Angie is performing this weekend in Bebe Miller Company's Necessary Beauty at Bates Dance Festival
Sun Journal | Connecting you with your Community
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Thursday, July 30, 2009
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photo by William Federking
This blog follows the teaching, performing and research projects of dance artists Chris Aiken and Angie Hauser
Categories
- Bates (2)
- Bebe Miller Company (4)
- Boston (1)
- Canada (3)
- Chicago (1)
- Dwell (1)
- Earthdance (1)
- Freiburg (1)
- Moab (1)
- NYC (1)
- Performance (10)
- Philadelphia (3)
- Photo (6)
- Review (3)
- Workshop (8)
Chris Aiken
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 the work of Ida Rolf. 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 has received numerous awards for his artistic work, including a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Bush Foundation Fellowship, funding from the Jerome Foundation and commissions from the Walker Art Center, Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, Dance Theater Workshop, Bates Dance Festival and the National Performers Network. Chris is an Associate Professor at Ursinus College in Pennsylvania. He is currently touring a NPN-commissioned work entitled “Dwell” co-created with Angie Hauser and is working on a new project inspired by the works of the artist Joseph Cornell.
photo by William Federking
Angie Hauser
Angie Hauser is a dancer and teacher. Her work is grounded in improvisation and performance reflecting the influences of contact improvisation, postmodern choreography, ballet and Butoh. Since 2000, Angie has been a member of the Bebe Miller Company, where she contributes to the creation of award winning dance works that are performed throughout the United States. In 2006 Angie was awarded a BESSIE (N.Y. Dance and Performance Award) for Creation and Choreography for her work with Bebe Miller. As an improviser she collaborates with many gifted artists including Chris Aiken, Kirstie Simpson, K.J. Holmes, Darrell Jones, Andrew Harwood and Kathleen Hermesdorf. She has also danced with the companies of Elizabeth Streb, Liz Lerman and Poppo Shiriashi. She has taught contact improvisation, improvisation and dance throughout North America as well as Switzerland, Germany, France and Scotland. Angie received her MFA in dance from the Ohio State University and holds a BA in Art History from University of South Carolina.
Classes and Workshops
Performance and Improvisation Intensive
Have you ever had moments in performance when things seemed to be happening in slow motion, when your movements feel in tune and your mind is alert and relaxed at the same time? You are simultaneously aware of the audience, yourself and your fellow performers as part of an interconnected whole. The ability to sense, to imagine and to create through movement feels effortless in these times. This intensive is designed to lead us toward heightened states of being in performance. Through training, students will develop greater confidence in their ability to respond intelligently and poetically to what is happening around them. Classes will include training in compositional improvisation, performance awareness, movement invention and the tuning of one’s reflexes. (Aiken/Hauser)
Contact Improvisation
Contact Improvisation is a movement form that offers opportunities to experience heightened states of being – times when we feel 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, the artists are interested in developing reflexes, coordination, and the capacity to continually recycle mental and physical energies back into the dancing. At the core is the commitment to staying with the modulation of tone and weight in the body, so that the touch remains alive. Aiken & Hauser bring a combined 35 years of experience practicing and teaching Contact Improvisation--this produces classes that teach the principles at the foundation of contact improvisation, and which share an ongoing oral history of the form. All levels welcome; please come with questions, energy and commitment to playful, imaginative dancing. (Aiken/Hauser)
Dance Technique Workshop
This technique class focuses on integrating physical and creative articulation. Building coordination, strength and articulation allows us to dance to the fullest that we imagine without hesitation. As we call on our training to embody our ideas we find the cycle continues as the movement itself inspires our creative imagination. Each part of this class is in response to the individual dancer’s desire to integrate her abilities with her imagination. The class consists of an eclectic mix of energy work, somatic information, postmodern dance technique, improvisation and quirky phrase work. The movement material focuses on moving in and out of the floor with ease and strength, spatial clarity, and detailed articulations. Hauser’s material reflects the influences of her extensive training in ballet, contact improvisation and post modern choreography. (Hauser)
DWELL: Improvising Home
A composition workshop
This workshop focuses on composition and dance improvisation, centered around the process of transforming space into place, and creating worlds for our imaginations to dwell. The artists approach this by engaging in an eclectic collection of activities, including dancing, improvising, building, designing and observing. Expand your awareness of how to compose and gain new perspectives and approaches to composing. All levels welcome. (Aiken/Hauser)