setting up local screenings for: Soma an anarchist Therapy

Soma is a documentary about a group therapy in Brazil which incorporates capoeira, Wilhelm Reich, and anarchism. I will be travelling between May and August around the US and Canada, screening the DVD and conducting a workshop. I am looking for help in setting up screenings nickcooper-at-indymedia.org <!--break--> <center> <img src="http://somadocumentary.com/combo.jpg"></a> <br> <font color="ff00ff" size="+2"> an anarchist therapy</font><br> <font color="ff0000"> a documentary by Nick Cooper</font><p> watch the <a href="http://houston.indymedia.org/uploads/octoberpreviewsmall.mpg">preview</a> <font color="ffff00">!</font> email: nickcooper@(nospam)indymedia.org <font color="ffff00">!</font> <a href="http://www.nickcooper.com">nickcooper.com</a><p> I have a rough (still subject to change) schedule: <p> Mid June - Early July - FL, NYC, PA, NY, ME, CT, MA, VT, NH, E. Canada OH, MD, DC<p> please contact me to help set up screenings, workshops, etc.: nickcooper--at--indymedia.org <p> Blinded by torture and with great difficulty walking, 75 year-old <a href="http://somaterapia.com.br/ingles/roberto.html">Roberto Freire</a> continues his work in a small collective of anarchist group therapists in <a href="http://brasil.indymedia.org/en/blue/">Brazil</a>, fighting the psychological effects of authoritarianism. <p> Nick Cooper travelled from the United States to Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, Bahia, and São Paulo to capture the exercises, the voice, and the movement of Soma Therapy. He spent many long sessions with Roberto Freire, who having survived the Brazilian military dictatorship, developeded Soma (body) thirty years ago, incorporating <a href="http://www.nickcooper.com/mass.htm">Wilhelm Reich</a>'s teachings, a martial art / dance form called <a href="http://joaogrande.org/capoeira_angola.htm">capoeira angola</a>, and the political ideas of <a href="http://infoshop.org/faq/secA1.html#seca12">anarchism</a>. <p> Angola is the traditional African form of capoeira, a Brazilian martial art, which slaves disguised as a dance. Through capoeira, slaves struggled for freedom, practicing movements of evasion to help them escape. Capoeira angola uses many things which Soma therapists find lacking in traditional therapy -- group participation, music, spontaneity, collaboration, mischief, playfulness, and the occasional kick. <p> Wilhelm Reich was a 'banished' psychoanalyst and former disciple of Freud. Reich believed that people learn neuroses through authoritarian models in the family, school, and at work. Reich sought to remove the authoritarianism from analysis. <p> Some Brazilian anarchists find Soma's focus on the internal effects of authority to be distracting and indicative of privilege. They expect anarchists to spend more time in the street, initiating action against authority. But, although many Soma participants are activists, they are equally interested in exploring of the psychology of action.<p> <a href="http://slingshot.tao.ca/displaybi.php?0083007">Slingshot Article about Soma</a> <font color="ffff00">! </font> <a href="http://somaterapia.com.br/ingles/index.html">Soma Brancaleone English site</a> <font color="ffff00">! </font> <a href="http://somaie.vilabol.uol.com.br/">Soma Iê site in Portuguese</a> <font color="ffff00">!</font> <a href="http://www.abdn.ac.uk/~src266/body2body.pdf">downlad a PDF of a Soma book in English</a><p><p> <font size="+2"> Anti-Power Anti-Fascism Workshop </font> <br> <font color="#EE0000"> Nick Cooper</font><p> <img src="http://nickcooper.com/yingyang.jpg"> <img src="http://nickcooper.com/diogenes2.jpg"> <img src="http://nickcooper.com/zapwomen.jpg"> <img src="http://nickcooper.com/antiswa2.jpg"> <br> <font size="-1" color="333333"><i>taoism <font color="ffffff">------</font> diogenes the cynic <font color="ffffff">-------</font> zapatista women <font color="ffffff"> ---------</font> anti-fascism</i></font><p><p> For