The Studio Series is a behind-the-scenes peek at how choreography is created and rehearsed in a professional dance company.  Ever wondered how John Malashock comes up with his moves? Come into our studio April 10-11 as John creates choreography on the spot with Company dancers. Then return to the studio May 15-16 to see how the choreography has developed after a month of rehearsal.

See how Company dancers learn movement—and enjoy the laughs when things don’t go as planned! Then return for the project’s premier to see how the choreography evolves into a full work. The Studio Series is also a chance to ask questions of the artists involved, especially if you join us on April 10 and May 15 for the Meet the Artists receptions.

The Floating World is an interdisciplinary collaboration with filmmaker/video artist Tara Knight, produced in conjunction with the San Diego Museum of Art’s exhibit of Japanese Woodblock Prints and premiering in spring 2011 at SDMA’s Copley Auditorium.

4ARTS, an ongoing promotion featuring four of San Diego’s most exciting arts organizations, invites you to discover great entertainment at a great value.  With this introductory offer, receive special discount rates at four of San Diego’s most inventive cultural institutions: Malashock Dance , Cygnet Theatre , Museum of Photographic Arts , and Orchestra Nova .

Thru June only, receive a 20% discount on ticket purchases or admission prices at each 4ARTS Partner (discount code ConVis).

Become a Malashock Dance donor now and receive exclusive 2 for 1 member tickets or admission to any of the sister organizations throughout the year.  Already a donor?  Call us at (619) 260-1622 for the 2 for 1 discount code.

Learn more about the 4ARTS Partnership on our website!

Sunday was the last class in our 4 Sundays in February Master Class Series!  John Malashock, Artistic Director of Malashock Dance, gave a two-hour master class, teaching his technique and repertory.  Watch this video of excerpts from the class:

Click here to watch this video on Youtube.

Everyone was excited to take class with our resident master, who encouraged students to explore the limits of tension and release in each phrase of movement.  It was a fun way to finish this fantastic series!

We have had such a positive response from students, and so many suggestions for other master teachers/choreographers,  that we are already planning for our next 4 Sundays master class series!  Keep an eye out for it!

Look at the top of this web page. It says, “Malashock Dance puts emotion in motion.” This was a slogan we came up with a long time ago and, while it is not untrue, I have found myself thinking about it a lot lately. I love the physical sensation of dance, but I have always preferred using it for a purpose. For telling a story. For portraying characters. For saying things that can’t be said in words. For freeing a part of myself.

What I have been thinking about is the approach of actively putting emotion into movement, versus trusting that it will show up on its own if I (and the dancers I am working with) am personal and honest about my approach. There is a wide range of ways dancers and choreographers go about this. We have all seen ‘overwrought’ young dancers indulging in a sappy pop song that happens to match their current state of being. And we have all seen ‘super cool’ dancers who seem to have Vulcan blood flowing through their veins. Neither is particularly satisfying to watch.

Interpretation of choreography is a dancer’s job. That means developing the ability to put something of themselves into movement that has been created by someone else. As a choreographer, I have to leave enough room for my dancers to ‘insert’ themselves and influence the work. As dancers, they have to bring something to my movement that I don’t see already. That is when things get interesting.

This doesn’t just apply to rehearsals and performance. It belongs in class as well. That is when dancers can take the biggest risks with movement. If dancers treat class like an opportunity to interpret; like an interactive process rather than a one-way street; like a creative chance for self-expression, then it is a much richer experience than just trying to pick up some new movement – working hard enough to be good and sore the next day.

For Sunday’s master class, I give you full permission to throw yourselves at the movement. You don’t find out what you are capable of by being careful and always trying to be ‘right.’ Just like the skiers and skaters we are seeing this week don’t win when they are careful or tight. Technique in dance is the easy part. What you do with it is where the art is.

See you Sunday.

- John Malashock, Malashock Dance
www.Malashock Dance.org

Join John in class on Sunday, February 28, 11 am - 1 pm
Malashock Dance School
2650 Truxtun Road, Studio 200, SD 92106
Class Fee: $20
Sign up now!

Yesterday the studio was full of dancers sweating it out for the third class in our 4 Sundays in February Master Class Series!  Jennifer Backhaus of Backhausdance gave a two-hour master class, teaching her technique and repertory.  Watch this video of excerpts from the class:

Click here to watch this video on Youtube.

