Velocity Dance Center

// INVESTIGATIVE MOVEMENT PRACTICES (IMP) //

IMP Classes and workshops are taught by leading movement practitioners and reflect current developments in the field of contemporary dance. Each series takes a multi-faceted approach that integrates technique and creative process.

Wednesday Workshop Series / 6-8PM Kawasaki
$15 drop-in / buy a class series for just $10/class 

MAY 15  - JUNE 19
Alice Gosti: Say Yes
A movement and imagination workshop against self-censorship and judgment. We will be working on the idea that one’s body has inspiration of it’s own and it is connected to one’s imagination. What if we think about our signature movement not as something that we need to avoid and get rid of, but as an unfinished sentence that we never allowed ourselves to deeply and completely realize? What if we give permission and say – yes – to all of the random impulses and images that pop into our imaginations? What if instead of tricking the mind into being distracted, we trusted the bodies’ mind? No, I am not a ‘non-conformist of the 1960s’, I am a punk that loves airplanes and airports and thinks that we give too much power to our minds, that’s all. Come to class.

The exercises and tools that will be used in this class are the same that Spaghetti CO. has used in the creation of the first two chapters of the Spaghetti CO. saga – Something just happened at 1:19 pm and Are you still hungry?. This class is open to people interested in movement and imagination, dance experience is not necessary.

Alice Gosti is a 27 year old space transformer, dancer, choreographer, performer, filmmaker. She was born and raised in Perugia, Italy, and is the daughter of the dynamic art duo Sandford&Gosti. She trained in her hometown at Ass. Culturale Dance Gallery with Rita Petrone and Valentina Romito, and graduated in 2008 with a B.A. in Dance from the UW.  Alice has performed in works by Paige Barnes, Carolyn Carlson, Bruno Collinet, Jane Comfort, Laara Garcia, Mark Haim, Tonya Lockyer, Keith Hennessy, Monica Mata Gilliam, Tiffany Mills, Amy O’Neal, Fritha Pingelly, Jennifer Salk and Ellie Sandstrom. This year she has received – the Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Dance 2012 and Dance Web Scholarship 2012 for ImPuls Tanz in Vienna.

 PAST 2013 IMP series

JAN 9 – FEB 13, 2013
Lucia Neare: RINGING THE BONES: Exploratory Sound-Making
Jump into the New Year by ringing your bones! Explore sound-making from a playful, whole-self perspective. Discover your unique and powerful vocal instrument. We’ll dive into vocal anatomy, body mapping and the athletics of moving air, we’ll unearth resonant territories, we’ll map the geography of vowels and the choreography of words. Let’s get lost in sound and find our voices by ringing our holy bones. This class is not about making pretty sounds (though there may be some of those); this class is about exploring your voice. These holistic, experimental, and sound-loving classes are open to all, including the vocally curious, shy, and terrified. All are welcome. Please bring a journal.

Lucia Neare is the Mayor’s Arts Award Winning creator of the beloved site-specific theatrical wonder, Lulluby Moon. Her free, large-scale, site-specific works have inspired thousands. A classical singer, sculptor, designer, director, performer, and producer, she is artistic director of Lucia Neare’s Theatrical Wonders. Neare has received commissions and support from organizations such as 4Culture, Artist Trust, the Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs, Seattle Art Museum, Olympic Sculpture Park, On the Boards, Seattle City Light, SAFECO, and Seattle Parks and Recreation. Lucia received the 2008 Artist Trust/Washington State Arts Commission Fellowship, Seattle Magazine’s 2008 Spotlight Award, and the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs 2007 CityArtists Award. Neare studied theater and contemporary performance at Naropa University and is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College.

FEB 20 – MAR 27
Louis Gervais: Exploring Contact
In this class, we will explore the interpersonal relationship that arises when we dance with one another. Whether we are dance partners or life partners, a highly personal sense of self is being communicated when we move together. Exploring intimacy, sensitivity, listening, and curiosity, we will dive into this inner landscape focusing on partnering from the inside out.   Working from inside to outside, we will discover how the inner connection is reflected in the dance that comes out into space. This class is great for beginners and even non-dancers who are interested in exploring  Contact Improvisation and partnering skills.

Louis Gervais, former member of Compagnie Marie Chouinard, has been exploring the intersection of improvisation, intimacy and  spirituality for more than 20 years.   His explorations have led to numerous course offerings such as: Chakra Balancing, Dancing Energy Systems and Men in Contact.  With a focus in somatic studies, Louis received his MFA in dance from the University of Washington in 2009.

APR 3 – MAY 8
Alia Swersky: Sensation into Play into Design
Moving from sensation we will follow our instincts and be guided by what is already happening in our bodies.  We will tap into what is primal to access multiple layers of our innate creative wisdom.  In essence, engaging our inner world to release the subconscious into physicality, play and compositional design.  Through a dynamic physical collaboration of the senses, along with attention to image, space and touch, we will gently interweave internal and external awareness to create solos, duets, and ensemble dancing.

Alia Swersky is a movement artist, performer and teacher, engaged deeply in the vital act of dance improvisation. She graduated from Cornish College of the Arts in 1998 with a BFA in dance and now teaches as part of the creative process curriculum at Cornish as an adjunct faculty member since 2005. Swersky has taught at Velocity’s Strictly Seattle Festival and the Seattle Festival of Dance Improvisation (SFDI). She was a long time Co-artistic director of Dance Art Group (DAG), a non-profit organization that promotes the practice and appreciation of dance and somatic education in the Seattle area, including the Seattle Festival of Dance Improvisation. Alia has taught yoga continuously for over 10 years and invites this influence into her dance work and teaching. Other influences include contact improvisation, release/somatic techniques, Authentic Movement, Tuning Scores, Aikido, Buddhist meditation, and many pivotal dance partners and teachers. Alia danced and toured nationally and internationally as a member of the LeGendre Performance Group. She has also collaborated and performed in the works of many Seattle artists including The Maureen Whiting Company, Khambatta Dance Company, Jurg Koch, KT Niehoff of Lingo Dance, and Salt Horse. Alia has been actively performing, and creating improvisational and choreographic works in Seattle since 1998.