Student Testimonials
It has been the most beautiful and enriching experience of my life. Doing the K module has opened up many pathways to live the arts and take them further into the world through education, coaching, peace building and conflict resolution, building leadership skills. Gopika is the best mentor one could have asked for. She lives and breathes expressive arts and every session with her is an inspiration and grounding in the experience. She is always available to guide, support, help her students and gives them wings to fly into the world that may have once looked like a dream! I cannot reccomend this enough to everyone from different fields and interests but motivated to keep the arts at the centre to bring a shift and transformation in our world.
Maruee Pahuja
The course allowed me to open myself up to the source of my own creativity and to get to know better that space of knowing (that I have had all along)but just wasn’t fully aware and as a result an able to tap into that source and its potential more easily and frequently. The expressive arts module facilitated beautifully by Gopika allowed this unfolding to become more conscious and also put me in touch with the other modalities (besides the visual) that can aid and work together to tap into my own creative potential in all its forms be it the visual arts, writing, or movement. The sensory-based approach truly unlocks a world so rich and diverse yet coherent and connected into a seamless whole.
Rachna Toshniwal
The K Module of the MA program in Expressive Arts, done with Swahansa Expressive Arts India in affiliation with European Graduate School Switzerland, is one of a kind, thorough learning experience with an in-depth knowledge into the different modalities of art and the multidisciplinary use of it. Gopika, as a person, is one of the most warm and loving person I have met. She is always so full of life and has such a positive outlook life. She is child like and that makes her an excellent teacher for Expressive Arts, because she can bring out the rawness and the purity of the arts from each one of us. An excellent facilitator, teacher, guide and support system. Swahansa is the only authentic place in India, for anyone to learn Intermodal Expressive Arts and Gopika is the perfect teacher for it. Thank you Gopika for bringing this opportunity to me and changing my life. Looking forward to the Masters journey with you at EGS!
Yati Parikh
As a Dance Movement Therapy Practitioner, this course of Expressive Arts has widely expanded my range of play in my already existing practice. It has enriched the process even further and given clients the opportunity to relate to different art experiences. It has also impacted my life in ways I can't imagine. It opened me up tp try new art forms, forms that I thought I was not good at, at all. It has helped me understand myself even more. The phenomenological approach also really deepens the meaning of life. My attitude towards work, opportunities and myself has changed drastically. Above all, Gopika as a mentor is so nurturing. She sees you for who you are and also celebrates you for who you are. Her passion and dedication for the field is infectious to say the least. The support we get from here in terms of work opportunities or the path we wish to take with expressive arts is hard to believe, she is also so invested in her students, it touches you!
Charvi Budhadeo
The Expressive Arts Course came to me at a perfect time when I wanted a break from my routine and at the same time utilize my time learning and meeting new people of my interest. This is a well structured and inclusive course which touches upon all major art modalities and takes you to their depth through the different realms as sessions progress. Personally, I found a lot of difference in myself during and after the course. I now experience calm naturally and feel like I have grown to become a person full of possibilities. Recommended for Artists, Teachers, Counsellors and all those willing to explore and learn new things through creativity in life. About our mentor Gopika Ma'am, she is a great mentor, full of enthusiasm, gratitude and positivity and always supportive in bringing out the possibilities from within you. I will surely miss that serene place, positive ambience and all the friends with whom I made a strong bond during our course.
Mansi Devang Joshi
Feb 21, 2020
Art has introduced me to the world outside me and doing the K module in Expressive Arts, with Swahansa Expressive Arts India introduced me into the world inside me. Thank you Gopika for giving me the opportunity to experience the unlimited space inside me, you are one of the best teachers I ever had in my life. The lived and learning experience through different modalities of art in this course had enriched my resources and made me from “Artistic” to “Heartistic”.
Manuel Theramand
I was happy to have done the K module of Expressive Arts with Swahansa Expressive Arts, India and more so with Gopika as my mentor. She has that innate quality in her to see something within, which one isn’t capable of seeing and pushing one towards bringing it to light and surface. The way in which she navigated us through the process and the arts seemed so thoughtful, deep and enriching. Over the course she helped us peel the many layer around and within us with so much play and sensitivity while being there at the back to hold us whenever we felt the need. She is someone who is so invested in her work and her students above and beyond her call of duty. It is a quality I look up to in her as a mentor and hope to imbibe. Another the reason she makes such a fantastic mentor is that for her, Expressive Arts has become a way of life. One can see her breathing it and that is such a huge inspiration. She imbibes it as passionately as she imparts this knowledge. It was a beautiful journey with her past few months. I look forward to many more. She helped us open the numerous possibilities with Expressive Arts and pushed us to dream bigger. She gave us a taste and glimpse of the vastness of Expressive Arts.
Through this course I was able to not only connect with myself on much more intimate levels but also was able understand my potential. It got me re-connected with the arts and its value and meaning in our lives. Expressive arts taught me the role of play in the process and how it can be taken to our lives as well. At the end of the course I found myself thinking of how this is not an end but just a beginning to grand adventure.
Abha Kate
Being a part of the Intermodal Expressive Arts India K module 2019-20 in Auroville, was like a breath of fresh air in my life. I was standing at a pivotal junction in my journey both professionally and personally, and I must say that the course brought in multiple insights and fresh perspectives into the light for me. I discovered so many aspects of myself which were lying dormant within and it was a real joy to discover and uncover these gems :) Poetry, movement, theatre,music...it all started unfurling like a bud ready to kiss the sunlight!
Gopika, with her child-like enthusiasm and zest for life guided each participant with utmost care and was there for each one of us like a friend and mentor, supportive, encouraging and constantly optimistic in the face of any challenges. It has been a beautiful journey of many learnings and continues to be one :) Absolutely grateful for this wonderful opportunity to dive deep into the world of Intermodal Expressive arts!
Khushmita Sanghvi
Through this course, I got to connect with the power of the arts to lead me to presence, intuition, expression, trust and flow. It showed me a way to access my inner wisdom with more ease and play. It broke me free from the expectation of talent and skill in my artistic expression, and yet helped me learn from the process and see the beauty and value in such playful, child-like expression.
Gopika is extremely talented and fluent at the intermodal way of expressive arts, seamlessly facilitating transitions between modalities and taking us on journeys that spanned days. She is sincerely invested in her students, she sees and encourages the unique gifts and potential in each person and sincerely supports them in their expression.
The course is a valuable experience for someone wanting to immerse themselves in the arts and uncover their creative expression, as well as for someone wanting to experience the potential of the arts as a tool for change and a stepping stone towards a reputed masters program in expressive arts at EGS.
Megha Modi