The dancers seemed to agree that Jennifer’s class felt a bit more like familiar territory after last week’s master class with Bradley Michaud.  But that doesn’t mean the class was easy!  Jennifer challenged all of the students to dance with full awareness and expression.

Don’t miss the last in the 4 Sundays in February Master Class Series next week, February 28, 11 am - 1 pm, with our own Artistic Director John Malashock!

Students in the Artists in Motion program performed a work in progress, choreographed by Teaching Artist and Education Director Molly Puryear.  The Malashock Dance Company then performed three short works for the students.  Molly led the Lecture Demonstration, providing context for the students to understand modern dance in three different ways.

Watch a video of excerpts from Tuesday’s Lecture Demonstration:

Click here to watch this video on YouTube

Looking for more?

• Learn about all of Malashock Dance’s Education Outreach Programs
• Watch a video about our Academics in Motion Program
• Support our Education Outreach programs, offered free of charge to students

When thinking about what to write for this blog I wondered why I have stayed with this art form for as long as I have. What about being a dancer and choreographer makes sense to my life and why am I so passionate about encouraging other people to explore it either as an active participant or as an audience member?  I realized that I have many reasons that keep me walking into the studio everyday… so here is a short list …

I love to move through space

• With abandon
• With grace
• With aggression
• With purpose

I love to shift

• Directions
• Energy
• Style
• Perspective

I love to challenge

• Physicality
• Technique
• Comfort
• Minds

I love to engage

• Space around me
• Energy of other dancers
• Audiences
• Students

I love to design

• Movement
• Energy
• Bodies
• Relationships

Somehow all of this finds its way into my class.  It can be through a tendu combination, an improv exercise, or rolling around on the floor. The process of walking into a dance studio and opening yourself up to new ways of moving and understanding is exciting. It is transformative, it is brave, and it is fun. Going on that journey with students or dancers in my company keeps me motivated and pushes me to grow in directions that I would never discover alone. It makes me feel alive and present. It’s my hope that I am able to share that with the people around me. Dance is hard and the dance business is even more difficult to navigate at times. Reminding myself of why I do what I do is important and helps keep me walking into that empty studio day after day.

- Jennifer Backhaus, Backhausdance
www.backhausdance.org

Join Jennifer in class on Sunday, February 21, 11 am - 1 pm
Malashock Dance School
2650 Truxtun Road, Studio 200, SD 92106
Class Fee: $20
Sign up now!

Yesterday the studio was full of dancers sweating it out for the second class in our 4 Sundays in February Master Class Series!  Bradley Michaud of Method Contemporary Dance in Los Angeles gave a two-hour master class, teaching his technique and repertory.  Watch this video of excerpts from the class:

Bradley really pushed everyone to just dive in and go for it, and the result was a great effort yesterday and a lot of sore muscles today! Although Bradley’s style is very unique, students may enjoy continuing to work on the strength and control required for his style in our weekly Pilates Flow class with Marianne Olsson at the Malashock Dance School, Thursdays 7-8:15 p.m. Marianne is ACE certified and offers a dance-oriented pilates class that really pushes dancers and non-dancers alike.

On March 30^th, Malashock Dance will travel to Southern Illinois University (SIU) to perform in their Arts & Issues Series.  Malashock Dance will perform on April 1^st at Dunham Hall.  The concert will feature work from LET’S DUET, SHADOW OF MERCY and will also showcase Michael’s first work for the company, WAYWARD GLANCES.  Additionally, John and Michael will lead master classes at the university and in the Edwardsville/St. Louis community.

Help us make this tour a success!

Our goal is to raise $9,100 to help cover the cost of the tour. Malashock Dance is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, and your generous support enables us to continue sharing our artistic vision across the country—raising the profile of Malashock Dance and attracting more attention and resources to the San Diego arts community.

As of this morning, we have raised $1,800 toward our goal.  Help us reach our goal by donating toward the tour or sponsoring a specific dancer:

Michael Mizerany
Bradley R. Lundberg
Christine Marshall
Greg Sample
Lara Segura
Nicholas Strasburg
Blythe Barton

No gift is too small!  Please click on the “Donate now!” icon below and write the name of your dancer in the comments.  Can’t pick a favorite?  Write “Tour” in the comments to support the entire tour.  Everyone who donates will receive a special video thank-you message from the dancers!