those interested in exploring ways of struggling against oppression in ways that don't create other oppressions, the antipower / antifascism workshop starts with <a href="http://www.wam.umd.edu/~stwright/rel/tao/TaoTeChing.html">Lao-Tsu</a> and continues through the <a href="http://struggle.ws/zapatista.html">Zapatistas</a>, touching on anti-fascist non-hierarchical currents in philosophy, criticism, organizing, psychology, and history. Anti-Power is a term which comes from the book <a href="http://libcom.org/library/change-world-without-taking-power-john-holloway">Change the World Without Taking Power</a> by John Holloway, which examines Zapatista principles informed by indigenous traditions and the shortcomings of past resistance movements. <p> Working with <a href="http://indymedia.org">Indymedia</a>, <a href="http://fnbhouston.org">Food Not Bombs</a> and other non-hierarchical groups, Nick Cooper became interested in horizontal structures for change, traveling to Brazil in 2003 and 2005 to study <a href="http://somadocumentary.com">Soma Therapy</a>, and to <a href="http://chiapas.mediosindependientes.org/">Chiapas</a>, Mexico in 2004 to study Zapatismo. Also, wanting to study fascist and pre-fascist organizing directly, Nick has been attending conferences, meetings, presentations and fund-raisers of the far right, including: <a href="http://www.wckkkk.com/index2.html">The Ku Klux Klan</a>, <a href="http://www.lovewonout.com/">Focus on the Family / Lovewonout</a>, Republican Party of Texas, Lyndon LaRouche, The Minutemen, and Tom DeLay. The workshop explores all of these groups from the perspective of Wilhelm Reich's <a href="http://nickcooper.com/mass.htm"> Mass Psychology of Fascism</a>, and Hannah Arendt's <a href="http://nickcooper.com/origins.htm">Origins of Totalitarianism</a>. <p> The workshop provides an alternative to the history we have learned since childhood, of conquerors, governments and great thinkers like Plato with "Philosopher King" pathologies. We will discuss the story of those who withdrew from hierarchies, those who questioned assumptions and those who struggled and died in resistance of the abuses of power. But even more importantly, we will discuss a history not solely populated by individual heroes, but also by ideas, psychologies and groups. <p> 70 years ago, authoritarianism's traditions and psychologies culminated in a pure form in Nazi Germany. Now, in the most powerful country in the world, it becomes essential to ask what has been learned about the nature of power, and how to avoid its pitfalls in forming an opposition to it. <p> <p> <font color="333333">Nick has conducted this workshop in Venezuela at the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Social_Forum">World Social Forum</a>, in Washington DC at the <a href="http://organizedresistance.org/"> National Conference of Organized Resistance</a>, at Houston High Schools (Bellaire, Lamar), in São Paulo Brazil with the <a href="http://www.midiaindependente.org/pt/blue/2005/07/323396.shtml">Ativismo ABC</a> Collective (read an <a href="http://nickcooper.com/diarioabceng.htm">interview</a>), in Bryan TX at the <a href="http://www.revolutioncafeandbar.com/">Revolution</a>, in Houston with The <a href="http://pasanet.org">Politically Active Students Organization</a>, and the <a href="http://houstonartcarklub.com/">Art Car Klub</a>, in Fayetteville at the Five Squirrels, in New Orleans at the <a href="http://www.freewebs.com/ironrail/">Iron Rail</a> bookstore, and in NYC with <a href="http://theicarusproject.net">the Icarus Project</a></font> <p> download a flyer: <a href="http://nickcooper.com/antipowerflyerlow.jpg">color</a>, <a href="http://nickcooper.com/antipowerflyerlowbw.jpg">b&w</a><br> email: <a href="mailto:nick--at--nickcooper.com">nick--at--nickcooper.com</a> (replace the --at-- with an @) </center>

