Note: All workshops are suspended during COVID-19
"Working with Sharon brought the concept of everything being connected. Her instruction opened up a sense of imagination and possibility that helped me to realize simple yet profound meanings."
Sharon’s workshops are drawn from her love of movement in art and daily life, as well as a wide range of investigations in contemporary dance, Contact Improvisation, Authentic Movement, Viewpoints, yoga, tai chi, the Laban/Bartenieff Movement System, Reiki, music and visual art.
ART JAMS!
Facilitated interdisciplinary improvisation jams involving movers, musicians, actors, poets, visual artists and other
creative folks. Beginning with an opening circle of introductions and a guided warmup, leading into simple scores and open explorations. ART Jams encourage play, collaboration, experimentation and fun in a safe, open, non-judgmental environment.
AUTHENTIC MOVEMENT
Facilitated sessions in Authentic Movement improvisation practice based on the work of Mary Starks Whitehouse. Responding to deep and subtle inner movement impulses, supporting mind/body integration and respect for both inner and outer witnesses to the experience. http://authenticmovementcommunity.org/about
BODY IN MOTION: Contemporary/Modern Technique Practice
Release into gravity, engage your core, and find your power moving through space and standing still. Drawing from modern dance, somatics improvisation yoga and everyday movement, this class practice explores various exercises and sequences that engage the body in an active dialogue with gravity, dynamic alignment, breath support, and qualitative movement. The whole person is emphasized as we acknowledge that virtuosity exists in many forms, including the simple yet powerful act of bringing oneself to the movement as fully as possible in the present moment.
DANCE FOR THE CAMERA
A playful introduction to creative and practice tools for making dance films, an inspiring collaboration between movement and the camera. Dance films are short, experimental creative art films featuring movement. The integration of movement, location and the camera eye is integral to dance filmmaking and provides richly imagistic, kinetic and emotional experiences. People interested in an opportunity to learn about this developing art medium are encouraged to attend. No dance or film experience necessary. And no specialized camera equipment required, just your cell phone camera and your imagination!
"Working with Sharon brought the concept of everything being connected. Her instruction opened up a sense of imagination and possibility that helped me to realize simple yet profound meanings."
Sharon’s workshops are drawn from her love of movement in art and daily life, as well as a wide range of investigations in contemporary dance, Contact Improvisation, Authentic Movement, Viewpoints, yoga, tai chi, the Laban/Bartenieff Movement System, Reiki, music and visual art.
ART JAMS!
Facilitated interdisciplinary improvisation jams involving movers, musicians, actors, poets, visual artists and other
creative folks. Beginning with an opening circle of introductions and a guided warmup, leading into simple scores and open explorations. ART Jams encourage play, collaboration, experimentation and fun in a safe, open, non-judgmental environment.
AUTHENTIC MOVEMENT
Facilitated sessions in Authentic Movement improvisation practice based on the work of Mary Starks Whitehouse. Responding to deep and subtle inner movement impulses, supporting mind/body integration and respect for both inner and outer witnesses to the experience. http://authenticmovementcommunity.org/about
BODY IN MOTION: Contemporary/Modern Technique Practice
Release into gravity, engage your core, and find your power moving through space and standing still. Drawing from modern dance, somatics improvisation yoga and everyday movement, this class practice explores various exercises and sequences that engage the body in an active dialogue with gravity, dynamic alignment, breath support, and qualitative movement. The whole person is emphasized as we acknowledge that virtuosity exists in many forms, including the simple yet powerful act of bringing oneself to the movement as fully as possible in the present moment.
DANCE FOR THE CAMERA
A playful introduction to creative and practice tools for making dance films, an inspiring collaboration between movement and the camera. Dance films are short, experimental creative art films featuring movement. The integration of movement, location and the camera eye is integral to dance filmmaking and provides richly imagistic, kinetic and emotional experiences. People interested in an opportunity to learn about this developing art medium are encouraged to attend. No dance or film experience necessary. And no specialized camera equipment required, just your cell phone camera and your imagination!
MAKING CONTACT
Explore the curiously intimate and social duet dance form of Contact Improvisation (CI), instigated in 1972 by Steve Paxton, now an ever evolving practice worldwide. Starting with basic perceptual and physical skills related to gravity, weight, momentum and flow, we will cultivate spontaneous dances for two. This workshop will lead participants gently through warm-up experientials into practice with CI skills such as falling, rolling, point of contact, and giving and taking weight. The class eventually develops into an open jam that supports the unexpected journey of responding in the moment with another person. Open to people of all levels of movement experience. Sharon has been practicing CI and other forms of improvisation for over 25 years, with her longtime dance partner Daniel Burkholder and other creative folks. https://contactquarterly.com/contact-improvisation/about/
MOVING WITH EASE
Based on the work of somatic pioneers Rudolph Laban and Irmgard Bartenieff, this gentle yet enlivening class encourages ease and efficiency of action through developmentally based movement principles and patterns. Engage your body in a dynamic and delicious flow with gravity, breath, space, weight and impulse. Exercises begin lying down and gradually progress to standing. Moving more fully through space, an open improvisational segment allows you to express and integrate these deep connections spontaneously.