Track the progress of our tour fundraising and learn more about how you can support this tour on our website.

When asked to describe my technique or my choreography I used to get irritated. My chosen communicative tool is dance, and it speaks for itself, so why would I talk about it? I’d spent nine months teasing movement out of my brain and into the bodies of my dancers in order to make a work of art. Why would I reduce all that effort and energy and heartache to a few tepid sentences? I have struggled to find the proper, eloquent words to communicate something I always felt could only honestly be spoken about through movement. However, the necessities of being an artistic director forced me to open my mouth, and this is what came out. I still am not sure if it is proper or eloquent but it’s honest and that’s all I can offer.

I love when people fall down. I love seeing someone drop something, or spill food or drink on themselves. I love when my pencil breaks as I’m writing, or I accidentally give myself a paper cut while trying to create stacks of paper in the name of cleaning. These little interruptions that force me to change direction, or slow down, or reformulate a plan make my inner child smile. Walking into a plate glass window is the surest way to make me your new best friend. There is no greater joy in life than watching someone trip over a crack in the sidewalk, stumble a few feet, throw their paperwork and coffee into the air, lose a shoe, and finally succumb to gravity. Do not mistake me for a sadist; I take no pleasure in other’s misfortune.

What fascinates me is the immediate moment after a trip, but before the fall; when the fear has registered in the brain but before the self-awareness has taken back over. That moment when the autonomic nervous system kicks in, pushes the ego aside, the façade finally drops, and the unvarnished you peeks through. Gone is the self-assured, well put together, able bodied walker, a real self has poked out from behind the mask–limbs flailing, spit flying–as the body tries desperately to right itself. The moment of completely unselfconscious letting go is the moment I crave. When emotional baggage, plans for tomorrow, the echo of last night’s triumph or failure, the inner monologue all cease and you are totally in the here and now trying to prevent disaster. These moments often occur only in moments of great surprise, often coupled with pain or embarrassment. But they are more organic to me than the manufactured realism of play acting or emoting.

As such, for the overwhelming majority of my dance career I felt like an outsider in my own body. I didn’t want pretty and perfect, I wanted chaos and freedom. No matter which style of dance I tried (ballet, tap, jazz, Irish dance, breakdance), none seemed to replicate these images that swirled in my head. The impossible moves and liquid, crazed athleticism I conjured in my mind’s eye seemed to be forever trapped inside my skull. It was not until college when I met Stephanie Gilliland my first mentor, that I found what my body had been looking for: the permission to be itself. I spent three years investigating my body, listening to it, retraining it, and falling down a lot. I became unconcerned with the mirror and perfection and instead with the ride my pelvis could take, how far I could expand my kinesphere, and how intimately I could dance with my constant duet partner, the floor.

I take no ownership of this technique, of course, as I see it as a unique Los Angeles hybrid to which multiple dancers and choreographers have contributed. My own contribution has been to strip the artifice out of my dancing and let the choreography itself be the communicative tool. Rather than narrative, I strive for a visceral emotional energy exchange with audience members and fellow performers. I have found that this only occurs when I push my students, my company members, and myself out of our comfort zone and into territory that scares them, then delights them. The technique I teach uses a few structural and muscular foundations as a base upon which I add layers of high-speed, off center propulsion.

Therefore the best master classes I have taught are those in which the dancer’s completely let go of their beauty and fear of making mistakes and just enjoy the ride. I try my best to make the class as fun and engaging as possible, but this is also hard work. Hard work requires sweat, a few tears, and the occasional bloody, floor-burned foot. Those students who are preoccupied with looking in the mirror, making sure they hit all the right angles, and play follower to another’s leader seem to struggle. A dancer who pushes so far that they fall flat on their face earns a gold star from me, and possible future employment.

- Bradley Michaud, Method Contemporary Dance
www.methoddance.com

Join Bradley in class on Sunday, February 14, 11 am - 1 pm
Malashock Dance School
2650 Truxtun Road, Studio 200, SD 92106
Class Fee: $20, Full Master Class Series: $60 (Get one class free!)
Sign up now!