When Emilie Gerrity performed in Jerome Robbins’ Moves, it was her first time dancing a work without music. “It was super-exciting and just different from anything else I had ever experienced before,” she remembers. Dance and music are deeply interconnected, so it’s likely that dance students might not have much experience performing in silence. But […]
In this video tutorial, Sam Black, company director of Mark Morris Dance Group, explains how he uses Morris’s Behemoth, which is danced without music, to teach students about the importance of approaching work as a collective. To read the full-length article on teaching your students to dance without music, click here.
Dance is a fairly analog art form. We typically rely on being in the same space together to learn or perform, and usually pass down knowledge directly from one body to another. So it’s somewhat surprising that a new four-year research project at New York University’s Tandon School of Engineering, funded by a $1.2 million […]
Recently, I asked fellow dancers on Facebook for a one-word self-assessment of the first class they ever taught. “Chaotic,” “humbling” and “copycat” were just some of their responses. I was not surprised. For my first-ever class, intermediate ballet for my fellow college students in 2011, I was armed with little more than my own experiences […]
For the past four decades, few names in dance have stirred up as much reaction as American choreographer Mark Morris. Unique for his outsize persona, superb musicality and taking on themes related to gender and sexuality, Morris is one of the most prolific and lauded choreographers of his generation. At his Brooklyn-based dance center, the […]
Catch the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company performing Analogy/Dora: Tramontane (2015) in St. Louis; Akron, OH; Fairfax, VA; Pittsburgh; and New York City. Newyorklivearts.org Dance Theatre of Harlem brings mixed repertory this month to Elmira, NY; Charleston, SC; Washington, DC; Atlanta; and San Juan, Puerto Rico. Dancetheatreofharlem.org See one of three different programs, including the […]
Loux in Mark Morris’ Pacific Mark Morris Dance Group’s Aaron Loux didn’t take ballet until he was 17, while studying at the Cornish Preparatory Dance Program. His teacher Marie Chong helped shatter his preconceived notions about the classic dance form. “I spent so many years resisting ballet and thinking it was stiff and boring compared […]
Program director David Leventhal (right) dances with a Dance for PD participant. It’s official—research confirms that dance is highly beneficial for people suffering from Parkinson’s disease. Twelve participants completed two 75-minute dance classes a week for eight weeks. None had tried dance before. By the study’s end, they showed improvement in overall movement, walking ability […]