Movement Logic
efficiency of movement

The workshop begins each day with a technical part in which the dancers can develop a personal understanding of geometry and its relation to the body. Impulses will be explored from alignment, movement flow, breath, the relationship to the space and to the other participants, as well as the various ways in which movements can be held and dissolved through extension. After they have achieved this understanding, David Hernandez leads the dancers into improvisation and composition through which they can explore and build on their own abilities as spontaneous agents and performers in relationship to their specific problems, situations, and issues.
In this transitional improvisation we begin to experience the weight of the body and its collaboration with gravity which helps us to move through the space with efficiency. Afterwards the class gets more and more physical as we begin to train the various muscle groups and actions working with gravity as our partner until we finally approach a choreographic material in which the previous concepts can be applied.

"For the last 15 years I have been developing a personal approach to contemporary technique that is informed by many influences and experiences. I began concentrating on filling the gap between the research and body works that have been known as « release techniques » and the manifestation of these body works in movement. I concentrate my work on building a bridge between the more static work of discovering body connections and correct muscular usage while lengthening the muscular system in relationship to the bones and the application of this information into physically demanding movement material. Once we find the more effecient use of the body we will concentrate on physicalising these concepts and developing an efficiency of movement while exploring the open range that results from this research."




Elastic Choreography
composing not tripping

After a resurgence of improvisation performances in Europe in the mid and late 90’s, of which our project "Crash Landing" (in collaboration with Meg Stuart and Christine De Smet) played a part; improv as a performance form has seemed to take a back seat once again. Though it is less visible it not only continues to thrive with the hardcore improv crowd but has also found many other incarnations with many different kinds of artists and a plethora of different applications. We are seeing pieces more and more constructed with improv as a base either as an element in research or in the structure of the piece. Choreography has often become an improv hybrid, my own ELASTIC CHOREOGRAPHY-system being an example.
For the purpose of this workshop I would like to explore many different facets of the improv world but concentrate on the skill of improvising, but not necessarily the skills required to be an improviser. Normally when I teach an improv workshop I feel compelled to base it on providing, what I believe to be, important basic skills for every improviser; because method is so rarely stressed and taught well, and can never have enough practice. This time out, I would like to concentrate more on the issues involved in the practice of improvising and creating a spontaneous composition that is readable for a viewer. I intend to touch some basic skills as a way to develop a common language and base for the group and as a warm up in to the process.
The form the workshop takes will have as much to do with the people and experiences I meet there as with the experiences I have had before. It will be about composing not tripping, though I am not against a trip while composing.




David Hernandez
David Hernandez, born in Miami FL, studied Studio music, Jazz and Opera at the University of Miami and Dance at the New world School of the Arts before moving to New York, where he worked as an apprentice for a time with the Trisha Brown Company. In 1993 he moved to Europe with Meg Stuart to help her start Damaged Goods in Belgium and worked with the company for almost five years as a performer, collaborator, training the company and often assistant to Stuart. He left the company to return to building his own body of work in Brussels under the name Edwardvzw. He developed the improvisation project "CrashLanding" (1996-1999), in collaboration with Meg Stuart and Christine DeSmet. Further improvisation projects were developed for festivals such as Klapstuk, Springdance, Sum of the Parts and many more and has danced as an improviser with many artists such as Katie Duck, Steve Paxton, Vera Mantero, among others.
He teaches regularly in Belgium and internationally and has been a regular Professor at P.A.R.T.S. for the last 10 years and developed and directed The Performance Education Program (PEP) in Leuven in residence at the Klapstuk festival. He has received grants from the Flemish government and many other production houses for the realisation of his work.
Recently he has been collaborating on projects with Rebecca Murgi (I), LaborGras (G), Anouk van Dijk Company, Anna Teresa De Keersmaeker and Rosas.
He continues to work as a writer in music, dance, visual art, multi media, events, pedagogy and experimental theatre worldwide and is a much sought after pedagogue, performer and creator/director.