SITE/INSIGHT DANCE
Tune your sensations and perceptions to a specific indoor/outdoor environment, natural or human made. Explore how to observe, sense, inhabit, and connect to a particular place. Utilize strategies from the Laban/Bartenieff Movement System to hone movement that is uniquely inspired by and for that specific site, and deepens your personal and embodied connection to place.
Explore the curiously intimate and social duet dance form of Contact Improvisation (CI), instigated in 1972 by Steve Paxton, now an ever evolving practice worldwide. Starting with basic perceptual and physical skills related to gravity, weight, momentum and flow, we will cultivate spontaneous dances for two. This workshop will lead participants gently through warm-up experientials into practice with CI skills such as falling, rolling, point of contact, and giving and taking weight. The class eventually develops into an open jam that supports the unexpected journey of responding in the moment with another person. Open to people of all levels of movement experience. Sharon has been practicing CI and other forms of improvisation for over 25 years, with her longtime dance partner Daniel Burkholder and other creative folks. https://contactquarterly.com/contact-improvisation/about/
MOVING WITH EASE
Based on the work of somatic pioneers Rudolph Laban and Irmgard Bartenieff, this gentle yet enlivening class encourages ease and efficiency of action through developmentally based movement principles and patterns. Engage your body in a dynamic and delicious flow with gravity, breath, space, weight and impulse. Exercises begin lying down and gradually progress to standing. Moving more fully through space, an open improvisational segment allows you to express and integrate these deep connections spontaneously.
SITE/INSIGHT DANCE
Tune your sensations and perceptions to a specific indoor/outdoor environment, natural or human made. Explore how to observe, sense, inhabit, and connect to a particular place. Utilize strategies from the Laban/Bartenieff Movement System to hone movement that is uniquely inspired by and for that specific site, and deepens your personal and embodied connection to place.
SPONTANEOUS GENERATION
Improvisation occurs all around us in daily life and we are constantly “winging it” both internally and externally from one moment to the next. This class taps into the spontaneous mind and the playful body in a series of improvisation structures that focus on relationships to time, shape space, dynamics, self and one another as the imagination runs wild. Find and follow your impulse, and focus your intention both as an individual and in a group. Emphasis is placed on discovering form and meaning from the body’s wisdom and by paying attention to the world around us, and shaping unplanned movement into a committed reality, in both studio exploration and performance.
THE ENERGETIC BODY
Reiki is a Japanese-based natural form of relaxation and healing that taps into life-energy through a simple yet profound hands-on technique. This class introduces a brief history of Reiki, basic principles and hand positions, and work in pairs as well as self-care to encourage relaxation, inner calm, and one's innate potential for healing and transformation. www.reiki.org/faq/whatisreiki.html
MOVING/MAKING
An interdisciplinary workshop that shifts among writing, visual art and movement arts, toggling between verbal and non-verbal to stimulate creative expressions. Discover surprising connections and stimulate your imagination playing among various art forms, and build a short study that integrates them all together.
Dreaming Under a Cedar Tree, photos by Sydney Swanson, 2017
Intro to Dance Filmmaking Workshop, photo by Sydney Swanson, 2018
...in the space between, Watkins Gallery, Winona State University, visual art senior seminar, photo by Sydney Swanson, 2018
RADFest, Kalamazoo, Michigan, 2012
Improvisation occurs all around us in daily life and we are constantly “winging it” both internally and externally from one moment to the next. This class taps into the spontaneous mind and the playful body in a series of improvisation structures that focus on relationships to time, shape space, dynamics, self and one another as the imagination runs wild. Find and follow your impulse, and focus your intention both as an individual and in a group. Emphasis is placed on discovering form and meaning from the body’s wisdom and by paying attention to the world around us, and shaping unplanned movement into a committed reality, in both studio exploration and performance.
THE ENERGETIC BODY
Reiki is a Japanese-based natural form of relaxation and healing that taps into life-energy through a simple yet profound hands-on technique. This class introduces a brief history of Reiki, basic principles and hand positions, and work in pairs as well as self-care to encourage relaxation, inner calm, and one's innate potential for healing and transformation. www.reiki.org/faq/whatisreiki.html
MOVING/MAKING
An interdisciplinary workshop that shifts among writing, visual art and movement arts, toggling between verbal and non-verbal to stimulate creative expressions. Discover surprising connections and stimulate your imagination playing among various art forms, and build a short study that integrates them all together.
Dreaming Under a Cedar Tree, photos by Sydney Swanson, 2017
Intro to Dance Filmmaking Workshop, photo by Sydney Swanson, 2018
...in the space between, Watkins Gallery, Winona State University, visual art senior seminar, photo by Sydney Swanson, 2018
RADFest, Kalamazoo, Michigan, 2012
