Open Floor Teacher Training

This structured training program prepares you to teach and use Open Floor Movement Practice
 in a variety of professional applications and settings

Our next Teacher Training will start in 2027

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Are You Moved to Teach?

Join the next generation of movement leaders and community builders. Resource yourself and revive the world!

As an Open Floor Teacher, you will be making a significant contribution to social, emotional, physical, and planetary health in your communities.

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The Teacher Training Program

PHASES

The teacher training program is articulated in 4 phases. Each phase is dedicated to the study of a specific field of embodiment.

PHASE 1

Common Ground
&
Physical Embodiment

PHASE 2

Common Sense

Common Sense
&
Emotional Embodiment

PHASE 3

Common Knowledge
&
Embodied Mind

PHASE 4

Common Good
&
Embodied Soul

COMPONENTS

Each phase has 4 components that must be completed before moving on to the next phase:

Immersion

30 hours of intensive personal practice and deeper study of its relevance to daily life.

Practicum

20 hours in small groups, building skillset as a teacher.

Online Learning

Completion of a set of recorded and live webinars to engage with faculty and other trainees.

Assignments

A series of specific assignments such as teaching practice classes, developing music skills, and written reflections.

MENTORSHIP

You will also receive ongoing individual and group mentoring throughout the training by an international group of highly respected teachers and meet with peer groups for inspiration and support.

Program Structure

Components

CHECK BACK FOR FUTURE TRAININGS

IMMERSIONS

As a trainee, you will be required to attend all 4 Immersions, each one focused on the 4 dimensions of embodiment: body, heart, mind, and soul.

From each Immersion, you will receive:

  • 30 hrs of intensive personal practice with a team of highly experienced and talented teachers
  • An in-depth understanding of the Core Movement Resources and their relevance to daily life
  • Insights on how to prepare and tend to the moving body so you can dance forever
  • Skills to include and attend to emotions, thoughts, stories, and patterns that hold us back and how to turn them into creative fuel
  • An opportunity to meet your peers in person and build relationships within the community

PRACTICUM

While our Immersions are experiential and aimed at deepening your movement practice, as a teacher in training you will be required to complete 20 hours of Practicum. Held in small groups, the Practicums are dedicated to bringing the Open Floor curriculum to life in your teaching, and building the practical skills required for teaching Open Floor movement practice to others.

During Practicums, you will learn:

  • How to design movement scores to teach each of the 10 Core Movement Resources
  • How to use embodied anchors to keep bringing your students back to the body and learning through the lens of embodiment
  • How to ask the right questions and give instructions to increase your students’ self-awareness and mindfulness
  • How to include the 4×4 weave in your teaching
  • How to create exercises using other modalities in addition to dance
  • Understand different teaching styles and how to use them
  • How to teach people of all ages and abilities
  • Grow your insights into group dynamics and embody fluid authority

WEBINARS

Part of your Training will take place online engaging with faculty and other trainees in a series of live Webinars, and viewing self-paced recorded webinars to further your study of embodiment and mindful movement. Each Training Phase will include a total of 9 webinars.

From DJ skills, to learning anatomy, to book clubs, our online courses cover a wide range of topics to support your learning and expand your skills as an Open Floor teacher.

ASSIGNMENTS

As in any adult learning program, the work you do in between Immersions and Practicums is what will make the difference to the quality of your learning. Assignments include teaching practice classes, developing music skills, taking electives, reading, and writing reflections.

To share and demonstrate your growing skill set, you will be required to teach practice classes in your local communities or workplace that focus on specific elements of the curriculum.

Other assignments include:

  • Developing your music skills through assignments in musicality, creating soundscapes, and music technology
  • Completing a required reading list to enhance your theoretical knowledge of the work
  • Sharing written reflections with your mentor to document and anchor your learning

Together with your Mentor, you will decide on a number of electives to enhance your understanding and experience of other people’s teaching by attending Open Floor workshops.

MENTORING

You will receive Mentoring throughout the training program, including both individual sessions with your mentor and group sessions with your peers.

Essential Information & FAQs about the Teacher Training

There are four Phases in the Open Floor Teacher Training.

Phase One

    • Common Ground Immersion (5 days; 30 hours)
    • Common Ground Practicum (3 days; 20 hours)
    • Mentoring: One group session and three individual sessions
    • Webinars

Phase Two

    • Common Sense Immersion (5 days; 30 hours)
    • Common Sense Practicum (3 days; 20 hours)
    • Mentoring: One group session and three individual sessions
    • Webinars

Phase Three 

    • Common Knowledge Immersion (5 days; 30 hours)
    • Common Knowledge Practicum (3 days; 20 hours)
    • Mentoring: One group session and three individual sessions
    • Webinars

Phase Four

    • Common Good Immersion (5 days; 30 hours)
    • Common Good Practicum (3 days; 20 hours)
    • Mentoring: One group session and three individual sessions
    • Webinars


Teacher Trainees must complete all four Phases in order to graduate from the Program. They must also complete the required reading, teaching assignments, and self reflections.

