Alexander Principles into Dancing
clarity and subtlety

We will explore movement via the practice and principles of the Alexander Technique: movement that emphasizes clarity and subtlety. The principles of the Alexander Technique open the body and brain to new information.
Is it possible for “direction” to replace muscular holding as a form of support? What does it mean to leverage from the floor rather than from one's own body? How can we look beyond the “effect” of a given movement to discover it's physical properties that are at play? Questions such as these will be explored through hands-on work, dialogue and experimentation. We will examine common assumptions and their accompanying sensations of such dancerly concerns as strength, support, stability and power. Movement, from the simple to the complex, the composed to the improvised, provides the context for applying the Alexander principles and for refining the organization of the performance body and mind.



Trisha Brown Repertory - Set and Reset

“Set and Reset”, Trisha Brown’s ground-breaking dance is considered one of the most important works of the post-modern genre, and continues to be relevant and mind-blowing today. Participants will learn the original phrase material of the dance, then improvise with the rigorous choreographic principles that Brown employed when constructing it in1983, experiencing first-hand the inner workings of a masterpiece.
This class provides an excellent framework for applying principles of the Alexander Technique to movement, and refining the organization of the dancing body.



Trisha Brown Repertory - Glacial Decoy

A workshop for learning the movement aesthetic and choreography of Trisha Brown’s “Glacial Decoy” (1979), the first dance Brown choreographed for the proscenium stage, and one of her most gorgeous works. Emphasis is placed on moving with mindfulness, attention to detail, spatial clarity, performance quality, and dancing with others. This class provides an excellent framework for applying principles of the Alexander Technique to movement, and refining the organization of the dancing body.



Shelley Senter
Shelley Senter has been involved with experimental and post-modern dance for more than 25years, touring throughout North and South America, Europe, Asia, Australia and Russia as a performer, choreographer, and teacher. She has been critically recognised and awarded for her distinct approach to movement, both as an independent artist, and as a collaborator/performer with many distinguished artists in the international dance and visual art communities and is an official repetitor of the work of Trisha Brown and Yvonne Rainer. An internationally reknowned teacher of the Alexander Technique, she has been investigating the principles of this technique of the performing body and mind for the past two decades. Her work has been presented in Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Chile, France, Italy, England, Sweden, Greece, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Boulder, Portland, Seattle and Marfa.