This fall and winter, Certified Rolfer Robert Schleip and Rolfing Movement Teacher Barkha Wolf will conduct a tour to major cities in Australia. They will present lecture/demonstrations of Rolfing and Rolfing Movement; promote the work through contact with the media; and teach a three-week workshop entitled “Seeing and Understanding Bodies: A Rolfer’s View of Human Structure”.

Their tour begins November 1; and after some preliminary “ground work”, the three-week workshop will be conducted December 28, 1987 through January 15, 1988 in Sydney. The content will be mainly anatomy and the art of touching (palpation and massage), and will also include physiology, psychology, body reading, sensory body awareness exercises, etc.

The brochure and workshop description being published and distributed by Robert and Barka “clearly state that this is not part of the Rolfmg Training, but rather a private initiative of individual Rolfers.” They also state that one of the goals of their class is to assist potential Rolfing Candidates in their preparation for the admission interview and for the training program.

If the class is a small group (8-12 participants)—which Robert does not expect—he and Barka will teach the workshop themselves and supplement instruction with visits and guest lectures from the local Australian Rolfers who have given their support to this project. However, if the class is larger, Tom Myers and Giselle Genillard will be asked to teach with them—coincidentally, Tom and Giselle are expected to be in Bali/New Zealand/Australia during this time and have indicated their being available to participate!

In his letter, Robert states, “We want to do this project mainly as our private project…. But we also want to stay in contact with the Institute very closely and to support the interests of Rolfing and the Rolf Institute.” Their plans include sending the Institute a copy of their brochure and itinerary; advertisements; reports and evaluations of the workshop; as well as feedback letters about all workshop participants which can be sent to the Admissions Committee if they apply for training.

In closing, Robert writes, “As I see it, we will probably generate enough seriously interested Rolfmg Candidates during our tour and workshop so that it might be possible to organize a special Australian Admissions Committee meeting in … 1988. And if this goes well, it could mean that we could have the first Australian Rolfing Training all ready next year…. My main impression in Australia was that something must be done very urgently to spread Rolfmg. Postural Integration, Hellerwork, and Rebalancing are growing very well and fast and have a much wider media attention than Rolfing. Also, just in the last 1-2 years, the Feldenkrais training and Alexander are really ‘taking off’ own there.”German Rolfers Tour and Teach “Down Under”