Barbara Mahler is a long-standing, active member of the NYC dance community as a choreographer, movement educator, performer and body worker. In her heart, she is a dancer and an ever always mover. As a teacher, she shares her continuous learnings, her movement perspective, and knowledge to support others. Barbara has been teaching dance, primarily Klein Technique, in both pure form and as related to many other styles of movement for almost 40 years, having begun her studies in 1977. Barbara was the first certified teacher in 1988, teaching since 1980, and the associate director and main teacher of the Susan Klein School of Dance and Movement 1983-2001, and from 2001-2003 as Associate Director of the Susan Klein and Barbara Mahler School of Dance and Movement.
As a contributor in the outreach of Klein Technique, Barbara has crafted a body felt approach in teaching to more deeply engage the students in a process of growth and change. In practice, she slowly breaks down all the component parts of the work and weaves them into body felt experience. Her teaching is consistent, detailed, and precise, as well as open. Since 2005, Barbara has been an ongoing faculty with Movement Research (NYC) and a 2002 and 2008 Artist-In-Residence. Movement Research continues to support her process and products, while being ongoing faculty. Barbara first began her dance training at Hunter College (NYC) where she received a BA in Dance and Visual Art, under the tutelage of Professors’ Dorothy Vislocky and Jana Feinman. She holds an MFA from UMW/Milwaukee – a special thank you to Simone and Luc! She is a body worker, in the modality of Zero Balancing, as practitioner and faculty since the late 1980’s. Zero Balancing and Klein Technique, as well as improvising and choreographing interweave and inform each other through daily practice.
She has traveled extensively, working in all of these capacities. With the support of Programa de intercambio internacional en Danza, she traveled in 2011 to teach and perform in Valparaiso and Santiago, Chile. She taught at the State Arts Academy and the Dance House in Iceland in 2012, also working with the Icelandic Dance Company; traveled to Israel to work with Yasmeen Godder and Company in 2015; was brought to London to teach in Greenwich, Chisenhale, and Independent Dance Agency, many times between 1998- 2014 and at Greenwich.
In Berlin, she has taught at Labor Gras, Schwelle, and Tanzfabrik many times – the pandemic providing opportunities to reconnect to students of Tanzfabrik via Zoom. In Vienna she taught at Tanzquartier in 2018 and 2019; Limerick Ireland through a council grant; and Glasgow, Scotland more than once. Klein Technique was a training staple at the National School of Dance in Copenhagen, Denmark between the years 1992-2015. In Sweden she taught at the Circus School in Stockholm in 1992, through the Dance Alliance in Stockholm and Gothenburg, and in 2012 she was awarded a residency to explore new movement material with the support of Danse Alliance. In Finland, Barbara performed at the Full Moon Dance Festival in 2002 and 2003 as well as teaching Klein Technique with Susan Klein; and in Rosario, Argentina a Klein Technique workshop also with Susan Klein in 2001. She traveled many times to Minneapolis, teaching and performing with Rosy Simas, teaching at the University as well as performing at the Hennepin Center for the Arts with a Cowles Land Grant in 1999; and taught many workshops in Klein Technique as well as Zero Balancing in the years between 1998 and 2019.
In Chicago, she performed and taught at the University and at Link’s Hall thanks to Bob Eisen, and later, Rachel Thorne Germond. She was part of the annual improvisation festival in Seattle, SFDI, in 2008; was a guest at Belles Artes in Mexico; taught and performed in Montreal at Tangente, Circuit-est, and Studio 303; and in Toronto and Guelph, Canada. She has traveled to Taipai, Taiwan to teach with Horse Dance Theater 2016-2024 including 3 years on Zoom. Here she has taught Klein Technique and Zero Balancing. She was choreographer in residence at the Bio Bio Festival in Conception, Chile in 2018 and 2019; part of four years of working with Marcela Ortiz de Zarate and Cuerpos Intelligencia.
Barbara was an artist in residence at the Brooklyn Studios for Dance 2016-18, part of Lift Off Residency 2015, and Satellite Residencies in 2020, 2022, and 2024 all with New Dance Alliance, and has been choreographer/performer with Queensboro Dance Festival Tour 2016-2024 …..and more. Her work has also been seen at the Movement Research at the Judson Church, and for four years she was part of SOLSTICE – an evening of the work of four choreographers.
All of her workshops are requested to be in Klein Technique.
Her choreography has been seen in many places in New York – Green Space, Performance Mix, Women in Motion; Queens Rising, DTW, outdoors all over Queens!, Flushing Town Hall, Queens Theater, American Dance Guild, etc.
