MATERIAL FOR THE SPINE
with Steve Paxton
March 21 (Sunday evening) – April 2 (Friday afternoon)

Begun in 1986, Material for the Spine is a simple dancing system based in sensation and evolved self-imagery for the skeletal elements of head, spine and pelvis. In otherwords, an exploration of the center of the body. The Material is abstracted from Contact Improvisation, which will be used in the class to some extent, but Material is more technical and meditative, with emphasis on breathing and precise exercises done solo. Connections may be noticed to extant dance techniques, and their mostly unstated use of the pelvis. Material for the Spine cannot avoid the rest of the body: so far it has extended to the hip sockets and thighs, the shoulder blades and arms.

STEVE PAXTON has researched the fiction of cultured dance and the 'truth' of improvisation for 40 years. He has received grants from Change, Inc., the Foundation for Performance Arts, John D.Rockefeller Fund, and a Guggenheim Fellowship, and has been awarded two NY Bessie Awards. He was one of the founders of the Judson Dance Theater, Grand Union, Contact Improvisation, and Touchdown Dance for the visually disabled (UK), and began his career studying modern dance techniques, ballet, Aikido, Tai Chi Chuan, and Vipassana meditation. He performed with the Merce Cunningham Dance Co. from 1961-65. A contributing editor to Contact Quarterly dance and improvisation journal, he lectures, performs, choreographs and teaches primarily in the USA and Europe. In 2008 he published a DVD-ROM with ContreDanse in Brussels, Steve Paxton: Material for the Spine, a movement study. In 2009 he reinvestigated his choreography Ave Nue (1985) for an artist-in-residency in Amsterdam at the School for New Dance Development and toured Japan, including Night Stand with Lisa Nelson in Tokyo.

Total Workshop Fee = Tuition + Room & Board.

Tuition (4 Tiers Available):
   Student Rate: Economically challenged students and the unemployed: $465
   Regular Rate: Employed but struggling (teacher, librarian, lots of kids, etc.): $490
   Professional Rate: Actually contributing to your retirement plan (support the arts!): $515
   Contributor Rate: Contributing additional funds to support the Earthdance Scholarship Fund: $565

Standard Room & Board: $435 (For commuting or alternate housing options, click here)
Deposit Required*: $150

Arriva Sunday, 3/21, after 5 p.m.
Last session ends Friday afternoon 4/2

Partial Scholarships are sometimes available for Earthdance workshops. Please click here for more information.

*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.