Contemporary Dance

Contemporary Dance is an expressive style of dance that lends itself to theatrical performance. Originally drawing on elements of Ballet, Jazz and Modern dance, Contemporary dance has incorporated aspects of many styles and techniques including Graham, Release and Cunningham have emerged. The style encourages dancers to make connections between mind and body working to build awareness of the space around the body and, in particular, the sensations within. Dancers are encouraged to explore how to use the body in different ways using improvisation, preparing them for working outside the specific practices to create new and exciting movement language.

Classes at Arts1 focus on developing Contemporary techniques; with an emphasis on Release technique and incorporating elements of Cunningham, Graham and Contact Improvisation. Participants will build a foundation that incorporates technique from their other classes, providing a way into somatic exploration and an ability to improvise in response to music, visual art, language and thematic stimulus.