Students will explore techniques for performing high-powered contemporary dance vocabulary infused with full personal expression. We will re-learn the principles of going into and out of the floor with safety, ease and inventiveness ~ treating the body as if we had no right side-up. Experimenting with set phrase work, we will observe how different approaches and intentions can affect our dancing.
Explore the essentials needed for safely catching, falling, lifting, rolling and flying; with a partner, in trios, and with an ensemble. Learn partnered repertoire and techniques for managing gravity’s effects in an upside-down and unpredictable world. Become a more reliable partner and learn when to rely on others. Make it all look easy with efficient use of weight / time / velocity.
This class looks at our relationship to our own bodies’ preferred ways of dancing. Structured exercises will help us dig to the bottom of our instinctive movement responses and tendencies. Uncovering our bodies’ engrained likes and dislikes, we will bravely jump deeper into these movement obsessions, expanding our capacity to lose ourselves in the felt experience of the body’s desires. Turning our attention to the mind, we will practice listening to the subtle layers of thought-commentary in response to our dancing. Observing the layered dialogue between moving body and moving mind, we will practice enjoying our favorite things while also allowing ourselves to be propelled into unknown territories.
Create an episode of interdisciplinary dance-theatre through a collaborative ensemble devising process. We will experiment with layering techniques for spontaneous compositions, paying close attention to our instincts and sensibilities. The impulses of voice, breath, emotion and movement will be engaged and fine-tuned. Elements such as gesture, text, partnering, sequencing, timing, transitions, layers, textures, and content will be explored. The group will work collaboratively to source a distinctive vocabulary and thematic approach for the culminating ensemble performance-in-progress.
Music, body and soul! Become one with the music in this workshop that fuses a variety of musical genres and dance styles from around the world. Journey through West Africa, Western Europe, Brazil, the Caribbean, Southeast Asia and North America as we move to a global soundtrack in a celebration of the diverse languages of dance. All levels of experience welcome.
Get your sails filled in this community-style dance class that combines flowing yoga-style movements with music. Reach, bend, twist, turn, stretch and breathe as you explore the energy of circles and spirals in your body. This dynamic and uplifting workshop engages mind and body to leave you feeling centered, connected, and powerful. All levels of experience welcome.
Combining discussion, writing and moving, we will tune in to the internal messages that we keep sending to ourselves. How can we acknowledge our inner voices, without believing everything we tell ourselves? We will play with different ways of encountering this ongoing action of the mind/body. We will be inquisitive and experimental as we attempt to track the flow of thoughts, judgments, actions, and awarenesses. What does it mean to be more present, and how might this relate to our creative practice as well as our personal growth? Can we laugh at any of this?
This course is designed for those who have at least a basic level of comfort with rolling, kicking up into a handstand, and sharing weight with a partner. We will sharpen awareness of 360-degree spatial orientation, moving close to the ground, efficiency and risk factors. Checking in with our own areas of strength and discomfort, we will aim to master the essentials of inverting, both individually and with a partner.
This ensemble improvisation class will embrace the idea of extremes. How do we negotiate opposing awarenesses in the same moment, such as:
Contrasting compositional devices will be used for quick access to a range of expanded possibilities in the moment. We will gradually break apart these tight structures and see how it feeds our group improvisations and spontaneous performance-making.