<p> Soma is a documentary about a group therapy in Brazil which incorporates capoeira, Wilhelm Reich, and anarchism. I will be travelling between May and August around the US and Canada, screening the DVD and conducting a workshop. I am looking for help in setting up screenings nickcooper-at-indymedia.org</p> <!--break--><p></p><center><br /> <img src="http://somadocumentary.com/combo.jpg" /> <br /> <font color="ff00ff" size="+2"> an anarchist therapy</font><br /><br /> <font color="ff0000"> a documentary by Nick Cooper</font> <p>watch the <a href="http://houston.indymedia.org/uploads/octoberpreviewsmall.mpg">preview</a> <font color="ffff00">!</font> email: nickcooper@(nospam)indymedia.org <font color="ffff00">!</font> <a href="http://www.nickcooper.com">nickcooper.com</a> </p><p> I have a rough (still subject to change) schedule: </p><p> Mid June - Early July - FL, NYC, PA, NY, ME, CT, MA, VT, NH, E. Canada OH, MD, DC </p><p> please contact me to help set up screenings, workshops, etc.:<br /> nickcooper--at--indymedia.org</p> <p> Blinded by torture and with great difficulty walking, 75 year-old <a href="http://somaterapia.com.br/ingles/roberto.html">Roberto Freire</a> continues his work in a small collective of anarchist group therapists in <a href="http://brasil.indymedia.org/en/blue/">Brazil</a>, fighting the psychological effects of authoritarianism.</p> <p> Nick Cooper travelled from the United States to Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, Bahia, and São Paulo to capture the exercises, the voice, and the movement of Soma Therapy. He spent many long sessions with Roberto Freire, who having survived the Brazilian military dictatorship, developeded Soma (body) thirty years ago, incorporating <a href="http://www.nickcooper.com/mass.htm">Wilhelm Reich</a>'s teachings, a martial art / dance form called <a href="http://joaogrande.org/capoeira_angola.htm">capoeira angola</a>, and the political ideas of <a href="http://infoshop.org/faq/secA1.html#seca12">anarchism</a>.</p> <p>Angola is the traditional African form of capoeira, a Brazilian martial art, which slaves disguised as a dance. Through capoeira, slaves struggled for freedom, practicing movements of evasion to help them escape. Capoeira angola uses many things which Soma therapists find lacking in traditional therapy -- group participation, music, spontaneity, collaboration, mischief, playfulness, and the occasional kick.</p> <p> Wilhelm Reich was a 'banished' psychoanalyst and former disciple of Freud. Reich believed that people learn neuroses through authoritarian models in the family, school, and at work. Reich sought to remove the authoritarianism from analysis.</p> <p> Some Brazilian anarchists find Soma's focus on the internal effects of authority to be distracting and indicative of privilege. They expect anarchists to spend more time in the street, initiating action against authority. But, although many Soma participants are activists, they are equally interested in exploring of the psychology of action. </p><p><a href="http://slingshot.tao.ca/displaybi.php?0083007">Slingshot Article about Soma</a> <font color="ffff00">! </font><br /> <a href="http://somaterapia.com.br/ingles/index.html">Soma Brancaleone English site</a> <font color="ffff00">! </font><br /> <a href="http://somaie.vilabol.uol.com.br/">Soma Iê site in Portuguese</a> <font color="ffff00">!</font> </p> <p><a href="http://www.abdn.ac.uk/~src266/body2body.pdf">downlad a PDF of a Soma book in English</a> </p><p> <font size="+2"><br /> Anti-Power Anti-Fascism Workshop </font> <br /> <font color="#EE0000"> Nick Cooper</font> </p><p> <img src="http://nickcooper.com/yingyang.jpg" /> <img src="http://nickcooper.com/diogenes2.jpg" /> <img src="http://nickcooper.com/zapwomen.jpg" /> <img src="http://nickcooper.com/antiswa2.jpg" /></p> <p><br /><br /> <font size="-1" color="333333"><i>taoism <font color="ffffff">------</font> diogenes the cynic <font color="ffffff">-------</font> zapatista women <font color="ffffff"> ---------</font> anti-fascism</i></font> </p><p> For those interested in exploring ways of