Home

Mission & Values

Calendar/Programs

Ways To Be Here

Facilities/Rentals

Support ED

Links

Gallery
Newsletter/Articles
Contact Improv
Directions
Visitor Info
Work (Paid/Volunteer)
Contact Us!

Sign up for our Email Newsletter

Western Mass. Moving Arts Festival

Schedule

Class List

Faculty Bio's

Register Now

PDF Flier

This is Earthdance at its best: A chance to study improvisation intensively as well as to sample from an array of local and national teachers (and did we mention the inspired students, sacred sunrises, and homegrown food?) Morning mini-intensives are an opportunity to dive deep, while the afternoon schedule rotates so that you can try out diverse modalities. Evening events include a not-to-be-missed performance by festival faculty and a jam with live, improvised music.

Intensives with Chris Aiken & Angie Hauser, Saliq Francis Savage, or Susan Schell

Come for the whole festival, or just for individual classes and events! This event is also a part of a longer week of activities featuring DWELL with Chris Aiken & Angie Hauser. Visit the DWELL page for more information or to register for both DWELL and the WMMAF. (A $75 discount is avialable for individuals who participate in both events).

	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
8:00 - 9:00am		Breakfast
9:30 - Noon Intensives		What Just Happened? - Chris Aiken & Angie Hauser
		Embryology, Dancing the Miracl of Life - Saliq Francis Savage
		Bigger Than The Body - Sue Schell
Noon - 1pm		Lunch
2:00 - 3:45 Class		Secrets of Soft - Contact Improvisation - Aaron Brandes	Embryology - Dancing the miracle of life - Saliq Francis Savage
		Shame is a Class Free Zone - The Humble Little People	Shame is a Class Free Zone - The Humble Little People
		History, memory and presence in with the space - Marija Krtolica	History, memory and presence in with the space - Marija Krtolica	3:30 - 5:00 Contact Class with Tanya Williams 5:00 - 7:00 Contact Improvisation Jam
3:45 - 4:30		Break
4:30 - 6:15	Arrival	Brave New Music - Teresa Czepiel	Honor and Train your Dancing Body - Lani Nahele
		The Reflecting Pool. Tanya Williams.	Contiguous observations of our moving selves - Felice Wolfzahn
		Bigger Than The Body - Single Class - Sue Schell	WHAT JUST HAPPENED? - Single Class - Chris Aiken and Angie Hauser.
6:30	Dinner
8:30pm		Performance & Improv Structure with Live Music	Faculty Performance and Jam

Morning Intensives:

WHAT JUST HAPPENED? - Contact Improvisation Workshop
With Chris Aiken and Angie Hauser
Each of us has experienced heightened states of being through contact improvisation—times when we felt fearless and alive.  There are no recipes to create these moments, but training can lay the foundation for physical and emotional breakthroughs.  In this workshop we are specifically interested in developing our reflexes, our coordination, and the capacity to continually recycle our mental, emotional and physical energies back into the dancing.  At the core is our commitment to staying with the modulation of tone and weight in the body—so that the touch remains alive and sensitive.  We are also committed to the creation of a workshop container that is both playful and focused. Open to all levels

EMBRYOLOGY - DANCING THE MIRACLE OF LIFE A Body-Mind Centering® Exploration of Primitive Movement Symmetries into Dance
With Saliq Francis Savage
Re-membering limbs, re-turning to origins, modulating physiological flexion and physiological extension, re-connecting mouth to desire, spiraling into the broken body to find strength, and re-sourcing and resonating with one another in an organic, deeply restful and energizing exploration.

BIGGER THAN THE BODY
With Susan Schell

What does it mean:

• to witness and be witnessed in and by nature?
• to actively participate in collaborations and exchanges with the natural world?
• to engage in a relationship with the landscape where we are more like suitors than observers or interlopers?
• to be in full partnership with the earth?

Before words there is the language of direct experience, immediate and untamed. Although this language is without words, it is most definitely not without meaning. It is the language all life speaks fluently. It is our native tongue, the language of form and essence, the language of the body and perception. Blessed are the moments we live in this "not knowing" that "knows" rather than the "knowing" that does not. In these moments we move our home from the busy streets of habit into the open field of life.

Friday Early Afternoon

Secrets of Soft - Contact Improvisation . Aaron Brandes. “We never get beyond the fundamentals. We can only aspire to master them.” ~Mark Koenig. In this class we will explore some of the core physical principals of CI such as: our relationship to the floor, gradations of tone, use of gravity, and safe falling. I am also interested in seeing what questions arise through the class.

Shame is a Class Free Zone: Exploring our stories of Class and human connection. Taught by Performance Troupe: The Humble Little People. Using structures in theatre games, movement, writing, and group improvisation, we will explore our Class stories. We will create a safe and dynamic space to discover and move through Class landscapes. Whether this subject is important to you or new to you, we will inquire together with curiosity and mutual respect. An informal showing of the performance work of The Humble Little People will be part of this workshop.

