarkeit will ich auch in Deutsch aussprechen, denn hier habe ich erfahren und verstanden, wie fremde Menschen die Sprache der Bewegung lernen und benutzen. Alle Personen, die mit mir tanzen, haben ein Teil von meine Seele und sie geben mir ihre Geschenke in so viele Variationen.
Manchmal tanzen wir auch alleine, denn jede/r kann tanzen wir sie/er will. Aber Musik bewegt uns und kann uns transportieren zu andere Menschen. Dann sind wir eine Tanz-Einheit geworden und der ganze Raum ist verzaubert und vibriert. Das ist ein wunderbares Erlebnis.
Susanne van Helden
After a very inspiring conversation, I stumbled across Andrea’s 5 Rhythms events.
After a very inspiring conversation, I stumbled across Andrea’s 5 Rhythms events. My soul and heart agreed that it was here where I wanted to dance. And yes, it’s still a pleasure … even a few years later.
Thank you, Andrea.
Ulrich Bittroff
This hunger for life, for ecstasy, for dissolution and joy and sharing with other people, is the ultimate medicine for me and as a matter of fact for everyone who dares to share a dance with himself.
Thoughts after the dance.
What remains of life, when I subtract the dance? Well …?!
To my great good fortune, this is currently not necessary and I am extremely happy and relaxed, excited and full of hungry curiosity about more dances, meetings, experiences. It’s “worth” to be born to it.
Life with its plagues and obligations (in our society of luxury) becomes brighter, lighter, more bearable through the 5 rhythms.
When I dance I feel younger and some unlived parts of me are enlivened and lived out.
What a gift − I feel happy again and again.
This hunger for life, for ecstasy, for dissolution and joy and sharing with other people, is the ultimate medicine for me and, as a matter of fact, for everyone who dares to share a dance with himself.
I’m sure that many more waves will roll over me and that I, filled with sweat-soaked insight, will smile broadly from all my heart into the face of life.
Nothing more is possible − otherwise I fear I would burst with happiness.
Thank you for providing this space and setting here.
Andreas Eichhorn, naturopath & psychotherapist
