Creating Dance Through Structured Improvisation is a movement class offered each fall (September to November or December) and spring (February/March) in Madison, Wisconsin. Instructors Marina Kelly, Miriam Hall, and Kate Hewson alternate teaching each week throughout the session. Summer sessions are occasionally offered.

UPCOMING SESSION INFO

None scheduled at this time

SPRING 2022 SESSION INFO

REGISTER

Dates & Time: Thursdays 5:30-7:00 pm | February 3-March 31

Format: In-person (COVID-19 conditions permitting)

Cost: $135 for 9 classes

Location: The Madison Circus Space, 2082 Winnebago Street (Map)

Description: Experience the joy of your own authentic dance movements flourishing within facilitated group improvisations. This class starts with a somatic centering practice and progresses to standing and moving, using improvisational structures and scores to create group dance experiences. Students will become more comfortable with initiating, sharing, following, joining, leaving, and witnessing. Bring comfortable clothing, your bare feet, and a blanket for floor work (optional).

This class is intended for any adult or older teen who loves to move! Familiarity with modern dance can be helpful but is not required -- all you need is curiosity about being in your body and about moving in community with others.

Health & Safety Considerations: While vaccination is not required for participation, we strongly recommend that you are fully vaccinated if you are signing up for this class. All three instructors are fully vaccinated. We will limit registrations to 12 for this semester to ensure that there are never more than 15 people total in our dance space.

We will follow health and safety protocols required by the Madison Circus Space, which are informed by recommendations by Public Health Madison and further influenced by current community needs. We also reserve the right to institute stricter mask or distancing policies than the MCS given the needs and preferences of instructors and participants. The most recent MCS rules state that all people must wear masks inside MCS at all times.

Questions? Email danceimprovclass@gmail.com

TEACHER BIOS

Miriam Hall teaches contemplative arts: art-based contemplative practices including contemplative writing, contemplative photography (Miksang), and creative process programs, and brings her deep knowledge of contemplative arts to bear in teaching this movement class as well. All of her teaching is based in dharma and Buddhism, but you don’t have to be Buddhist to benefit. The fundamental view of dharma art is that creativity arises from clear perception. As living, sentient beings, perception is available to all of us, all of the time, so all of us have access to creative inspiration simply by being.

Kate Hewson is a choreographer, dancer, teacher, and administrator based in Madison. She received her MFA in Dance from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and works as Associate Director at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of the Arts.

Marina Kelly is a multidisciplinary artist who designs situations that bring people together; creating intimate occasions, site responsive performances, live art tableaux, looping videos and sculptural installations. Marina completed her Masters of Fine Arts degree in time-based art from The University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2012. She is the Assistant Director of the UW-Madison Undergraduate Research Scholars Program, supporting undergraduates in interdisciplinary research and creative practices. In recent years, Marina has studied Mettler-based creative movement for groups at the Tucson Creative Dance Center.

HISTORY

This class directly connects to the work of Margaret H'Doubler, who founded the world's first university degree in dance at UW-Madison in 1926. Her student Ellen Moore started teaching a dance improvisation class in 1976, drawing on H'Doubler's philosophy of helping students connect their own movement to experiences rather than using typical visual reference points. Learn more in this article Miriam Hall wrote about Ellen Moore and the origin of the class. Marina Kelly took Ellen's class for many years, while Miriam Hall and Kate Hewson became involved more recently and bring their own training and artistic practices to the material.

In addition to the work of Margaret H’Doubler and Ellen Moore, in this class you might encounter material originating from Barbara Mettler, Authentic Movement, Sally Gross, Mary Overlie/Anne Bogart/Tina Landau’s Viewpoints, Laban as expressed through Peggy Hackney’s Connectivities, Bonnie Bainbridge-Cohen, Liz Lerman, contact improvisation, and more!

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