Rivers through, Oceans in
with Maya Schwartz & Jessy Crist
March 21, 10am-3pm
Rivers through, Oceans in is a collaborative and somatic movement workshop taught by Maya Schwartz and Jessy Crist. In this workshop we will explore the body’s natural tides of movement and connection to internal waters through creative practice, contemporary dance, somatic practice, and contact improvisation.
Maya will guide dancers through a series of falling and exploring disorientation, floor work, and contact improvisation informed by the physical qualities of water – its weight, flow, resistance, and capacity to carry and transform. Movement will emerge from the body’s material impulses, guided by the “stories” that live within each of us.
Jessy will work with identity and creative impulse as central mediums that inform durational and effortful movement. We will explore what time looks like on our bodies, guided by effort, pleasure, and deep
listening to our bodies’ individual stories. Through phrasework, guided improvisational tasks, and authentic movement exploration, we will investigate our individual and collective movement languages.
Together, Maya and Jessy will combine their individual approaches to movement and creative process through group and solo work throughout the workshop. Dancers will be encouraged to create and learn movement that takes risks and is physically expressive. This workshop invites participants to channel their own stories as a starting point for movement, exploring how personal narrative and sensation can inform individual and collective exploration.
Schedule
10:00 AM – 11:30 AM: Body Tuning: Improvisational Practice and Foundations of Falling/Floorwork
11:30 AM – 1:00 PM: Creative Practice with Maya
1:00 PM – 1:30 PM: Discussion + Break
1:30 PM – 2:30 PM: Creative Practice with Jessy
2:30 PM – 3:00 PM: Closing + Cool Down
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Option to stay overnight at WildHeart before or after – come early or stay late. Reach out to us at [email protected] to confirm your stay.
Who is it for?
Every body, any movement level.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this workshop for people with previous dance experience?
No! Come as you are. We will be modifying workshop experiences in accordance to the group of folks in the room
Will there be partnering?
Yes, we will engage in light contact improvisation and contemporary partnering during parts of the workshop. We teach partnering from a consent based practice.
About Maya & Jessy
Maya Schwartz is a dancer, choreographer, and teacher of Release Technique, Contact Improvisation, and Yoga, as well as a certified Ilan Lev Method therapist. Originally from Ukraine and Israel-Palestine and currently based in Berlin, she is the co-founder, with Asaf Bacharach, of Larretude, a horizontal study group for dance improvisation, which has taken place at Larret en Mouvements in France. She has performed and collaborated with choreographers including Roni Chadash, Gil Kerer, Lilach Pnina Livne, Michal Ben Lior, Sally Ann Friedland, and Maya Brinner, and has worked with Vertigo Dance Company and its project Power of Balance. Her choreographic works include solo pieces NoThing and Growing Pains, as well as collaborations such as Primal Feelings (duet with Judy Adini) and Alata (duet with Schahar Dolinsky). Maya is the creator of Deep Into You, an ongoing series of retreats blending art and movement in nature, hosted across Israel-Palestine, Sinai, France, Portugal, and Peru. She has performed and taught in Panama, Peru, the Canary Islands, Japan, the UK, Switzerland, Germany, Greece, Slovakia, Croatia, and the United States (New Mexico, New York).
Jessy Crist (she/they), is a choreographer, dancer, and teacher currently based between Brooklyn and the Hudson Valley. Jessy has worked professionally with EMPARA/Megan Paradowski, Bobbi Jene Smith and Or Schraiber, Alan Lucien Øyen, Dimitri Chamblas, Dark Circles Contemporary Dance Company (Las Cruces, NM), and VOID Movement Project (Istanbul). They joined LA Dance Project as a guest artist for the 2022-2023 season, under Artistic Direction of Benjamin Millipied. As a freelance artist, Jessy creates their own work in collaboration with multimedia artists. Her dance film, GYPSUM, has screened at Dare to Dance in Public Film Festival in Los Angeles, and was selected as an installation for Currents: New Media Festival in Santa Fe, NM. Jessy premiered her solo work VAMP for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, and has been an artist in residence at Moulin/Belle (France), and Keshet Dance Center (Albuquerque, NM). Jessy teaches ongoing workshops and classes focusing on embodied movement practices, contemporary dance, contemporary partnering, and creative practice.
Location
This workshop will take place in The Barn. If you’re coming to WildHeart for the first time, please visit our Directions page for arrival info.
Program Costs
$70-100 sliding scale for the whole day, $40 drop in fee for a half day.
If you’re only able to attend two hours or less of this workshop, you’re welcome to contribute $40 for a half-day option.
Refund policy
No refunds, no transfers
Covid policy
As an act of community care, we ask that all participants assess themselves for communicable illnesses prior to attending the event. If you are experiencing symptoms of a contagious illness, we ask that you respect the space by staying home. Mask wearing is welcome but not required.
BIPOC spots
We are offering 2 free spots for BIPOC folx. Please select BIPOC Spot from the Pricing drop down to use one.
