Taught by Anna Riley-Shepard

Rewilding the Body

January 8 Workshop

2-4 PM

Humans seek out “wild” places for many reasons — to “reconnect with nature”, to shed oppressive societal norms, to heal ourselves. But what if the wilderness we seek is our own? Inspired by the environmental rewilding movement (which lets go of traditional “managed” conservation to create conditions for emergent, instinctive & entangled ecosystem restoration processes), Anna’s workshop will explore how rewilding can also start inside us, viscerally, in our bodies. The session, accessible to dancers and non-dancers alike, will follow a guided improvisation format and will be supported by a live DJ set. We will move from a warm-up through movement prompts derived from the four main topics of Anna’s performance project & social practice, Rewilding The Body: 1) unmastering — using exhaustive trance movement to make way for othered forces, 2) decentralization — inviting our bodies’ infinitesimal parts to move with their own agencies and desires, 3) extreme slowness — entering a liminal epoch with no decisions or destinations, and 4) queering — playfully inhabiting, breaking and flowing between identity binaries. After the movement session, we will have time for a conversation about the experience and how we could envision an embodied dialogue with the living world.

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No movement experience required; Minimum age 12 (or just should be comfortable encountering topics of identity); There will be loud music at some points :)

Taught by Julian Barnett

Thresholds and Openings

January 9 Workshop

2-4 PM

What is a threshold? Where can it take us? In this workshop, which functions as a multi-layered performative and choreographic practice, I'll share methodologies that prioritize modes of perpetuation, juxtaposed by elements of Butoh, that support and heighten attention and intensities. We will explore improvisational practices and materials that push the thresholds of our momentum and intentions This workshop will offer frameworks that liberate materiality existing below the skin’s surface, encourage movement between physical qualities and psychological states, and invoke freedom, imagination, and rebellion. The workshop is open to all levels and experiences.

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Open to all experiences, but minimum age level is 14.

Taught by Nicole Dagesse

The Ties that Bind - Contemporary Partnering with bodies and objects

January 10 Workshop

2-4 PM

In this workshop, we'll connect to ourselves and each other using concepts of touch, weight sharing, and improvisation. We'll begin with grounding breath work, build to partnering with a ground fabric, work through rolling, floor passes and improvisation, and then allow these connection points to progress into more complex scores of weight sharing, support and release.

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All experience levels welcome, should be comfortable exploring partner work or be able to adapt partner prompts if you'd prefer not to engage in touch. Knee pads recommended!