Philadelphia Master Class Line-Up
Michael Nickerson-Rossi's master class is said to be "An athletic release technique fostered by gravity allowing the dancer to experience various levels of space and momentum. We, as a class, will be challenged by expansion of movement that incorporates precision, fluidity and form, subtlety and bigness, that engages the dancers intention. NRD is a company enriched with beautiful choreography, technically brilliant dancers and physically fit artists to uphold the challenging aesthetics of the repertoire."
Friday, January 17th | 10:30am - 12pm
Michael Nickerson-Rossi
Artistic Director of Nickerson-Rossi Dance
Modern/ Contemporary
College / Professonal Level
Driven by movement exploration and personal investigation, and rooted in both classical and contemporary techniques, this class allows dancers the freedom to cultivate their own artistic voice and tune into their subtle energetic body. Class is guided using two movement concepts; the body being as soft and available as possible to receive information, nuance, and feel sensation, as well as discovering external tension providing a limit and resistance to the body to allow feedback to be understood and experienced. Utilizing movement exercises, guided prompts, and structured phrase work, the class is designed to unite both the physical, athletic body with the nuances of the body’s response in a way that offers dancers more insight into their own artistic expression.
Saturday, January 18th | 9am - 10:30am
Christian Denice
Independent Choreographer from Chicago
Contemporary
College/ Professional Level
Cabeen teaches classical Graham technique classes in a way that both honors the history of the theatrical technique and also approaches the strident movement vocabulary with contemporary knowledge about kinesiology and aesthetics. By applying her knowledge of experiential anatomy and injury prevention to the Graham technique, Cabeen’s classes encourage students to experiment with the clearly defined movement impulses within the Graham technique in ways that are safe for a diverse array bodies and levels of experience.
Graham’s visceral movement is presented in Cabeen’s class, not as an end in itself but as an invitation to the contemporary dancer to explore his/her own deepest truths and conflicts, and as an inspiration to share this embodied knowledge with the world.
Saturday, January 18th | 10:45am - 12:15pm
Catherine Cabeen
Artistic Director of HYPHEN
Intro to Graham Technique
College / Professional Level
Dancers who partake in Stephen’s class are guided through warmup, improvisation, progressions and finally movement training / repertoire in his signature style. As a teacher Stephen focuses on each participants personal movement and is renowned for his unique coaching methods that aim to challenge the students mental approach towards their dancing. This helps the student analyze their current level within the class and determine new approaches to a faster and greater personal result.
Saturday, January 18th | 12:30pm - 2:00pm
Stephen Agisilaou
Artistic Director of Vertical Shadows
Contemporary
College / Professional Level
Blanca’s ballet class is rooted in traditional ballet technique that emphasizes technical refinement with the integration of Classical French, Russian, Italian, and Cuban schools of dance. The class incorporates fundamental aspects of somatics techniques to develop self-awareness, promoting self-correction as the dancer develops in the classical technique. The class will provide the opportunity to find freedom of movement and continue to develop the dancer’s artistry as technical expertise is developed.
Saturday, January 18th | 2:15pm - 3:45pm
Blanca Huertas-Agnew
Instructor at the School of PA Ballet
Ballet
Intermediate / Advanced
danah bella is the artistic director of d a n a h b e l l a DanceWorks, a modern dance company focused on reclaiming evocative movement as social practice. bella has performed and presented her work throughout the country including the Cool New York Festival in New York, the United States Asian American Festival in San Francisco, the Bates Dance Festival in Maine, the American College Dance Association’s National Dance Festival at the Kennedy Center, ReVIEWING Black Mountain College international conference in Asheville, N.C., as well as in Mexico and Italy. She has taught workshops and has been artist in residence in festivals and universities throughout the United States and abroad; including, Pro Danza Italia, Bates Dance Festival, Monterey Dance Fest, the American College Dance Association’s Regional and National Conferences, Western Michigan University, University of Virginia, Oklahoma Contemporary Dance Festival, Santa Barbara City College, and Goose Route Dance Festival. bella is also a founding member of Colectivo Caliban, an artist collective that transgresses disciplinary borders through sound and movement. She has worked in higher education since 2002 teaching modern technique, dance theory, and history.
Saturday, January 18th | 4:00pm - 5:30pm
Danah Bella
Director of Dance at the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University
Contemporary
Intermediate / Advanced
only 1 spot left
In this highly physical class, participants will find an organic freedom in movement while expanding their physical, expressive, and technical ranges. Organic gestural, athletic movement is the available landscape for exploring the physical and our human spaces. Themes of a modern/contemporary body and society assist in navigating the physical experience, recognizing the body as political agency.
Sunday, January 19th | 9am - 10:30am
Vincent Thomas
Artistic Director of VTDance
Modern
Intermediate / Advanced
only 3 spots left
Tara Madsen Robbins' contemporary modern class is an eclectic mix of pure athleticism and technique with an emphasis on dynamics, musicality and performance. Get Ready to SWEAT!
Sunday, January 19th | 10:30am - 12:00pm
Tara Madeson Robbins
Director of Dance at Cab Calloway School of the Arts
SOLD OUT
Elaine Matthews performed with Pennsylvania Ballet, where she performed soloist roles until joining the Broadway National Tour of T he Phantom of the Opera . Her training includes the School of American Ballet, American Ballet Theater, The Royal Academy of Dance, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, the Atlantic Theater School and NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.
Sunday, January 19th | 12:00pm - 1:30pm