Our summer meeting of international schools took place this year in Gut Falkenhain, approximately 100 km north of Berlin, in the rural splendor of Land Brandenburg’s Uckermark.
We were four schools: from Paris with their director Odyssee Gavoue, from Milan with Danielle Bottaro, from Kopenhagen with Karsten Moeler and us from Berlin with Dan Armon. Besides the students and accompanying assistants, many teachers came from all over Europe and Scandinavia, enriching this now well-established Alexander Technique gathering. We were honored to host, and profit from their experience and guidance, our senior guests Linda and Sheike Hermelin, directors of a school in Tel Aviv.
Gut Falkenhein is a farmhouse beautifully situated in an undulating countryside of low hills and green fields. Its seminar room, richly adorned with paintings of various centuries, and a grand balcony opening out on to a voluptuous garden, offered an intense and generous environment for the work. The beauteous nature of the view, a wild pond animated by the flight of geese and sound of frogs and a distant horizon of an engaging terrain, all added much inspiration to the seriousness of the work. The farm was otherwise populated by animals: horses, sheep, goats, pigs, chickens, geese etc. adding to the peaceful atmosphere; the sound of machinery or traffic was far away. Just the birds…
We were more than 70 people in total, immersed in the beauty of our work. A blend of seriousness, serenity and humor made the event very impressive. Lets do it again!!!
Dan Armon