Dance and Movement Offerings
Classes and Labs
Hip-Hop Dance for Beginners These hour-long classes feature exciting dance moves, current and old-school hip-hop music, and an inclusive attitude that hip-hop is for everyone! Class begins with an introduction to hip-hop in the form of "Hip-Hop History Class" to educate about the origins and evolution of hip-hop. Followed by a high-energy warm up featuring body isolations, basic breakdancing moves, and footwork, class culminates with a fun dance phrase that can be tailored to newbies as well as more experienced dancers. Come ready to sweat it out! 3-25 people
Modern Dance Classes - Release Technique This class is based on the idea that "Less is More." Alignment, efficiency, and expression are guiding principles of all of the exercises and combinations we do. Each class begins with a luxurious warm-up that aims to help dancers release their superficial musculature and sink into the support of their bones, followed by an improvisational score using guided imagery to play with movement quality, ground in our bodies, connect to our verticality, explore new pathways, and discover possibilities. We apply this work to combinations that challenge balance, direction, movement quality, focus, and an expansive range of movement. The content of these classes varies dramatically in relation to the students, the location, and the frequency. Suitable for all levels, classes are tailored to meet the age and level of the students. 6-16 people
Movement for Actors Class Series This series of classes is perfect for any performer who wants to learn how to use their body better onstage. Classes begin with a group warm-up designed to gently center our attention in our bodies. After this, we play! With a focus on noticing our own choices and behaviours, we work individually and in groups to gain better control and awareness of our bodies. Over the course of the series, students will develop their own warm-up routine that they can practice before auditions and performances. Broken down into four two-hour long sessions, each session has its own theme: Embodied Movement, Viewpoints, Body Stories, and Getting Into Character. 4-10 people
One-on-One or Group Movement Laboratories These laboratories are an opportunity to begin, or deepen, your movement research. We begin with a series of exercises designed to warm up and prime our bodies for expression, and follow this with an intention-setting session to focus our physical and mental energies on what we are researching, individually and/or collectively. Then, utilising a vast array of different improvisational games and sensory-based exercises, we explore all that our bodies are capable of feeling and doing. With the perspective that "there is no right or wrong," these laboratories are designed to facilitate self-empowerment, personal growth, and depth of bodily experience. 1-12 people
Queer Werkout Created in collaboration with fellow teacher-dancer-artist Sarah Bouars, Queer Workout is a community oriented movement class. It is a mix of different somatic and movement stylez, such as Yoga, Pilates, Aerobis, Contact Improv, Kickboxing, dance, breathing techniques, and moving meditation. It's our aim to build a safe and brave space where we see each other and are seen; where we challenge common ideas of success, perfection, "the norm," and right and wrong. We strive to build a group spirit of mutual support, cooperation, and coexistence instead of competition, hierarchies, shame, and dominance. Queer Werkout is a chance to honour our divine bodies and give them some fun attention through movement and activation! Check it out here: https://vimeo.com/187626263 3-20 people
Workshops
Dark Matter: Embodying Shame I am currently developing this workshop. Check back soon for more details! 7-18 people
Reptile, Mammal, Human This workshop begins 500 million years ago with the side-to-side movement of fish in the ocean. Fast forward to reptiles, then mammals, then primates, and finally humans - we share DNA with all of these creatures - but that's not all. We inherited specific patterns of movement at every step of the way. Splicing scientific research with movement cues and guided imagery, we'll move through our evolutionary heritage to gain a better understanding of why we, as humans, function in the particular biomechanics fashion we do. The workshop culminates in a open-score improvisation in which participants are invited to explore their animal and human natures. (For added benefit, the powerpoint presentation that accompanies this workshop includes many beautiful pictures of animals and some great YouTube videos of animal movement). 8-15 people
Viewpoints Founded by Mary Overlie in the 1970's, Viewpoints is an improvisational technique that breaks movements down into their different elements (shape, tempo, spatial relation, and six more). Students are lead through exercises that focus on exploring one element at a time. Then, we combine the elements to create a group improvisational score. While Viewpoints was originally developed as a tool for dancers and actors, it is a useful technique for anyone interested in exploring the elements that make up movement. Playful and exploratory, Viewpoints are meant to encourage risk taking and bold choices. 6-12 people
Food For Thought
We must strive for the complex use of our faculties.
- John Cage
There is more wisdom in the body than in your deepest philosophies.
- Friedrich Nietzsche
A choreographer, who shall remain nameless, said: "The body does not lie." Such a remark is based on that disgusting old modernist myth bogged down in Judeo-Christianity. The body is not the sanctuary of truth, authenticity, or uniqueness. It is deeply subjugated to culture, politics, and history.
- Jerome Bell