Bence Gáspár
Pronounce: [ˈbɛnt͡sɛ ˈɡaːʃpaːr]
Pronouns: he / ő
Open Floor Teacher and Biologist
Born and raised in Budapest, Hungary
Based in Berlin, Germany
Embodiment & Mindfulness Experience
Open Floor Teacher (trained 2017–2019)
Assistant Faculty and Mentor in Teacher Training (2022–2024)
Open Floor International (OFI) Working Member (2021– )
Serving on the OFI Board of Directors (2023–)
Dancing since 1998
Yoga practice since 2004
Vipassana meditation since 2016
Academic Studies
2014–2020: PhD in Plant Evolutionary Ecology
2007–2013: BSc and MSc in Biology
2007–2013: Member of the College for Advanced Studies in Social Theory
2005–2009: Studies in Economics, International Relations
Places I have taught at
Berlin, Erfurt, Leipzig, Tübingen, Weimar (Germany)
Bilbao (Spain)
Budapest, Csemő (Hungary)
London, Findhorn, Forest Row (UK)
Luxembourg
Montpellier (France)
Tallinn, Aegna, Prangli (Estonia)
Puglia (Italy)
Prague (Czech Republic)
I am a dancer, mover, meditator, lover, rebel, walker, wanderer, wonderer, nature-lover, learner, critical thinker, researcher, communicator, sharer, listener, feeler, enjoyer, appreciator, time-bender, seeker, survivor, transformer, shaper, sense-maker, observer, contemplator, navigator, resourcer, and teacher.
I am trying to find a way through this life, and feel good in my skin. Every year is better than the one before. The overflowing gratitude in me for all the gifts and opportunities I have received from this world motivates me to share the tricks I learned with others.
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Every milestone on my journey came with a feeling of home—right there wherever I was. In these moments, I feel more complete and at ease. There is less physical tension. There is less worry. Every time a little (or big) piece of me finds its way home, the energy previously used to keep it away becomes suddenly available for me to live with. I suddenly have more resources and possibilities. And it feels more as if I had a place in this world.
One of these moments was when I first stepped on an Open Floor in 2015. Andrea Juhan welcomed me, and I felt immediately at home.
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I have been dancing (folk dances, ballroom, hip-hop, ballet, Limón-technique, contemporary, contact improvisation) and meditating since my childhood, and practicing yoga since I was 17. And since I was 5, I wanted to be a biologist. Every now and then the idea came to dance professionally, but then studying biology and critical social theory ‘won’. Dancing, although a very important part of my life, remained a hobby. At the age of 25 I was ready to start my healing journey—choreography gave way to movement improvisation; psychedelic trips to psychotherapy, retreats and ceremonies; ‘just enjoying’ and pleasing others to self-discovery and striving for integrity.
As a queer person with Jewish and Roma ancestry and a childhood in post-socialist Hungary, I experienced trauma, injustice and inequality in countless forms, so it was inevitable that I seek ways of using the privileges I had to empower myself and others. My first access was through education and intellect, and then the physical and somatic followed. When I learned that inclusion, diversity, equity and social justice are inherent to the Open Floor movement practice, my commitment to this modality and community was decided.
During my doctoral studies in biology–still trying to find my way in the image of the world that I received at the beginning of my life–I understood that the Open Floor was wide enough to make space for both worlds... I didn’t have to choose anymore between dancing and studying. So I trained to be an Open Floor teacher, and this container is spacious enough to be a medium for anything I can transmit—only what I have experienced myself.
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Today, my training and over a decade of inner work support me to confidently hold space for transformative processes and encounter others authentically. I’m looking forward to working with you.