There are four Phases that make up the Open Floor Teacher Training. Each Phase includes:

  • One 5-day Immersion
  • One 3-day Practicum
  • Mentoring: One group session and three individual sessions
  • Webinars: both live and pre-recorded

An Immersion is a 5-day, (30 hour) intensive training. There are four Immersions offered:

  1. Common Ground 
  2. Common Sense 
  3. Common Knowledge 
  4. Common Good 

Those enrolled in the Teacher Training must take the Immersions in this order. Students who are not enrolled in the Teacher Training program may apply to any or all Immersion(s), and do not need to take them in order.

If you are taking an Immersion as part of the Teacher Training program, the prerequisites to start the Training are:

  • A minimum of 120 hours of instructed study in conscious dance practices*
  • At least 60 of those hours must be Open Floor Movement Practice
  • Your Open Floor hours must include One Ground Floor Lab

If you are applying for the Immersion and you are NOT enrolled in the Teacher Training program, the prerequisites are:

  • 50 hours of instructed study in conscious dance practices* 
  • At least 15 of those hours must be Open Floor Movement Practice 

*Conscious Dance Practices:  Open Floor, Soul Motion, 5Rhythms™, Movement Medicine, Freedom Dance, Azul, Tamalpa Life/Art Process, Continuum, Laban/Bartenieff Movement Studies. Let us know if there’s another conscious dance practice you have studied that you would like us to consider. 

A Practicum is a 3-day (20 hour) intensive course specifically designed for those enrolled in the Teacher Training program to learn and build embodied teaching skills. 

By the time you graduate from the Teacher Training program, you must have completed: 

  • 250 hours Conscious Dance practice* including a minimum of 180 hrs Open Floor Movement Practice
  • One Libido Fundamentals workshop (15 hours) or equivalent study in embodied sexuality
  • 20 hours Mindfulness study & practice 
  • 15 hours Experiential Anatomy & Neurophysiology

These do not need to be completed in order to apply for the Training, but are required in order to graduate from the program.  

*Conscious Dance Practices:  Open Floor, Soul Motion, 5Rhythms, Movement Medicine, Freedom Dance, Azul, Tamalpa Life/Art Process, Continuum, Laban/Bartenieff Movement Studies. Let us know if there’s another conscious dance practice you have studied that you would like us to consider. 

Words from Teacher Track Graduates

"The Open Floor Teacher Training encouraged me to understand myself in new ways and to grow into my capacity to lead. It gave me invaluable tools to support others on their paths of becoming. The teacher training is important for this moment in history because the post-COVID reality brings many emotional and spiritual challenges. More than ever, we need the skills and resources that Open Floor offers. More than ever, we need trained teachers in our local communities to support and connect people as we navigate these times. Open Floor International is an organization with the tools to meet this moment. This is the time to get involved. This is the time to join the movement."
Kristen Jackson Banister
USA
"Open Floor International is a collective of extraordinarily diverse and talented embodiment teachers who offer a wealth of knowledge and experience. Rather than delivering a rigid and formulaic way of teaching, Open Floor invites trainees into a treasure trove of embodiment practices curated by these powerful teachers. Through experiencing such an array of teaching, both in style and content, we learn how to access the body in many different ways, and come to life as a student of the body, the critical ingredient for anyone considering being a teacher. Likewise, we are encouraged to discover our voice, embrace our creativity, mess-up, recover, stay human, and come more and more alive along the way. Studying with this community has been absolutely life-changing. These teachers are not to miss!"
Ashleigh Shepherd
USA
"Everything about the teaching and what stands behind the organization resonated with me. In a world that’s suffering from segregation and loneliness, addressing and working with these issues through movement, is a true calling. As teachers, we create a welcoming space for individuals to come home to themselves and their bodies, connect with others and feel a sense of belonging - what the world so desperately needs."
Shelley Hermon
Israel
"This is a time of transition where fear and insecurity move side by side and together with creativity, care, sharing and connection. I see the (re)connection to our embodied and relational resources as human beings as one powerful way to foster peace and this is why I trained as an Open Floor teacher. In my small, humble way, I trust that through my teaching I can contribute resources for creating peace both within and around those that come to my classes.”
Hanne Tjersland
Austria
“Finding refuge in our bodies in these times is not an option, it is a necessity. Feeling safe in the unknown, now more than ever requires dedication, listening and presence. I have been teaching Open Floor since 2016, and I can feel many layers of transformation in my self and in my teaching. The training gave me the tools to hold a container with permission to follow and include what emerges. It provides resources that have endless combinations to develop explorations to dance everything that needs to be moved and healed. I'm deeply grateful and invite you to join this amazing path and wise teachers to heal and enjoy life, even in these turbulent times.”
Marisu Rimoldi
Argentina, USA

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