History, memory and presence in with the space Marija Krtolica. The theme of this workshop is body memory in relationship to oneself and the other. From the place of deep rest we will access the memory imprinted in the body, and look for various ways of investigating our unique movement styles informed by habits, idiosyncrasies, and time/space structures. Part 1 –resting, writing steam of consciousness, moving solo form, watching and discussing

Friday Late Afternoon:

BIGGER THAN THE BODY. Susan Schell. See full class description at top of page.

Brave New Music: Moving with Experimental Sound. Teresa Czepial & Joe Burgio. Dissonant and arrhythmic sound presents an intriguing challenge for movement improvisation. Space, sound, breath, and movement all become equal partners in the dance. Awareness, inner/outer rhythm, stillness, silence, noise, listening – we'll cultivate these tools in group and solo structures and see where our curiosity arises.

The Reflecting Pool. Tanya Williams. This workshop will begin with the core of Playback Theatre with an intention to listen and reflect back the essence of eachother’s stories, weaving in elements of contact improvisation, and Augusto Boal’s image theatre work.

Saturday Early Afternoon:

Saliq Francis Savage: Embryology‹Dancing the miracle of life. A Body-Mind Centering® exploration of primitive movement symmetries into dance. Re-membering limbs, re-turning to origins, modulating physiological flexion and physiological extension, re-connecting mouth to desire, spiraling into the broken body to find strength, and re-sourcing and resonating with one another in an organic, deeply restful and energizing exploration.

Shame is a Class Free Zone: Exploring our stories of Class and human connection. Taught by Performance Troupe: The Humble Little People. Using structures in theatre games, movement, writing, and group improvisation, we will explore our Class stories. We will create a safe and dynamic space to discover and move through Class landscapes. Whether this subject is important to you or new to you, we will inquire together with curiosity and mutual respect. An informal showing of the performance work of The Humble Little People will be part of this workshop.

History, memory and presence in with the space Marija Krtolica. The theme of this workshop is body memory in relationship to oneself and the other. From the place of deep rest we will access the memory imprinted in the body, and look for various ways of investigating our unique movement styles informed by habits, idiosyncrasies, and time/space structures. Part 2- resting, writing with specific memory in mind, creating loose phrases & movement sentences, interacting, talking about each other's work

Saturday Late Afternoon:

Honor and Train your Dancing Body. Lani Nahele. The class will begin with something like a yummy warm-up with release of excess muscularity, move on to joint “homing”, juicy orienting and functional spirals then some choreography with which we will play. I can’t resist the Body-Mind Centering material, so you know I’ll integrate that in.

“Contiguous observations of our moving selves”. Explorations with Contact Improvisation and Authentic Movement. Felice Wolfzahn. This class will explore the blending of scores that are the basic premises for both Contact Improvisation and Authentic movement. Both forms allow for a deep connection to self and other and combined create a pallet for spirited awareness, deep listening and opening to new territories of movement and connection. The weaving of tactile sensations, weight sharing, awareness of energies, and blending of inner and outer stimulus offer a fascinating unfolding of new and dynamic expressive possibilities! Scores might include one mover with eyes open and the other with eyes closed using touch and energy states as their guide. Come and play. A little experience in both forms are helpful.

WHAT JUST HAPPENED? - Contact Improvisation Workshop. Chris Aiken and Angie Hauser. See full class description at top of page

Sunday Afternoon:

Contact Improvisation Class with Tanya Williams. In contact improvisation (and in life), what becomes possible through agreement and shared intention? Listen through the fluid architecture of the body and discover the richness of response-ability and benevolent manipulation. Bring the fullness of your body and your desire to the dance, finding courage in your pleasure.

FESTIVAL FACULTY

Angie Hauser is a dance-maker, performer and teacher. Her work is grounded in improvisation and performance and reflects the influences of contact improvisation, ballet, butoh and contemporary dance techniques. Angie is a member of Bebe Miller Company. In 2006 she received a BESSIE Award for her collaboration with Miller. She has also danced with the companies of Elizabeth Streb, Liz Lerman and Poppo Shiriashi and performed with many gifted artists including Kirstie Simpson, Andrew Harwood, Kathleen Hermesdorf, K.J. Holmes and Darrell Jones. She has taught improvisation and dance throughout the U.S. and in Switzerland, Germany, Canada and Scotland.

Brando (Aaron Brandes) has been teaching and studying movement practices for over 10 years. Brando has taught and performed contact improvisation throughout Europe, Israel, and was a teacher in residence in Guatemala. He has been published in the international journal Contact Quarterly and was one of the curators for the 36th anniversary event of Contact Improvisation. Brando currently assists in programming events at Earthdance.

