Wednesday, December 17, 2014

A Class Every Dancer Needs to Take


As dancers, we all understand the need to know anatomy. Our internal knowledge directly translates to external expression. The goal is to reach the audience through movement and we achieve that by being aware of our body; how the different systems interact, how the joints move, how to engage and relax muscles.

But let's face it, dancers aren't great at sitting still. What we need is a class that doesn't tell us how the knee works but a class that guides our movement as we explore the joint; learning from the inside out.

Say hello to Julie Nathanielsz, Austin dancer since 1996, veteran movement instructor and MFA graduate from UT. Julie's anatomy for dancers class is just that - an anatomy class designed for dancers by a dancer! Julie explains, "we will integrate experiential information with anatomical terms and concepts, using text, touch, movement, writing and drawing as routes to learning."

Students in Julie's class explore the spine.


Forget falling asleep in a desk while trying to memorize Latin names for the body. Julie takes anatomy into our world with guided improvisations and hands-on learning. Even if you're not a dancer, this class helps you experience a whole new level of self-awareness. As Julie puts it, "kinesthetic awareness of muscles and joints and the felt sense of our boney, nervous and fluid body allow us to move with more creativity, sensitivity, confidence and safety."


Students in Julie's class discuss the tongue.


Spring registration is already open - don't wait until the last minute, which is January 14 for the procrastinators out there that need a deadline. 

The class meets once a week on Fridays at the Rio Grande Campus from 2:00-4:30 pm. Here's the information for registration: DANC 2325 Anatomy for Dancers, Section 23887.

For more information about registration at ACC, click here

Pictures by Julie Nathanielsz.

Saturday, December 6, 2014

Final Show Tonight!


The last showing of the Fall 2014 Choreographers’ Showcase is tonight on the Mainstage at the Rio Grande Campus at 8 pm. Dawn Roberts joins six other students from Dance Composition to present choreography along with Darla Johnson’s Dance Performance Workshop.

Dawn watching her dancers during rehearsal.
Dawn took the show’s theme of home to a darker place with the driving concept of molestation inspiring her work. “Everyone has difference experiences and those experiences control who they are. Molestation is one of the most damaging experiences a kid or a teenager can have,” said Dawn. She wanted to pick a topic that would take the viewer to a specific emotional place; even if the viewer had never personally experienced the scenario presented on stage.

Two of Dawn's dancers in rehearsal


“Everybody thinks they’re alone, but hopefully people will realize they’re not alone in these experiences. Even people with different backgrounds can still understand. It’s that human bonding that helps them get over those experiences; it’s what they need,” explained Dawn.

Her message for the audience is to find that connection with others. “We’re all part of one entity, one living existence. I feel like we push people away but what we really need is human connection.”

Hien on the left and Lindsey in Dawn's rehearsal.


For more information about the show, visit our facebook.

Pictures by Anne Wharton



Friday, December 5, 2014

Show Opens Tonight!


Our showcase is premiering tonight! Join us at 8 pm on the Mainstage at the Rio Grande Campus for an evening of new faculty and student work. Nico Locke will be one of seven students presenting original choreography from the Dance Composition class.


Nico surrounded by two of his dancers.


Nico began by creating movement to fit his initial concept of his dance. “We worked on manipulating the sequences we created in class and I started playing with the technicalities that I’ve been learning in my technique classes [ballet, modern, and jazz]. I also used my own movement to add diversity to my piece,” said Nico.

“I’m a really big fan of leaps and playing with gravity; you could get a sense of that when I first started choreographing the piece, not so much now. There’s still ballet but I also added my own movement quality, especially in the arms, to go with the emotion that I’m portraying in my dance.”


Nico's chorus in rehearsal.


Nico includes a chorus of four dancers with his soloist movements. He was inspired after presenting his solo draft to the class to use a group of dancers to portray the struggle of addiction from his concept. “I pictured a chorus that looks like a Greek play; using them like sirens,” said Nico. The sirens became a metaphor for the different phases of his concept. “I wanted to portray the feelings of misguided happiness, temptation, reflection, and salvation,” said Nico.

Nico’s takeaway for the audience is a message of hope, “We all have demons we have to fight, but you can find your own solution. There’s darkness but you don’t have to live in it.”

One of Nico's dancers in rehearsal.


For more information about the show visit our facebook.

Pictures by Anne Wharton

Monday, December 1, 2014

Show week!

This weekend ACC dancers from Dance Composition and Performance Workshop will take to the Mainstage at the Rio Grande Campus for their annual Fall Choreographers’ Showcase. 

Instead of the traditional format, the showcase this year is constructed around a theme of home. Each piece flows into the next work creating a seamless evening dance concert. The opening number sets the tone for the concert and is choreographed by the current president of the ACC Student Dance Company, Sarah Wingfield.


Sarah clarifying movement for her dancers.

Sarah shared a little about her conceptual ideas and her process during rehearsal this week. 

Where did your concept originate?
Darla had us explore what home was and I ended up writing an essay. It basically concluded that I was trying to find home within myself instead of other people and places. I wanted to take home with me.

ACC dancers rehearsing Sarah's work. 


When did your concept first morph into movement?
Honestly, I don’t really remember when and how; it just solidified and was kinda there one day. I was actually having a bad day and I found myself at Butler Park people watching. I thought why don’t I do this? Use people watching. The piece fell into place then.
Why Butler park?
I couldn’t be in a place with a lot of people like a restaurant. I drove around for awhile and ended up parking my car at Butler. The park has a lot of significance for me because I had my first performance with ACC dance there in Allison Orr’s site-specific class several years ago. It was a really comfortable, cozy, familiar place where my brain was inspired. It was a good place to be anonymous.


ACC dancers rehearsing Sarah's work.


What do you want the audience to take away from your piece, if anything?
I haven’t really thought about it. I guess, compassion; compassion for the worlds of other people. I want them to think about the random person having coffee next to them every once in awhile. Why are they in that specific coffee shop? Why do they prefer Earl Grey to a latte? We all have a little back story.


Sarah’s pedestrian style piece is really summed up in the title: Enigmatic, Gnosienne Sondes. Intrigued? Her piece premieres in the showcase on Friday and Saturday, December 5 and 6 on the Mainstage at the Rio Grande Campus. Tickets are available at the door: $5 for students and seniors and $10 for the general public. 

More info here.

Pictures by Anne Wharton