Chris Aiken tours throughout the US, Canada, Europe and Asia, teaching and performing various forms of dance improvisation. He has collaborated with many noted dance improvisors including Steve Paxton, Nancy Stark Smith, Andrew Harwood, Kirstie Simson, Peter Bingham, Simone Forti and Patrick Scully. His movement experience includes extensive practice of contact improvisation,compositional improvisation, release technique, and Action Theatre. Mark's, Studio 5-2, and the Jerome Foundation. Claire is happy to be embarking upon her second season working as an affiliate artist with Atrek Dance Company.
Technique is only the beginning and foundation for the performing dancer.
To move a dancer from studio to stage, he or she must investigate choreographic material repetitively, at deeper levels, allowing time for finer layers of expression to develop. This class will begin immediately following floor barre warm-up and will continue addressing technical issues, focusing on performance skills by learning and investigating repertory choreographic material. We will investigate the kinesthetic experience of the mover and address the subtle balance of attention and intention as they form the core of a dancer's presence. In this way of working, the mover becomes physically and mentally aware that dancing is a multi-perceptual experience in which our thoughts intersect with the sensation of space, time, breath, and energy to create form and motion. In this workshop we will examine how the mind and the body work together to allow us to sense ourselves and the world aound us.