Jim Pickles
Jim Pickles (Professor Pantaloon) used to be a research scientist, working on hearing. He made important fundamental discoveries on the functioning of the inner ear, has published many scientific papers, holds two doctorates (PhD and DSc), and wrote a major textbook on hearing “An Introduction to the Physiology of Hearing” which In four editions has been in print for over 35 years. He has given lectures and seminars on the anatomy and physiology of movement, particularly in relation to contortion. He took up clowning in his old age, performing in cabarets in Australia and overseas, and, basically, anywhere that will take him.
I found that Ira’s classes go far deeper than any other similar classes, going right to the fundamentals of the body, and how it moves. It changes our access to our repertoire of movements, and how we generate meaning from them. Because of the fundamental nature of his teaching, progress can sometimes seem to be slow, but then suddenly, as others have remarked, “something magic happens”. You find your body awareness, your access to movements, and your range of expression absolutely transformed. Transformed in a way that no other teaching can achieve.