The Athletics of Intimacy w/ K.J. Holmes
March 18 9:30-11:30am
Class Description:
The Athletics of Intimacy (open, community dance class for all levels and experiences)
This class will combine skills and applications of decades of somatic research that include release techniques and body-mind practices that explore transitions and systems and patterns of development and evolution, embodiments of Contact Improvisation, and dance tunings within solo, duet (strong emphasis on partnering), and ensemble dancing. The interest and focus are in the very physical, sensorial, and imaginative, and in discovering new challenges and risks within our movement – of both body and mind – towards improvisational and compositional processes.
This is a donation based event. Suggested donation is $25
All Registration will take place at the door
About K.J. Holmes
K.J. Holmes is an independent dance artist, singer, poet, actor and teacher based in New York. Her training began as a child with ballet and musical theater as well as judo and fencing. This blend of approaches is a basis for her consistent expression and art making. Her dance studies at the New School for Social Research and with Andre Bernard (1979 -81) led her to improvisation and new dance techniques that were being explored at that time. K.J. has helped to define, first as a student and now as a teacher and performer, many contemporary improvisational and somatic practices, collaborating with forerunners Simone Forti, Lisa Nelson and Image Lab, and Steve Paxton. She continues to push into new frontiers of dance and theater with her love of research and experience. Her dance/theater pieces have been presented in NYC at the Chocolate Factory Theater, Danspace Project, The Kitchen, P.S. 122, Movement Research at the Judson Church, D.T.W., Dixon Place, University Settlement, Warren Street Performance Loft, The Present Company, The Thalia Theater at Symphony Space, the Joyce Soho and the Vision Jazz Festival, as well as nationally and internationally. Read More…
Countertechnique w/ Rosanna Tavarez
March 25 & April 8 9:30-11:30am
Within a clear structure of exercises, the Countertechnique class thoroughly prepares the body for rehearsal and performance, enabling dancers to move bigger, more fluidly, and more spatially, while becoming stronger and more flexible. By continuously and sequentially directing parts of the body away from each other in space, Countertechnique allows the moving dancer to work with an ever-changing dynamic balance. This dynamic balance reduces the pressure on the overall body structure and can be changed at any given moment.
Participants will be introduced to the Countertechnique Toolbox, a systematically organized collection of tools, often visualized as a virtual map that dancers carry with them. The toolbox contains information regarding anatomy, the body in space, mental/physical awareness, and the perspectives of directing and counterdirecting.
In the first part of class, we will do some luscious dancing and get sweaty! Dancers will experience a full, physical practice of Countertechnique where they will be introduced to the tools in an embodied way. In the last part of class, dancers will have the opportunity to analyze and translate their physical experience into a theoretical one.
About Rosanna Tavarez
Rosanna Tavarez received an MFA in Choreography from The Ohio State University as a University Fellow and a Teaching Fellow, and a BFA in Choreography from the University of Michigan. She has a diverse background as a performer/entertainer and has had the honor of working with Marina Ambramovic, Ryan Heffington, Travis Payne, Tony Michaels, and Rosanna Gamson/Worldwide. She also toured with N’SYNC and Jessica Simpson as one-fifth of the girl group Eden’s Crush and covered the Emmys, Grammys and Oscars in addition to hosting her own shows as a television personality for FOX, E!, TVGuide Network, and Telemundo/NBC.
Tavarez has been studying Countertechnique since 2011, and in 2016, she was selected to attend the Countertechnique Teacher
Tavarez’s work has been presented at The Broad Museum, ODC Theater, REDCAT, Dance Camera West, The Odyssey, Breaking Ground Dance Festival, LA Department of Cultural Affairs’ LA Dance Platform, Sarasota Contemporary Dance and Highways Performance Space, and has been supported by Center for New Performance, Maxwell/Hanrahan Foundation, CalState LA’s Research, Scholarship and Creativity Awards, ARC grant from the Center for Cultural Innovation, UCLA Hothouse Residency and Show Box LA.
As a dance educator, Tavarez has taught as faculty and guest artist at numerous institutions, including USC Kaufman School of Dance, University of Michigan, Loyola Marymount University, Scripps College, CalState Long Beach, Studio School, University of Southern Mississippi, Texas State University and Cal State LA. Currently, she serves as the BFA Program Director at CalArts Sharon Disney Lund School of Dance.
Contemporary Strategies w/ Jermaine Spivey
April 10 9:30-11:30am
Class Description:
Contemporary Strategies will consist of mobilizing the body by sourcing movement and compositional strategies from our everyday practiced ability to do more than one specific thing at the same time. As a matter of fact, your anatomy works that way naturally. Flexing, extending, swinging, rotating, departing and arriving to name a few.
So, we move through the class, reminding ourselves, “You(we) already know how to do it.”
We will use our functional knowledge to deepen the awareness and the physical complexity of our moving bodies.
About Jermaine Spivey: