join us for our annual friendraiser & fundraiser!

June 23, 6-8pm
@ The Painted Bride

5212 Market Street Philadelphia, PA

We are excited to share a meal with our community--new and old!--

and invite you into the world of our project, Falling Up. 

- $20 general admission advance tickets

- $15 students 

- $25 at the door (cash/check/Venmo)

- Children are FREE!

-Collage with us for our Zine

-See some of Falling Up, in-progress

-Share your thoughts on Falling Up

-Enter our raffle for a chance to leave with fun prizes 

-Purchase some unique merch 

Since 2014, Meet The Naked Stark has offered a moment for our community to engage with our art and work in a different realm than what we can offer in performance. When you buy a ticket to attend MTNS, you are contributing directly to our values and process, allowing our approach to modern dance to exist and thrive in Philadelphia. Our work is bolstered by the deep interest in the community that builds around The Naked Stark, and MTNS gives the sense that even after our work has been created and shared, there will always be something to come back to. 

photos from meet the naked stark (1)2019 !

Photos: Jen Kertis, Meet The Naked Stark 2019
Top - Marisa Illingworth & Katherine Kiefer Stark; guests viewing performance; guest at the silent auction table
Bottom - Katherine hands out pops from the Lil’ Pop Shop; Harlee Trautman, Marisa, Chloe Marie Newton, & Katherine joined by guests; guest artist Evalina Carbonell with Weiwei Ma performing excerpts of Honey.

A series of informal events

A Series of informal events

Motivated by our desire to share and discuss our own work-in-progress, paired with our philosophy that part of nourishing ourselves and creating sustainable movement-art practices is supporting other artists and working together to build a community, we created A Series of Informal Events.  

Modeled after the old FringeArts ScratchNight series, our free series features 2-3 artists sharing 10-25 minutes of work, with each work followed by a discussion.  Spring 2019, we collaborated with Shannon Murphy, guest curator, and Vox Populi, venue, hosted our events.  

SPRING 2017, April, May, June: Curated by Katherine Kiefer Stark

Featured work-in-progress by Antonia Z Brown, Meredith Stapleton, stb x at, Teresa VanDenend Sorge, The Naked Stark

FALL 2017, October, November, December: Curated by Katherine Kiefer Stark

Featured work-in-progess by Amy Lynne Barr & Elizabeth Bergman, Lyons and Tigers,
Loren Groenendaal / Vervet Dance, Paige Phillips, Sean Thomas Boyt, The Naked Stark,

SPRING 2019, February, April, June: Curated by Shannon Murphy

Featured work-in-progress by Chelsea Murphy, Harlee Trautman & Mary-Carmen Webb, Jhelan Gordon-Salaam, Meg Foley, Meghan Frederick & Kate Seethaler, Olive Prince Dance,

Philadelphia Rising &

One Billion Rising Flash Mob

Release-based Movement PRactice

with Katherine Kiefer Stark

PRACTICE

Blending Kline Technique, Safety Release Technique, and release technique, my class is an energetic exploration of movement from the inside out.  Emphasis is placed on the initiation of the movement and the path the various body parts take in space to discover how one's own body moves with/in the movement.  We embrace the space through phrases that move in and out of the floor and carry us in and out of balance.  I bring all of these ideas together through material that is infused with what I am researching, passionate about, and is foundational to the aesthetics I love.  Class begins quietly and gradually builds in complexity, culminating in a dynamic phrase.  Sleeves and knee-pads or long pants are recommended.

PHILOSOPHY AND ROOTS

Movement practice is a space for taking risks, making mistakes, and honing craft.  My teaching approaches aim to create a holistic study of release-based techniques that explores movement as culturally informed, politically charged, and aesthetically particular.  This philosophy is deeply informed by theories from the People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond, Dr. Ann Dils, and Dr. Brenda Dixon Gottschild.  My physicality is strongly influenced by the studio practices of BJ Sullivan and Jeremy Nelson. 

