Movement Aesthetics

“Move the way you feel, not the way you think. Do your very best with every move. The result is irrelevant.”

For more than 17 years Frank has been researching on unconsciously initiated movement such as reflexes and the bodys immanent desire to move especially when music is played. “I explored countless approches to move, from dancing to therapy and extracted their essences. I have merged everything together to form a bigger picture.” He found out that there is something in us alive beyond our consciousness, which has it’s own will and character. He says, the more we let “it” take over our body, the more aestetics, complexity and ease will come into our movement. What he discovered, is a method to directly reconnect to our ancient inborn movement intelligence.

“There is an inborn wisdom in the body that creates beautiful movement naturally. We have to let go, so whatever movment wants to be done will be done. It’s something undifferentiated and yet complete. It is shapeless and formless. It depends on nothing but it gets active when joy is experienced and music is played. It may be considered the origin of all movement.”

“It is hidden so deep that it seems not existing. I do not know its source, but I know it is the source of life. The more you use it, the more it produces. The key to growth is the introduction of higher dimensions of consciousness into our awareness. Therfore a leap of faith to dive into that unknown is necessary.”

If you’re not brave, you’re not going to be free.

Frank Lee Doellinger

Biography

As a kid Frank Lee wanted to become a break dancer with an unique movement signature. The search for his own style became a deep dive into consciousness and its relation to the body. In Berlin he studied movement from various perspectives, from Feldenkrais to contemporary dance and the inner world motion. He found out that true movement is not willingly done, it’s a happening.

In his contrasting life between artistic avant-garde of metropolitan nightlife and therapeutic work with consciousness and movement, he succeeds time and again in the balancing act between seemingly opposing worlds. Frank Lee is part of international artistic collaboratives, such as the Birdmilk Collective and Taet Vrämya. He is one of the few people who have elaborated and can teach movement from both artistic and therapeutic perspectives.

In 2017, the Newspaper „Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung“ described him as „incomparable“. The core of his work today is to teach methods how to reconnect to inborn movement intelligence of the human body.

The Artist

“I don’t have stylistic loyalty. That’s why people perceive me changing all the time. But there is a real continuity in my subject matter. I wan’t to be an artist on the whole; I don’t wan’t to be within a genre. As an artist of artifice, I do believe I have more integrity than any one of my contemporaries. If need to label my art i would call it Experimental Expressive Urban Dance.

I am expressing what others can’t – because they’re unaware of their feelings, they’re too afraid to express those feelings, or they lack the skills to communicate and be understood. I am dragging my innermost feelings out, giving a piece of myself. I feel like my mission is to be honest with myself. Whatever happens in my life, whether I stand up or I fall down, whatever the case, I’m going to use it in my art. My mission is to share my truth.”

“Frank Döllinger stands out as the most sovereign […]. They [his movements] herald a lust for dance in which the huge question about the same or different simply evaporates. ”
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (Frankfurt General Newspaper) 2016

“I wanted to be a break dancer with my own language of movement. I thought, every movement is beautiful when it’s done with soul. I looked for this quality – for more than 17 years. I have dealt with all sorts of styles and pulled out what I liked. You can see that in my performances. Each one is different. I have everything, music, body, mind and soul, simply melted together according to my taste.

The hardest part of being an artist is discovering what it is you do differently. I think an artist has always to be out of step with his time. Yet no artist is ahead of his time. He is his time; it is just that others are behind the times.

Me as the artist alone sees the spirits. But after I have told of their appearing to me through my dance, everybody sees them. Art is the collaboration between the spirit and me, and the less i do the better.”

The Frank Lee Method

The method is an approach that allows the mystery of aesthetics to be experienced in one’s own body. The creation potential of this research area is beyond imagination. It is pure art in motion.

The Method consists of a set of physical exercises. What the practisioner will experience is a direct door into movement aesthetics. It is pure art, yet it can be an life changing experience. It goes deep into the core of ones perception. It is movement reaches hidden places within the body in a physical sense.

Philosophy
Physical movement is a byproduct of inner movment.
Technique
Methods of creativity and ways of executing movement.
Expression
Methods to create art by synthesizing movment with music.
Practise
Methods for enduring practise and constant improvement.

How knowledge can be gained

Of all the hard jobs around, one of the hardest is being a good teacher. A good teacher, like a good entertainer first must hold his audience’s attention, then he can teach his lesson. When the teacher is passionate he usually enjoys and succeeds in what he is doing . Moreover, such enthusiasm is inspiring the students to take action and put effort into their practise. A good teacher is always a good student. Good students practise more then they speak, and they speak afterwards according to their practise. They make the difficulty to be overcome the first interest; success only comes later. They always focus on virtue not on comfort. They never act contrary to virtue. In moments of haste, they cleave to it. In seasons of danger, they cleave to it. Authority is not a quality one person ‘has’, in the sense that he has property or physical qualities. Authority refers to an interpersonal relation in which one person looks upon another as somebody superior to him. Students are free from any superior power and they are not under the will or legislative authority of anybody. They only have the law of nature for their rules.

“I believe that a great teacher is a great artist.”

The Workshop

What is it about?

Frank Lee will show you something that lives inside you. The exercises that he teaches are interpreted individually. The difficulty level is defined individually. Everyone goes to his own limit and beyond. He will connect you to your source of inborn movement intelligence. He shows you how to shift your attention from thinking to pure body awareness and how to stay there undistractable. For this training you need strong focus and braveness, because you will surrender to something higher. If you manage to let go of all concepts, you don’t have to move purposely. Something inside you will move you. If you go beyond exhaustion, you can reach ecstasy and trance. The more you surrender, the more soul, the more aesthetics and beauty will come into every little movement. With your eyes closed, you try to immerse yourself in your innermost, as deeply as possible. This state of mind is one of the most powerful things humans can experience. This is the direct path to immortality in a Taoist sense. This training will change your relation to your body and the way you move forever.

“We were able to experience something very special. We participated in one of Franks Workshops. Our expectations were to learn new flow moves. That took place, but was not essential. Frank showed us how to find our flow and express ourself in motion, freed from the thinker, in connection with our inner being. We can only recommend to everyone to learn from this special person.”
Strong&FlexTV

Who is it for?

The training is aimed at experienced dancers, movers, athletes, performers and therapists who are working with the body.

Are there physical requirements?

You should be free to move you body. If you have physical limitations your potential to move might be limited but it’s still infinite. Take up the challenge and learn to work with your limitations. It’s about creativity and genius.

Are there mental requirements?

Yes. You should be able to concentrate on a high level and stay focused on the task for a long time. You should not be a person that gives up easily and gets frustrated, if a challenge is difficult in the beginning.

Other questions such as: What music do we listen to? Which methods do I use? May I bring my children? etc. I have here in the FAQ.