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Workshops/Education
Maggie Nicols - Messenger of the muse
MAGGIE NICOLS' MUSE METHOD
There are many muses and guides in our lives, human and archetypal. In my workshops, training sessions and one to one classes,
I teach a variety of ways to access sources of creativity for individuals and groups.Everyone is creative. It is a birthright.We
can all inspire and be inspired by one another and my role is to facilitate the co -creation of environments where we communicate
the muse so magic can happen.
"Maggie Nicols is a musician of exceptional capability, creativity and expertise, and is internationally
recognised for her contribution to jazz and improvised music. However, her extraordinary teaching and enabling skills are
not so well known. Her work does not easily fall into ready catagories but the results are clear. She can inspire people from
all walks of life to listen and participate in music, she can compel experts and beginners alike to collaborate in an environment
of creativity and respect, and her ability to engage others in complex and and challenging musical projects is exceptional."
- Dave O'Donnell, Director, Community Music
"Maggie Nicols helped me to regain confidence in my voice within a short time.
Her exercises demonstrate her
absolute efficiency and profound knowledge and are also a lot of fun!
Especially working with my BODY (Yoga,
Movements,...), BREATH (breathing exercises, Meditation,...), and VOICE (Free Improvisation, Songs, Sounds, Rhythm,...)showed
me the strength and connectedness of all three of them, which gives me a lot of SAFETY.
Maggie´s empathy and experience
is amazing and now that I´m much more aware of my energy and love for my voice, her work will continue to affect me
as a singer and teacher.
Thank you so much!"
Isa Kargl, 26/3/08, singer, composer, teacher, after two visits to participate in week long creative intensives
which I run in West Wales for small groups and individuals.
WORKSHOPS
I have been leading workshops since 1969 when I started out by giving music workshops at the Oval House Treatre, one of the
most innovative centres for fringe theatre. Through my work at the Oval House, I began working extensively for the ILEA (Inner
London Education Authority), for example at Goldsmith's College, the Rochelle School and various adult education instutions.
Since then I have worked with an enormous variety of groups and participants - from children and teenagers to pensioners;
from performance groups - e.g. actors, dancers and choirs; to training for teachers, community workers and music therapists.
People that came to my early workshops included those with formal learning difficulties, people with disabilities, and those
experiencing mental and emotional distress, and I have continued to work extensively with both specialist and integrated groups.
My Method is a synthesis of different influences:
The most important being :-
-John Stevens, co-founder of Community Music, through being a member of his group SME in 1968-9. I continue to use his
"Search and Reflect" exercises in my workshops.
- Peter Oliver at the Oval House, who gave me my first opportunity to
run workshops, and whose belief that everyone is creative has continued to to be my guiding principle.
- Innovative exercises
from revolutionary directors such as Grotowski and Joan Littlewood, which I learnt about through working with actors.
-
Yoga breathing principles.
These methods and philosophies have been intgrated with my own discoveries and ideas, guided
by the muse.
I now offer in depth Creative Intensives for small groups and
individuals, usually, four hours a day and lasting for at least four days.
I draw on my life & my experience as a musician,dancer, actor, yoga teacher and workshop facilitator to
explore creative energy in all its magical diversity
We take the time to build trust in ourselves, the creative process and the abundant
gifts of the muse.
I sometimes invite a guest facilitator for a session. i.e Claire Turner who did a great session on mask work
at one of the week long intensives
Creative expression is a necessity. It brings joy and a stong sense of what individual and community freedom
might feel like.
This of course can mean a lot of laughter as well as wondrous revelation.
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| Mechantes - A vocal group from a residential workshop in Marseilles |
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