I have previously mentioned Johan Borghäll's recently published book here on Kontemplation's blog. ’'Breaking the ice'’.

In the video above, you can now hear Johan talk about what can happen to the cohesion and presence when adults play. And perhaps in the short film you can sense the rush and the wingspan.

If we were to try to briefly describe this pedagogy, there are five phrases that come to mind:

· That teaching is creatively liberating

· That pedagogy develops more teacher roles

The creative freedom:
Freedom is discovering and breaking habits that inhibit and limit us unnecessarily. Based on the body and the senses, in the natural creativity and wisdom of instincts, Johan's pedagogy opens up a freedom in expression and human contact that we are probably born with the ability to do, but need help to unfold.

Teaching as a coherent narrative:
In this way of communicating, history is evoked in teaching.
Not necessarily a story that can be expressed in words, but rather an experience of pedagogical wholeness. The teaching demonstrates how to create and implement themes in a way that the physical improvisations, the personal reflections encouraged, the group processes and the theoretical frameworks introduced, end up forming one coherent whole.

Freedom from judgments:
’'Movement communication' and 'creative sports' as this way of working is called, avoids competition and comparisons and is cautious with judgments. The spontaneous experience of freedom that exists in these training contexts is due not least to the understanding that the vast majority of our comparisons and judgments are destructive and obscure our individual uniqueness.

Dancing with language:
In the edifice of language, Johan is both a master and a breakout king. He loves language, loves poems, novels, descriptions and theories. And at the same time, he has seen through language, he knows how deadly boring disembodied linguistics can be. That is why his teaching method – and 'Breaking the Ice' – is full of knowledge about how to short-circuit language and go directly to the body.

The many roles:
This presentation encourages the teacher to play with roles. Most of the time Johan himself is completely non-academic, sometimes a playboy, sometimes a dancer, sometimes a musician, an improviser, a provocateur, a maitre de plaisir, a boundary-crosser and a big flirt. Then suddenly, without warning, when structured understanding is needed, he appears in the role of a university lecturer.
That this flexibility in roles can be learned is one of his main ideas.

Ideally, of course, you should experience Johan live. You now have the opportunity to do so on September 19th, when he, in University of Southern Denmark's exercise room from 4 pm – 6 pm is hosting a presentation of the book, an event to which everyone is welcome and where Johan will instruct in exercise examples.
If you go in DECENT, you can also find the open courses Johan holds.

Peter Hoeg is an MA, author and teacher of meditation, empathy and creativity. He is one of Kontemplation's regular teachers, co-founder of the Children's Life Knowledge Association and part of the Growth Center's teaching group.

Peter lives in connection with the Growth Center in Nørre Snede and receives practical guidance from Jes Bertelsen.

Photo: Henrik Saxgren