About

Adel Andalibi

My work briefly is about paying attention to "attention". No matter if I am wearing my hats of a somatic educator/therapist, artist or an anthropologist, I love engaging with the question of how we live our attention and how/why we do what we are doing. My research and teaching constantly inquires the details of the unique or common journey we embark to think, feel and act the way we do as human beings in the world we live in, organizations we create, and relationships we make/break. In particular I am interested in observing how culture is being created as a process of embodiment. I listen to people's tension and attention. For doing so I use wide variety of approaches of inquiry from social sciences and somatic psychology to ancient/contemporary spiritual or inquiry practices.

I am director of Here & Now Institute, taught at Universities of Tehran, Peking and I am a board member at Commission on Visual Anthropology at IUAES. Also member of Asia committee at International Association for Creative Arts in Education and Therapy IACAET

I have been involved with developing the DSAR METHOD during past few years which briefly is an index of somatic tuning scores and a way of integrating empathic dialogue in our individual and collective embodied consciousness. I offer DSAR trainings as a somatic/movement psychotherapy modality internationally.

On a given day of a week, I am either teaching around China, occasionally Japan and Taiwan or seeing clients, or involved with ethnographic research at the Sensory Ethnography Lab. I enjoy cooking a fusion of west/east Asian dishes and making puppets and crafts frequently when I need to use my hands to guide my other senses.

I studied two graduate degrees, one in philosophy and religious studies and one in Culture and Communication. Also certificate programs in sensory motor psychotherapy and Hakomi. Yet most of my useful learning experiences occurred through self study, experience, or short encounters with brilliant teachers..I also studied with 9 Zen masters in the beautiful historical  Gumengyu's residence at No.13,  Heizhima hutong Beijing, all of them are Cats!

Movement Biography:

Contact Improvisation:

I studied with pioneers of the practice including Steve Paxton, Nancy Stark Smith, Lisa Nelson, Andrew Harwood, KJ Holmes, Ray Chong, and a few cats that lived with me. I have taught extensively advanced and introductory level workshops in dance companies in Asia and a number of festivals. Besides being my favorite art-sports, For me CI is an space for research, mindfulness and tapping into transpersonal. My current curiosities in CI explorations are mainly around confluence of IN/Voluntary movement of certain body parts (particularly eye movements and breath) and the dance improvisation.

Authentic Movement:

Had encounters with the first and second generation of Janet Adler’s students namely Susan Schell, and integrated my way with streams from vipassana meditation and hakomi method. I have offering regular Authentic Movement retreats in the greater China area Macau and Taiwan for dance therapists, social workers, and other helping professionals since 2011 and been practicing the form since 2003.

Feldenkrais method:

I have been through the feldenkrais training program, but I am not paying the guild’s membership fee and thus not practicing as a practitioner. Yet the wisdom of the method and it’s Asian roots keep informing my movement and teaching.

Physical Theatre

Got extensive training in Lecoq work and also Odin theatre, viewpoints, Boal work and a few other shorter trainings.

Daoism and DaoYin:

I am a Dao practitioner and lineage holder of QianFoShan under SiChuan HeMingShan jurisdiction. Spent 2 years of solitary retreat at QianYuanDaoGuan as a lay monk.