Groundwork
Discover new pathways and conquer old fears

Train and experiment low to the ground, inverted and off-balance. Fall in love with falling and discover an intimate relationship with the floor. Cultivate the specific awareness and sensory fields necessary in three-dimensional action. Discover new pathways and conquer old fears moving in and through all planes. A warm-up to build structural integrity, strength, instincts and control is followed by set material and creative work. Knee pads are recommended!



Partnering
structured situations and personal discovery

Train in partnerships both improvisational and composed with a focus on full range – basic to virtuosic, abstract to dramatic and experiential to expressive. Approach partnering from four directions – energetic and somatic work to awaken sensation, articulation and efficiency; Contact Improvisation for instinctual, intelligent and imaginative responses to shared touch, weight and composition; techniques in levity, leverage, frame, grip and phrasing for power, precision and communication skills; and repertory and creative investigations to filter the information through set material, structured situations and personal discovery.




Integration
a language for action and reaction

Investigate approaches to the act of motion, improvisation, creative process and performance. Engage in energetic, somatic and hands-on experiments to generate sensation. Explore improvisation in solo and contact realms to discover new ideas with spontaneity and clarity of intention. Navigate groundwork and motion techniques to ignite and inform physical intelligence, efficient power and three-dimensional range. Learn and create material to fine-tune and quicken the body-mind connection. Give and receive feedback to articulate a language for action and reaction. Pool all of your resources and go deeper into how and why you dance.


Kathleen Hermesdorf
Kathleen Hermesdorf is a dance maker, performer, improviser, teacher & organiser based in San Francisco since 1991. She has been a member of Bebe Miller Company (2006 BESSIE), Margaret Jenkins Dance Company (1999 IZZIE) & Contraband/Sara Shelton Mann, co-directed Hermesdorf & Wells Dance Company with Scott Wells (1994 GOLDIE) and has collaborated extensively with Stephanie Maher. She has many awards, reviews, interesting artistic associates and a BFA and MFA in Dance Performance & Pedagogy. With musician Albert Mathias, she directs la ALTERNATIVA, an apparatus for deeply integrated motive & sonic stimulus via collaboration, creation, improvisation & exchange. The work manifests in performance, production, commission & programming, and the company is in residence at KUNST-STOFF arts and in association with ODC School & Theater. Alternative Conservatory is a modular, mobile, intensive & immersive international training ground in dance & related forms.
www.la-alternativa.us