struggling against oppression in ways that don't<br /> create other oppressions, the antipower / antifascism workshop starts with <a href="http://www.wam.umd.edu/~stwright/rel/tao/TaoTeChing.html">Lao-Tsu</a> and continues through the</p> <p><a href="http://struggle.ws/zapatista.html">Zapatistas</a>, touching on anti-fascist non-hierarchical currents in philosophy, criticism,<br /> organizing, psychology, and history. Anti-Power is a term which comes from the book <a href="http://libcom.org/library/change-world-without-taking-power-john-holloway">Change the World Without Taking Power</a> by John Holloway, which examines Zapatista principles informed by indigenous traditions and the shortcomings of past resistance movements. </p> <p> Working with <a href="http://indymedia.org">Indymedia</a>, <a href="http://fnbhouston.org">Food Not Bombs</a> and other non-hierarchical groups, Nick Cooper<br /> became interested in horizontal structures for change, traveling to Brazil in 2003 and<br /> 2005 to study <a href="http://somadocumentary.com">Soma Therapy</a>, and to <a href="http://chiapas.mediosindependientes.org/">Chiapas</a>, Mexico in<br /> 2004 to study Zapatismo. Also, wanting to study fascist and pre-fascist organizing<br /> directly, Nick has been attending conferences, meetings, presentations and fund-raisers<br /> of the far right, including: <a href="http://www.wckkkk.com/index2.html">The Ku Klux Klan</a>, <a href="http://www.lovewonout.com/">Focus on the Family / Lovewonout</a>,<br /> Republican Party of Texas, Lyndon LaRouche, The Minutemen, and Tom DeLay. The workshop<br /> explores all of these groups from the perspective of Wilhelm Reich's <a href="http://nickcooper.com/mass.htm"> Mass Psychology of Fascism</a>, and Hannah Arendt's <a href="http://nickcooper.com/origins.htm">Origins of Totalitarianism</a>.</p> <p> The workshop provides an alternative to the history we have learned since childhood, of<br /> conquerors, governments and great thinkers like Plato with "Philosopher King"<br /> pathologies. We will discuss the story of those who withdrew from hierarchies, those who<br /> questioned assumptions and those who struggled and died in resistance of the abuses of<br /> power. But even more importantly, we will discuss a history not solely populated by<br /> individual heroes, but also by ideas, psychologies and groups.</p> <p> 70 years ago, authoritarianism's traditions and psychologies culminated in a pure form in<br /> Nazi Germany. Now, in the most powerful country in the world, it becomes essential to ask<br /> what has been learned about the nature of power, and how to avoid its pitfalls in forming<br /> an opposition to it.</p> <p></p><p> <font color="333333">Nick has conducted this workshop in Venezuela at the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Social_Forum">World Social Forum</a>, in Washington DC at the <a href="http://organizedresistance.org/"> National Conference of Organized Resistance</a>, at Houston High Schools (Bellaire, Lamar), in São Paulo Brazil with the <a href="http://www.midiaindependente.org/pt/blue/2005/07/323396.shtml">Ativismo ABC</a> Collective (read an <a href="http://nickcooper.com/diarioabceng.htm">interview</a>), in Bryan TX at the <a href="http://www.revolutioncafeandbar.com/">Revolution</a>, in Houston with The <a href="http://pasanet.org">Politically Active Students Organization</a>, and the <a href="http://houstonartcarklub.com/">Art Car Klub</a>, in Fayetteville at the Five Squirrels, in New Orleans at the </font></p> <p><a href="http://www.freewebs.com/ironrail/">Iron Rail</a> bookstore, and in NYC with <a href="http://theicarusproject.net">the Icarus Project</a></p> <p> download a flyer: <a href="http://nickcooper.com/antipowerflyerlow.jpg">color</a>, <a href="http://nickcooper.com/antipowerflyerlowbw.jpg">b&amp;w</a><br /><br /> email: <a href="mailto:nick--at--nickcooper.com">nick--at--nickcooper.com</a> (replace the --at-- with an @)<br /> </p></center>