Structural Ntegration: The Journal of the Rolf Institute – March 2005 – Vol 33 – Nº 01

“Although man needs continuity, form and limits, he is open to the infinite and to the universe.”Berdiaev1

In May of 2004 1 began a fascinating journey, serving as an assistant for Pedro Prado in a Unit III course in Boulder. The time I spent in this task marked a profound shift in my own perspective on teaching and on the work. Pedro brings his entire being to the role of teacher and Rolfer, which then evokes the same in the community around him; in this case, the students, class clients and myself. The process piqued my interest in the personal history of a person with this capacity to enlist others in a common goal, as well as the history of the projects he has helped to launch; the ABR, the Ambulatory Project, and his current research projects. While this article is technically called an interview, Pedro took off running with my simple queries – “How is it that you received Rolfing° and became a Rolfer,” “What was it like to be the first Rolfer in South America,” and “How did the ABR get started?” As a result, the following discourse will be presented largely without interruption in order to better allow Pedro’s own natural flow of thought to emerge for the reader. Thanks also to Heidi Massa for her helpful suggestions in the formulation of this document.

The Advanced Class is one place where Rolfers can participate in a rigorous, community-wide dialogue about creative developments in our work. As creativity in Rolfing® occurs at all levels of the work (as we absorb the rapidly expanding body of knowledge in the field of Soma tics), it is useful to have such a designated place, where this new knowledge can be discussed, evaluated and demonstrated, toward the responsible integration of new knowledge into our clinical practice. To support this dialogue, the Advanced Faculty will sponsor a column in the next four issues of the Journal devoted to recent developments in the Advanced Class curriculum, reports on recent Advanced Classes and discussions of challenging, creative advances in the work. This first column will feature Michael Salveson’s comments regarding the value of the Advanced Class, to be followed in the next issue by comments from Jeff Maitland. We invite your participation by submitting letters to the Journal with opinions, comments and testimonials regarding the Advanced Class and the continuing inquiry into the creative edges of our work.