Mission Statement in Greek


Dear Friends, Fellow Teachers and Students

It has been a while that I have been ruminating on the current state of affaires surrounding my life-long project and passion, movement.

As my brain-child, The Axis Syllabus, ripples out into the world, as more and more people embody the principles and spread them, I feel it has come time to tell you what my expectations, interests, concerns and wishes are for the further development of the AS in the world.

Like any other dance teacher, I began with the idea that I was developing my own vocabulary that I hoped would take it’s place next to the others in the global catalogue. I never guessed that this work would evolve into an accessible cipher that would allow practically anyone with the motivation to learn to move better and safer.

Given my humble beginnings and modest means, it seems miraculous that so many people find joy, self-expression and even a possibility for survival in the practice and transmission of the Axis Syllabus. As a child I was steeped in the altruistic philosophies of my mother’s generation and brain-fed as a young adult with the courage for strident political change, my inheritance from my grandparents. Even though I invested the better part of my youth in the “selfish” study of various physical disciplines and made an obvious detour to the discreetly a-political 80’s arts world in NY, eventually my tree began to heed the call of its roots. Thus, The AS was consolidated with the sincere wish to offer tools for positive change to dancers and choreographers, to help them protect their bodies and each other while finding avenues of artistic expression.

Inadvertently, my inquest has created a method that can be applied to any social sector. I do not think that the AS is the last word on training and understanding the body, but I think it can provide a platform for the union and practical application of the ideas in the other systems and disciplines that lend themselves to locomotion. My fascination with the workings of the body is the logical result of an abiding respect and awe of nature. I feel that we will not be able to expand the possibilities of our bodies if we continue to neglect or abuse them.

Nature does not favor inefficient strategies for survival. If we read statistics and pay attention to the results of current studies done on health, the human race is in what we could fairly call a sorry state. This malaise has many sources, environmental and otherwise, but I consider that a supple, strong and aware body is our first and best defense.

Optimal choices for moving lead to the respectful treatment and upkeep of nature’s gift, this is a responsive and nurturing, rather than an imposing or dominating approach to the body. The idea that we have been given something to take care of is an old one, a simple concept that expresses itself in my aspiration to treat the students that I receive with the same respect I bear for my own body. A responsive and nurturing interest in their well being and advancement. The same would apply to our relationship to our friends, enemies, family, colleagues and leaders. Thus the AS finds its expression in the social context as well. It’s most effective transmission depends on a balanced and warm-hearted will to effect positive change for each and every participant.

I feel it is important to adress the issue of certification to teach the AS. In order to do this, I would like to give you a notion of the context in which the AS grew.

I have been teaching now for a bit more than 19 years and experience has honed recognition skills and allowed me to develop an inborn ability to conceptualize 3-D motion while decrypting transitions and finding solutions to locomotive problems for my students. I am also a relatively gifted dancer. I have applied many years of practice to this gift and can say with assurance that I have developed a formidable instrument. I paid for my education as a dancer by working as a cook in various restaurants. Even though there have been key people who have helped me to refine or complete my ideas, the AS is largely the fruit of countless hours of unaided consideration, evaluation, research and practice. With the exception of a two-year period as artist in residence in Germany, I have had no familial or official financial support for the research that went into the AS.

I hope you do not misunderstand my intention here. I do not write these words to arrogantly laud my accomplishment. Let me explain…

The transmission of the AS requires the acquisition of physical abilities. I retain that the teacher should be an example of what they are trying to transmit. Each of the certified teachers is at a different stage in their own development… each of the teachers-to-be as well. The document I give those who I deem fit to teach is a confirmation that these individuals demonstrate basic good habits in the belief that they will continue expanding their skills, as well as an expression of confidence that they are aware of their limitations and clear about their own objectives for implementing the AS in their lives and the lives of others.

I give my personal sanction when I know that these people are conscious of the amount of care, time, money and talent that has gone into creating the AS, that they are aware of the responsibility they have taken on towards this gift.

Certification is a statement on my part that I have seen enough to know that can trust this person within a reasonable doubt to safe-guard, help evolve the AS and continue to respect my prerogative and position as originator and primary source. I give this piece of paper when I think that the potential teacher has understood the spirit in which the AS was created, the vision that continues to inspire me. This is also why the Axis Syllabus Teacher’s Certification is called as such. A certification is a document that does not have a permanent nature. It’s continuity depends on an active, trust-affirming relationship with me and the rest of the AS community.

There are now upwards of 35 participants in the  AS Resource Pool, and more waiting to enter in the pre-candidature phase. Among them are very competent people in many fields both in the movement arts, physiotherapeutic and scientific disciplines. When it is time, I will gladly relinquish the responsibility of certification to a panel, as those who have taken the AS on become more and more competent to evaluate and assist the newcomers.

The world situation calls for a delicacy when approaching major changes, and I believe that the AS could cause a major change in the way we live. I do not want the AS to be subverted by being reproduced as a “product” without retaining its original integrity. I do not want the academic world to rigidify the transmission of the AS into stagnant routine. I do not want any religious institution or persuasion to transform the AS into a pat dogmatism. Nor do I want the dance world to brand the AS a simply another esthetic tangent, but I am aware that this will very likely happen and that there is no other current solution.

The AS could seep slowly into all these social sectors sloughing and donning new costumes, gradually altering the way people experience what they do. There is no guarantee that the effect will be the one it has for me and for those I teach directly, but it is the only way I can see that it might stand a chance of reaching them. Even when I have found something that I can be certain is true and can help many people if they WOULD JUST LISTEN… I observe again and again that patience and diplomacy is the most effective tool.

I hope you will all strive to practice distance and neutrality towards conservative modes and standing institutions, respect for our elders even if they could not see what we see now, diplomacy and a firm but gentle insistence in class, rehearsal and in discussion. If you do, you will truly help me spread this valuable resource for self-empowerment.

Thank you for being there and here with me

Frey Faust