Chris Aiken is a leading international teacher and performer of dance improvisation and contact improvisation. Over the past two and a half decades his work has evolved through ongoing investigations of performance, composition, movement technique and design. His work has been significantly influenced through the somatic practice of the Alexander Technique, ideokinesis, yoga and Rolfing. Chris has performed and collaborated with many renowned dance artists including Steve Paxton, Kirstie Simson, Nancy Stark Smith, Peter Bingham, Andrew Harwood, Patrick Scully and Angie Hauser. He is a Guggenheim Fellow and an assistant professor at Ursinus College.

Joe Burgio received his first formal dance training from Jody Weber at the Green Street Studios in Cambridge, Massachusetts; his practice bloomed with Debra Bluth at the Dance Complex, also in Cambridge. He has appeared with several dance-theatre groups, including Callie Chapman-Korn’s Zoedance, Rose-Pasquerello-Beachamp’s influxdance, and Jamie Jewett’s LostWax-- his first appearance with Teresa Czepiel. He has performed extensively with experimental and improvisational musicians, and has on-going collaborations Katt Hernandez, Lou Cohen and Matt Samolis, solo and with his Metal and Glass ensemble..

Felice Wolfzahn. BFA Juilliard, MFA Bennington College. Felice is a dancer, choreographer and veteran teacher of Contact Improvisation. She has been teaching in the Five College dance department of MA for the past thirteen years. Felice’s work combines investigations into Authentic Movement and Contemporary dance technique as well. Felice is interested in how dance can be instructional as well as healing and incorporate the whole self into its investigations.

Lani Nahele (Lisa Schmidt) danced the globe for some very good years with Trisha Brown and later with beloved colleagues. Now as a Practitioner of Body-Mind Centering and a mom of a five year old, dancing is such a delicious luxury. New and old Loves; gardening, Qigong, breathwork.

Marija Krtolica (MFA UC Davis, BFA Tisch, NYU) has been showing and performing her own work since early 90s. She is a Buddhist mediation and Asthanga yoga practitioner. Marija is currently pursuing MA in Performance Studies at NYU (38)

Saliq Savage, BMC practitioner and teacher, teaches GYROTONIC, contact improvisation and maintains a bodywork practice working with infants, children, and adults. In 1990, he founded Wire Monkey Dance, specializing in highly physical, multimedia dance installations on three-dimensional sets of steel scaffolding. Saliq collaborates and performs throughout North America, Asia, Europe and South America.

Susan Schell has taught and performed throughout the US and abroad. Her extensive study of Contact Improvisation, Action Theater and Authentic Movement has led to collaborations with many innovators in the field of improvisational dance. She has directed several Authentic Movement programs and has served as adjunct faculty at the University of Maine. Her dance writings and drawings have been published in the Contact Quarterly, A Moving Journal and in new book, Caught Falling by David Koteen and Nancy Stark Smith.

The Humble Little People (Kent Alexander, Jenny Ladd, Rythea Lee, Rose Oceania, and Carolyn Shakti Sadeh) are a collective of mature and seasoned artists who have come together to move, write, sing, and speak on the subject of Class and humanity. Each group member has brought a wealth of ideas and personal material for the making of an evening length performance that is currently being developed. Because each member has been a long time teacher and performer, this workshop will offer participants a rich artistic experience to dive into.

Tanya Williams is a context artist with a passion for dancing with systems… in community, on the land, and in the body. She has been teaching contact improvisation for over 10 years, drawing on Forum, Playback, site-specific, environmental, and physical theatre, Dynamic Structural Integration bodywork, and Alexander Technique.

Teresa Czepiel has been practicing movement improvisation for the past decade. Her work investigates the crossroads of presence/energy, stillness/spontaneity, and natural phenomena/artistic process. Teresa has studied with Barbara Dilley, Lee Worley, Debra Bluth, Arawana Hayashi, and Nancy Stark Smith. She performs solo but prefers collaboration with dancers and musicians, and teaches workshops on improvisation, meditation, and creative process.

Registration and Fees

Entire Festival (3 Tiers Available):
   Student Rate: Economically challenged students and the unemployed: $225
   Regular Rate: Employed but struggling (teacher, librarian, lots of kids, etc.): $250
   Professional Rate: Actually contributing to your retirement plan (support the arts!): $275
   Contributor Rate: Contributing additional funds, so that we may offer scholarships and discounts: $325
Single Day (Includes Classes, Meals and Evening Activities): $75

Deposit Required: $75

Arrival Thursday, August 13, after 5 p.m.
Last session ends Sonday afternoon August 16

Register at the door: Thursday 5:30-6:30pm, Friday 8:00-9:00am, Saturday 8:00-9:00am, Sunday 8:00-9:00am.

*You will not be officially registered until we receive your deposit. If your registration is cancelled up to 3 weeks prior to a workshop, you may either transfer the entire deposit amount to another event or be refunded 1/2 of the deposit. Cancellations within 3 weeks of the start date are not eligible for a refund or transfer.