a relaxed practice of meeting the artist that is your body. come as you are. there are no steps to learn, nothing to prepare. we will begin in stillness and will ‘warm up’ in class. i’ll guide us through really simple exercises where we will geek out on the basic elements of movement and create many small dances, alone and together.

this kind of dancing is really an exercise in passivity and trust, allowing our dances to emerge organically, one movement following another (rather than deciding what we will do).

it is a practice of spontaneous artmaking and simple, embodied creativity. it’s not about being flexible, fit, or rhythmic.

lineage

i will be sharing an approach to dance improvisation rooted mainly in the work of barbara mettler (1907-2002), though i will also bring in ideas gleaned elsewhere. mettler felt that dance – the art of expressing feeling through our bodies – is a basic human need, and she dedicated her life to exploring the elements of movement so as to democratise dance and make it accessible to all. she was a tough and rebellious early innovator in the field of what is now called ‘somatics’, obsessed with the natural emergence of movement, the body as an instrument, and the inexplicable magic of group dance improvisation. you can read more about barbara mettler at barbaramettler.org