Int/Adv Contemporary dance with Ellen Bartel

Mon and Wed nights from 6:30-8:00 $10 per class, but we can work something out if you are committed to coming to both classes a week.

The techniques that I work with in class are a hybridization of contemporary forms that range from the early techniques of fall/recovery and upper-body arcs from the Humphrey/Limon tradition, to the pedestrian and flowing gestures of Trisha Brown, the modern jazzy ways of Twyla Tharp, the inhibitions of Release, to Bartenieff floorwork, and finally, the ongoing-ness and full range of motion I look for in my own movement.

Whether the class is a beginner or advanced/professional level we work in the following ways: warm-up- stretching and upper body movement combinations, floorwork- developing new neuromuscular pathways, and building strength and memorization skills in a low impact way, center technique-usually traditional exercises that include feet, legs, and hips for the development of strength and flexibility, cardiovascular- exercises that will engage the full body, increase endurance and memorization, and build the corporal relationships to space and to the others in the space; this may take the form of open movement, different sequences across the floor, or in a final dance combination.