Among the movement/dance techniques I have studied, release techniques and Safety Release Technique fit best with how I like to move and with my values.  These techniques appreciate and make space for the uniqueness of each mover’s body.  Movement is learned through understanding the initiation of the movement, the path the various body parts take in space, and in discovering how one’s own body moves with/in the movement.  This approach to movement values, develops, and supports self-awareness.  My language around movement is continuously evolving as I search for words and imagery that resonate with the folks who are in the room. 

In semester long courses, I explore postmodern movement aesthetics in relationship to the principles of Africanist aesthetic - Polycentrism/Polyrhythm, Embracing the Conflict, High-Affect Juxtaposition - and European aesthetic - Monocentrism, Resolving the Conflict, Arch Between Ideas - as outlined by Dr. Brenda Dixon Gottschild, as well the qualities - indirect/direct, heavy/light, quick/sustained, bound/unbound - from Laban.  I weave these in more sporadically during weekly drop-in movement practice.  

FALLING UP: WORKSHOP

Saturday 12/17 & Sunday 12/18, 10 AM - 4 PM
Public Showing on Sunday 12/18 @ 5 PM

Falling Up: workshop

Saturday 12/17 & Sunday 12/18, 10 AM - 4 PM
Public Showing on Sunday 12/18 @ 5 PM

Falling Up: Workshop participants are invited to join dance artist Katherine Kiefer Stark at Mascher for a two-day workshop delving into the themes of The Naked Stark’s new project Falling Up. We’ll investigate transparent illusions to create alternate spaces / worlds that require imagination from the performers and audience. And we’ll explore sensation and momentum driven phrase work and partnering as we engage in a collaborative creative process. Our time together will culminate in a public showing.

REGISTER BY 10/18, $65
REGISTER BY 11/18, $80
REGISTER AFTER 11/18, $95

*no one turned away for lack of funds. Contact info.thenakedstark@gmail.com to make an alternative contribution or for a reduced rate.

Workshop and showing are in-person
@ Mascher Space Cooperative
1170 S Broad St, Philadelphia, PA

Creative Movement Workshop

creative movement workhop

Facilitated by Aubrey Donisch & Katherine Kiefer Stark 

Sundays, October 15, 22, & 29

11:15 AM - 12:30 PM

The Cedar Works, 4919 Pentridge Street

Creative Movement Workshop is 3 class series for those looking to rekindle their love of dance and movement. We will work as a community to build our movement skills, find greater ease in our bodies, take healthy risks, and learn new, creative ways to move.

This workshop is open to those with any amount of dance experience and those with and without disabilities.
Parents and caregivers are welcome to bring a young person with them.  

You are welcome to attend whatever dates work for you.  

Sliding scale $30-$60 3 classes, $20-$40 2 classes, $12-$18 1 class.  

**No one turned away for lack of funds, reach out to offer an exchange or pay what you can.

ADA Accessible

FACILITATORS

Aubrey is a teaching artist from Minneapolis, MN where she grew up dancing in a company for youth with and without disabilities. With ten years of teaching experience, Aubrey has taught modern dance to all ages, folks across the spectrum of disability, and those with varying relationships to dance and movement. She currently teaches at The Creative Living Room and has been a teaching artist with Allens Lane Art Center, the Park Avenue Community Center, Bryn Mawr College, University City Arts League, Young Dance, Keshet Dance and Center for the Arts, and the Semilla Center for Healing and the Arts. Aubrey loves to facilitate dance as a creative process and space for discovery, fostering positive body awareness and celebrating personal expression and collaboration. 

Katherine is a philadelphia-based teaching artist and artistic director of The Naked Stark.  She has been teaching modern dance for close to twenty years, working primarily with adults and teens.  Katherine has been a teaching artist with a variety of organizations and institutions including, Bryn Mawr College, Stockton University, Cultivate Dance Festival, American College Dance Association, Durham Juvenile Detention Center, and Enloe High School. Currently she is adjunct faculty at Widener University and offers a weekly drop-in release-based movement practice at Mascher Space.  Katherine loves to facilitate dance as a community practice and creative space, deepening awareness, exploring how one’s own body moves within the movement, and finding joy and power in our creative bodies.