The Axis Syllabus – universal motor principles™ is a set of ideas relating to dance or movement.   It includes a technical reference guide derived from laws of physics, geometry and human anatomy, and presents observations about safe and advantageous mechanical parameters within which the human structure suggests we should move. One thing that sets the Axis Syllabus apart from other movement “techniques,” is that the material presented in class is to be used as a framework in which to explore these principles, a sort of obstacle course or playground in which a student can engage in her or his own exploration of movement.  Phrase material is offered to serve the students and their learning, rather than the other way around.  When counsel is given in class, it is usually addressing the mechanics of a given movement, shedding light on a dynamic principle that the student is missing, rather than a judgment of their instrument and the way it moves.  In other words, students receive feedback about what they are doing, as opposed to criticism about themselves or their bodies.

In Frey Faust’s book The Axis Syllabus – universal motor principles™, he presents the fundamental principle he calls “Chronological Architecture” or “The Ramp.” 

“Our mass is our motor, attracted to the earth by gravity.  Therefore, converting stasis to falling and channeling the potential mobile inertia, are our only activities. . . If we change the angle of our fall from a collision course with the earth to a curved ramp, its kinetic energy gives us the potential to run, to turn, and fly.” 

In other words, gravity is the given.  Our job, rather than to fight gravity, is to convert the overcurve fall into an undercurve by using parts of the body sequentially to form ramps, and enjoy the ride.

These ideas mean nothing in relation to movement if one cannot feel them working in one’s own body.  Many students will say, “I understand this intellectually” or “I can see this happening in other peoples’ bodies but I cannot feel it in mine.”  For this reason, I believe that a dance technique class should be more of a movement laboratory than a military exercise.  At the first Axis Syllabus teachers training lab in Brussels in January 2005, certain guidelines were defined to help teachers navigate their way into teaching the Axis principles in a dance class environment.  For example, it was determined that when coming up with phrases to use in class, one should consider what pathways will allow for 1. Healthy anatomical parameters, 2. Acceleration/Deceleration, and 3. Undulation/resonance.  Student teachers are critiqued on their ability to create classroom material that serves these purposes and ultimately offers opportunities to convert the potential energy of an overcurve fall into kinetic energy that moves along an undercurve pathway so as to continue and transition from movement to movement as efficiently as possible.  It is important that students understand how this works in their own body, and that then they are given space and time to experience it. 

One job of an Axis Syllabus teacher is to see when a student is not using the material presented in class in a way which will allow them to realize the Axis principles in their movement.  Often in a dance technique class a teacher will give an instruction - lift your chest, head up, slow down, do this on this count.  These all might very well be functional instructions, but if they are not delivered with a clear explanation of why this shift will help a student achieve his or her goals within a set of movements, it becomes part of a limiting relational pattern of master and servant, the teacher being the “master.”  This is where I would argue that our current cultural definition of and associations with dance and dance technique need questioning, revising, and expansion.  In a technique class, are we building technical skill which will make us smarter, healthier dancers, or are we developing our ability to fill a specific aesthetic upon request?

I feel the Axis Syllabus has potential to help usher in a new definition of technique as something to strive for not because it shows how well we can mimic, something which does not by definition set us apart from other animals on the planet, but as something that gives us more choice in movement, more well informed options as artists, and more empowerment as human beings with an interest in preserving the integrity of our bodies and souls well into old age.  In this way we can learn to recognize the complexity of moment to moment relationships, staying open to new combinations of movement and patterns for safely and gracefully moving through space, and ultimately listening to our own bodies as our teachers, intelligent rather than just obedient.