MARIA JOÃO PIRES Archives - RESPIRO E MOVIMENTO®

During January, 2-4, 2017 a 3-day workshop with Maria Joao Pires, Milos Popovic, Julien Brocal and Giuseppe Ravì took place in Paris at Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris.

Giuseppe Ravì, the founder and the master coach of Respiro e Movimento®, shares his impressions and some photos from the event.

When people asked me if I ever met anybody using his/her body 100% according to the principle of Respiro e Movimento while performing prior to working with me, my answer had always been “never”. Then I met Maria Joao Pires and I had to change my answer.

The way she uses her body to produce her amazing sounds has really surprised me. I can say that the day I met Maria I met the final result of my work without even starting working with her. The first time we did a workshop together I was even more surprised by her explanations of what was behind her incredible sound. Surprisingly these were the things which I used to work on with musicians all the time, but which the majority of musicians doesn’t consider.

In the beginning of the workshop Maria often asks pianists what is the most important part of the body when they play piano, and the usual answers are hands, fingers, eyes… When you play an instrument you are in fact playing 2 instruments: your body is the first one and the piano is the second. Being connected to your body gives you the capability to connect to the piano. The whole body is important. Using the body at 100% as Maria does makes a huge difference. The sounds change completely.

What I do with my method Respiro e Movimento is exaclty establishing a connection between musicians (singers, dancers, any performers) to their bodies and giving them the possibility to use their bodies at 100% during their performance.

Working as a team with Maria Joao Pires, Milos Popovic and Julien Brocal is really special. During our workshops musicians change their perspectives about playing the piano and we observe an emotion of surprise and wonder on their faces. This is the experience that makes a difference. Even though some of them have been playing piano for 30 years. It is a new dimension, new awareness, new tools – all of these make them improve their performance in an amazingly short time.

ECOLE NORMALE DE MUSIQUE DE PARIS