KAREN PALAFOX

ABOUT ME

I am a movement researcher dedicated to Somatic Education, Contact Improvisation, and Evolutionary Aquatic Movement. I have participated in and organized dance, improvisation, and somatic gatherings in Mexico, Brazil, Germany, Argentina, New Zealand, the United States, Colombia, and Ecuador.

I have danced my entire life; however, fourteen years ago I began my formal studies to deepen my understanding of movement pedagogies and somatic practices.

In 2011, I completed a Bachelor’s Degree in Dance at UDLAP, and shortly after began my training through ISMETA in Somatic Movement Education and Therapy with the Body Mind Movement® school in Mexico and Brazil in 2015. In 2016, I had the opportunity to participate in the immersive program in Improvisation and Somatics P.O.R.C.H at Ponderosa in Germany. These three stages of my life have deeply nourished my path, allowing me to explore somatic approaches such as BMC®, BMM®, Skinner Releasing Technique©, Axis Syllabus©, Feldenkrais©, and the Alexander Technique, among the most relevant and impactful in my career.

Since 2017, I have been researching, sharing, and recognizing Human Developmental Movement Patterns from an aquatic perspective, primarily through group work. Later, my interest expanded into one-on-one work, which led me to train as a Certified Janzu® Aquatic Therapy Facilitator (Levels I & II) through Casa de las Artes Acuáticas México. I am currently in ongoing training with AquaSoma® under the supervision of its headquarters in Valencia, Spain.In parallel, I am currently enrolled in the Somatic Experiencing® Practitioner training program, founded by Peter Levine, which focuses on trauma and the nervous system.

I am the creator of Fuente Somares, a platform for education and gatherings dedicated to deepening somatic practices, dance, and Contact Improvisation on land and in water.

I was part of the co-directorship of Performática: Festival of Contemporary Dance and Movement Arts (founded by Ray Schwartz), co-creator of Encuerpar, Somatic Movement Festival, and co-producer of Contact and Flow Festival across multiple editions.

Throughout my career, I have collaborated on numerous stage and audiovisual projects. Notably, I worked with Performática, Arcdanz, and especially at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, where I was part of the video documentation team at the historic Ted Shawn Theater. There, I worked with international companies such as Mark Morris Dance Group, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Dorrance Dance, The Hong Kong Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Companhia Urbana de Dança, LeeSaar The Company, among others, as well as special productions with dancers from the New York City Ballet.

Over the years, my professional path has led me to embrace a polyglot lifestyle, teaching and communicating in French, English, Portuguese, and Spanish.

ABOUT MY WORK
My practice is deeply informed by the work of Body-Mind Movement/Centering®. During my time at the school, I developed a strong interest in the study of the Basic Neurological Patterns (BNP), developed by Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen and Mark Taylor. Since then, I have been dedicated to exploring these patterns both on land and in water, sharing how these roots of movement reveal forms of consciousness, relationship, and transformation within us.

At the center of my work lies a profound interest in sharing the wisdom of the human movement universe, with the intention of awakening an amphibious understanding of our evolution and of life in motion. My approach seeks to cultivate an embodied understanding of the mind–body connection, inviting each person to immerse themselves in the richness of their somatic landscapes as membranes of lived experience, where every movement reveals itself as a manifestation of embodied consciousness, both in terrestrial and aquatic environments.

IN THE WATER
I work in two distinct ways: with groups and through individual sessions.

In group settings, drawing from the research on the Basic Neurological Patterns, I propose a process of movement re-patterning—a fertile field for self-knowledge and the sensitization of bodily systems, connected to the embodiment of our amphibious origins. This work is based on the recognition of our earliest movement patterns, also known as Oceanic Patterns. Here, we explore our primitive expressions of movement and consciousness that emerge from conception through the earliest embryonic stages. Each pattern is understood and inhabited as an organic state of movement—a living manifestation of cellular, energetic, and relational processes that shape our original somatic experience.

In individual sessions, I offer Aquatic Massage, creating space for the co-regulation of the nervous system and the reorganization of our bodily systems, thus generating a safe container to experience the benefits of water. The work I offer is a blend of my own research, supported by tools from the schools where I have been certified as an aquatic facilitator: Janzu® and AquaSoma®.

ON LAND
On land, my research is strengthened through the practice of Contact Improvisation, where I explore states of presence and attune to the nuances of sensation, perception, and proprioception. For me, this practice is a profound relational tool that opens pathways to understand how our bodies communicate, adapt, regulate, and create meaning in relation with others. In this way, Contact Improvisation becomes a bridge to expand my somatic research, discovering new ways of translating sensory information into efficient motor impulses, fostering fluid, creative, and joyful movement.

AMPHIBIOUS AND SOMATIC CONSCIOUSNESS
My focus is to cultivate an embodied understanding of the mind-body connection in movement, inviting each person to immerse themselves in the richness of their somatic landscapes as membranes of lived experience. In this way, I remember that each movement is revealed as a manifestation of embodied consciousness, both in terrestrial and aquatic environments.