Contact Improvisation is a partnering dance form. Skills such as rolling, releasing, giving and supporting weight, expanding range of spatial concentration, lifting, catching and falling help one move with and through gravity, share weight in motion and use momentum and flow in physical contact. These weekly classes, open to people of all levels of movement experience, are informed variously by the individual teaching artists.

The Athletics of Intimacy, Improvisations
Classes combine skills and practices of Contact Improvisation, applications of Body-Mind Centering�� and tutoring of somatic improvisational approaches in solo, duet (strong emphasis on partnering) and ensemble dancing. I am interested in the very physical, the very sensorial and the very imaginative, and in discovering new challenges and risks within our movement.

Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement Class (CM): Gentle and specific structured movement explorations constructed around a theme to broaden the understanding of basic biomechanics and self use, addressing different functions (such as turning, weight transfer, flexion, extension, etc.) and the way we coordinate and regulate movement. The class includes studies of muscle, joint and postural relationships in connection to our sense of ability and expanding options.

Technique
Alone and in partnerships we will concentrate on enhancing our movement facility. We will pay special attention to the sternum and pelvic floor in relation to our hands and feet and how awareness here can guide us through falling and suspending. Focusing on the inherent rhythm in the body we will develop a personal musical dialogue, noticing the time when a movement has come to its completion, when another one has begun, and how long we allow each to last. Technically demanding phrase material offers ways of moving lusciously with both detail and a sense of abandon.

RE-EDUCATION OF THE BODY – Klein/Mahler Technique
This ongoing class is based on a dance/movement technique that provides the underpinnings to support all styles of dance technique and improvisation. The purpose of the work/class is to re-educate one���s body with an interweaving of theory and practice on a physical and organic level. The result is clarity and sureness of movement, and a new level of understanding the innate intelligence of the body. A body of work, it is also a way for dancers to be treated, respected and to be seen as individuals. The class is open to all levels, dancers and non-dancers alike.

Ideas in class come from a continuing exploration of the potentials and complexities of the bodymind ��� how our patterns in thought, perception, action and emotion support our choices and movement ��� with a hope to expand our possibilities. Current influences include performance, yoga, the Alexander Technique���, Body-Mind Centering��, and Fitzmaurice Voicework.

The class will begin with a warm-up focusing on anatomy, drawn from both traditional and contemporary techniques, the goal of which is to align and re-pattern the energy flow in the body in order to find support from the floor and our connection into space. Movement material from Jasperse���s work will be taught concentrating on using our weight with the force of gravity to dance fully and clearly.

Technique Class
This class will start with a thirty minute Feldenkrais Method Awareness Through Movement�� lesson and will continue to develop aspects of the lesson throughout the class, exploring how we can remain true to our kinesthetic sense while moving comfortably within a structure and increase overall awareness and options of self-use in action/dancing.

The classes are influenced by Nelson���s 20 years of continuing study in the work of Barbara Mahler and Susan Klein, and by more recent studies in Alexander Technique��, Contact Improvisation and Body-Mind Centering��. We begin with a warm-up which focuses mostly on our skeletal structure to access the body���s deep supporting muscles, allowing mobility and suppleness in the superficial muscles; and emphasizes the connection to and use of the floor. The class builds from simple exercises to phrases of movement that involve moving boldly and dynamically.

Technique
My class in improvisation and composition is a continuation of my work as an improviser and choreographer. Localizing where you are in the present moment through exercising authentic movement as a point to start... listening to your body is essential to encounter your environment and become more spontaneous in it. Improvisation will expose you to a different perspective of performance where vulnerability is part of being. And you will develop the ability to compose material, working in solos, duets and groups through class. You will learn to integrate the body and mind, time and space through the practice of dance improvisation. You will learn to make instantaneous creative choices.

Alexander Technique��� looks at the way we carry out our intentions. Often we use a process that is habitual, unconscious and counterproductive. The technique offers a practice of staying open and alert in the moment, observing our familiar tensions and choosing to move without them. Beginning with the assumption that we are perfectly designed for movement and balance, we engage our mind to undo layers of interference, creating opportunity for change.

This class seeks to prepare an articulate, alert and neutral body, ready for precise dancing with intricate coordinations that we will work on together. There is a simple, straightforward, continuous warm-up that relies on the use of release, alignment, momentum, weight and strength. Clarity, simplicity of movement, attention to detail and concentration will be our goal.

Dance Class
This experiential class provides strategies for dancers to expand their range and ease of motion to reveal their truest movement potential. Dancers will be encouraged to seek stability and freedom in their bodies as they move on and off balance. Consciously shaping the body���s intuition, students will be urged to acknowledge and refine their habitual patterns by transforming them into dancing that is clear, awake and loaded with intention.

This technique class begins with explorations of the body that allow us to discover and notice the use of weight and momentum, clear alignment, clarity of initiation, and direction of energy. From there the class will build upon itself to more complex coordination that leads to an opening of the body and an expansion of possibilities as we move through material.

The Practice of Presence
This class will be an investigation in locating presence within choreographic and/or performative forms. Class will begin with imagery and gentle preparation culled from various bodywork modalities to cultivate sensorial awareness. From there we will investigate choreographic structures, improvisations and performance constructs, exploring ways to engage with the material through physical and imaginative means. We will dance with and for one another in an effort to further our own personal research and practice in how we relate to this form.