Young Dancers Workshop

Modern (Durham)

This class explores the interdependence of weight, breath, and momentum within the body, as dancers move in and out of the floor to build strength and sense full-bodied engagement. It is designed as genuine physical practice – asking questions of the body and using creative problem solving to deepen technical skill and performance artistry. The class encourages playful discovery and efficient use of movement within individual physicality. The content moves progressively through floor, center, traveling, and phrase work to increase physical awareness, musicality, connectivity, and stamina in the body.

Modern (Rogers)

This class is designed to bring awareness, dimensionality and agency to your dancing. The warm up will cumulate over the 3 weeks and aims to bring sensitivity to your whole body - from your core to the tips of your fingers, from your toes to the reaches of your imagination. We will learn material that emphasizes a weighted use of the body, highlights texture, encourages clear direction changes, and employs an articulate use of the torso and legs. Dancing is social and we will find ways to dance as a community. The class will harness individual personality, develops kinesthetic knowledge, and broadens dancing possibilities. We will delve into technique as a way of exploring the moving body with clarity and arriving at physical specificity. Culminating with phrase material and other surprises, we will concentrate on how to make movement authentic and alive. We will smile.

Ballet (Tornay)

This class is designed to emphasize a physical understanding of the source of ballet technique. Through clear barre exercises students are encouraged to recognize their individual anatomy and learn how to practice ballet in a secure and effective way, placing a strong emphasis on epaulement (upper body) working in harmony with the rest of the body. Center exercises further develop an awareness of technique using tangible combinations that are designed to escalate in complexity, giving the dancer the substantial benefit of a classical ballet class.

Ballet (Mirk-Robles)

This class is designed to provide an understanding of body placement, the use of the skeleton, the influence of gravity through the body in a turned out position and the use of energy from the floor throughout the body in basic ballet. The barre is used to build strength and coordination. The center work introduces an organic relationship to direction and movement, along with an understanding of different movement qualities, such as fluidity in adage, suspension and sharpness in turns, and balon in small and big jumps.

Jazz  (Selle-Virtucio)

This class weaves concepts of jazz, modern and social dance techniques with jazz music and elements of jazz history. Students gain exposure to the diverse range of jazz styles (Blues, Swing, Latin, etc) from its roots to the fusion styles of today. Classes focus on body awareness, efficiency of movement and dynamic specificity through combinations that range from highly physical to subtle and detailed, including rhythmic footwork, body isolations, pulse and rapid directional changes. Students will explore individual expression of emotion, musicality and improvisation to expand the impact of their physical dance technique.

Contemporary African Dance (Ozuzu)

This class is based in traditional Djembe dances and techniques (as practiced in the United States) and uses them as a foundation for contemporary movement invention. These dances employ beautiful polyrhythms in body and in sound that intertwine in a tradition that is both challenging and freeing. The course will integrate movement with information about the cultural context, meaning and purpose of the dances and their relationship to contemporary dance practice and will also include improvisational communication with the drums, and with the community.

Improvisation (Henderson)

Improvisation, composing dance in the moment, is a way to explore new movement possibilities and engage the imagination while in motion. Each class will focus on finding new potential for how to move and how to think about movement. We dedicate time to basic concepts, such as time, space, quality of movement, use of the body’s weight and contact with a partner. We will begin to cultivate a palate of movement unique to you.

Modern Repertory I (Thomas)

Dive into the creative process with Colleen Thomas, artistic director of ColleenThomasDance. Drawing on the personnel experiences of the cast, Thomas will create movement from emotional seeds as well as abstracted every day gesture. Dancers will explore varied ways of translating movement while developing attention to sensation, initiation, space and weight. Partnering work will be employed as consideration is given to the possible collision between who we are - our beliefs, background, and appearance - and how others perceive us. The cast will explore their own personnel movement voice as well as learn set material.

Modern Repertory (Abraham)

Abraham is best known for dynamic phrase work based on his own self-intuitive movement sensibility often viewed at a hybrid of Hip Hop, Limon, and Cunningham technique. Building on the company’s current repertory, the class will explore a personalized post-modern movement vocabulary full of intricate gestures and fearless floor work resulting in an investigation of your inner groove thang.