Composition – Improvisation workshop Dartington England
Saturday Sunday April 10 and 11 2010
Vincent Cacialano – Alan McDermott – Katie Duck
Improvisation can be seen as the antithesis of composition. This workshop will centre on improvisation as a fundamental part of how compositions for performances are made and executed. The workshop is in two sessions: Vincent Cacialano and Alan McDermott will use Feldenkrais methods together with contemporary dance techniques, utilizing improvisation as a means to approach composing choreographies and Katie Duck will share her research and experience into improvisation as a basic part of dance collaborations and performance.
Two days - each session is three hours each day (12 hours total)
April 10 Saturday 10:00-13:00 Vincent Cacialano and Alan McDermott / 14:00 – 17:00 Katie Duck
April 11 Sunday 10:00-13:00 Katie Duck / 14:00 – 17:00 Vincent Cacialano and Alan McDermott
Location: Studio 32, Park Road, Dartington Hall Totnes Devon TQ9 England
Costs: £50
register for the full workshop (12 hours in two days) - or call +44 (0)7970 296 724
You can register for either one teacher for two days or two teachers for one day (6 hours total) for £25. If you wish to do this you need to request this by sending an email to katie@katieduck.com or call the number above.
Individual workshop session descriptions
Vincent Cacialano and Alan McDermott - Dance and The Feldenkrais Method
We will develop awareness in human movement to improve skills, range and efficiency in dance. Using The Feldenkrais method to clarify basic patterns, we will develop our understanding of our own bodies in movement. Through these lessons we will take time to neurologically re-organize, bringing greater awareness and a rejuvenated sensation. We will also examine the role the lessons explored in the Feldenkrais method play in the complex movement sequences seen in contemporary dance and also its potential in improvisation. This approach to dance can be applied to many movement aesthetics and seeks to create a common ground for dancers and movement artists from various backgrounds, emphasizing the idea of function over form. This work is challenging and rewarding for professional dancers, amateurs and students. We will spend an hour and a half on the Feldenkrais method followed by an hour-long dance warm up, ending in improvisation sessions.
Katie Duck
The aim of this workshop is to provide a situation where artists can practice together and grow in confidence towards public performances. The objective is to clarify that improvisation is not the antitheses of choreography or composition but rather the way choreography and composition can be executed, that the mental connection to the practice of improvisation can be accessed whether it is placed in set or open framed performance pieces and that the definitions of improvisation today within art practices needs to reflect advances in brain-studies and technology. Her warm-up and exercises emphasise how the eyes and the ears work in co-ordination with movement, sound and exposure to gathered crowds altering our perception of time, space, feelings and emotions. Improvisation sessions revolve around the terms pause, flow, exit, choice and presence, with discussions articulating play, memory and intuition.
Housing links for students coming from abroad or outside of Devon
