This class explores the qualities of released and off-balance dancing while daring students to find disparate qualities of stillness and explosion.  Students are encouraged to develop an individual style driven by their internal life and the specificity of their bodies. By researching movement tasks as opposed to recreating shapes, students will begin to solve kinesthetic problems in a profound and personal way. We will focus on becoming compelling and magnetic performers, and working within a broad range of movements, from vigorous and athletic, to gestural and theatrical. The movement is approached from many systems: muscular, skeletal and nervous system, inviting dancers to work with versatility, intuition, strength, flow, stamina and ease. Multi-cultural inspirations are drawn from a broad range of musical styles and rhythmic complexities.

The warm up begins with a brief meditation aimed at focusing the mind, setting the student’s intentions for the class, and connecting the emotional and physical bodies. Floor work is geared towards developing fluidity while utilizing core strength. Standing warm up encourages the student to address balance and off balance movement, connect rhythmically to music and to movement, and to challenge habitual patterns and styles. Phrase work at the end of class allows for these elements to find a holistic playing field and offers students an opportunity to investigate personal choices in translating choreography. One of the main goals in class is that students will learn to interpret choreography deeply and personally. To this end, phrase work will span many styles, from vigorous and athletic, to gestural and theatrical.

Beginning Modern Technique
Course Description:

This class is open to all students interested in exploring dance within their own bodies. No previous movement training is necessary. Primarily created for students who are new to dance, it can also be extremely helpful for experienced movers who are new to modern dance. This class focuses on understanding the basic kinesthetics of modern dance.  Momentum, gravity, and the uses of weight will be explored while developing a secure sense of placement and strength.  The warm-up encourages freedom of movement by researching fluidity and balance as tools for stylistic exploration. 

The warm up begins with a brief meditation aimed at focusing the mind, setting the student’s intentions for the class, and connecting the emotional and physical bodies. Floor work is geared towards finding a balance between passive and active movement by encouraging release within a series of controlled movements. Standing warm up addresses the issues of balance, response to gravity, and isolation of body parts and develops the cerebral tools of memory and understanding. We will also work towards developing a stronger sense of direction, commitment to challenging both the mind and the body.

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