Falling into Here
with Katherine Kiefer Stark
Photo: Sean Thomas Boyt, Movement Practice at Mascher Space Cooperative 2017
Falling into Here, a released-based movement practice for folks 14 and up, best suited for dancers with ‘intermediate’ to ‘advanced’ movement experience.
Join The Naked Stark’s founder and Artistic Director for an imaginative, sensation propelled, movement experience Sundays this fall!
“In an energetic exploration of movement from the inside out, my practice blends Kline, Safety Release, and release techniques. This blend allows us to move with and through momentum, spirals, and circles to arrive at predetermined and surprising destinations.
In this practice, we embrace the space through phrases that move in and out of the floor and carry us in and out of balance. Emphasis is placed on the initiation of the movement and the path our various body parts take in space to discover how our own bodies move with/in the offered movement.”
Class begins quietly and gradually builds in complexity, culminating in a dynamic phrase. There is space for participating in a variety of ways. Sleeves and knee-pads or long pants are recommended if you will be moving on the floor.
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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.
