Green Mountain Dance

Summer Workshop 2011

I'll be leading a workshop with my teaching partner, Mary Ann Brehm, July 11-22, in Tucson, Arizona. We're planning to support people's development as dance teachers, will be offering CEU's through Tucson Unified School District and, of course, will be dancing our hearts out.

Watch this space for details. Don't let the idea of summer heat in Tucson scare you! Remember hotel rates are lower and the streets are less crowded in the summer.

Winter Workshop

CREATIVE DANCE
FOR ADULTS
Individual and Group
IMPROVISATION
January 5 - 16, 2009
at Mettler Studios in Tucson, Arizona

Who should attend

Dancers and dance educators on all levels and professionals in the fields of education, recreation, and therapy are encouraged to take part.  No previous experience is necessary.

Purpose

• To cultivate the natural creative movement resources of individuals and groups
• To develop skill in the use of the body as an instrument and movement as the material of dance
• To provide teachers with materials and methods for teaching creative dance

Workshop material

• Experiences in the art of body movement, beginning with basic studies and continuing to more advanced work
• Structured improvisation for individuals and groups
• Explorations in the force, time, and spatial elements of dance
• Directed Exercises
• Discussion

Daily Schedule
Monday - Friday
9:30 am - 12:30
2:30 pm - 4:30 pm

Tuition
Two weeks
$425 if received by 12/15/08
$450 after 12/15/08
First week only
$300 if received by 12/15/08
$325 after 12/15/08
Financial aid is available

Location
Tucson Creative Dance Center
3131 N. Cherry Avenue
Tucson, AZ  85719

Further Information
For information on course content, housing, and travel contact:

Griff Goehring     802-380-0068    griff@creativedancecenter.org
Mary Ann Brehm    520-323-6711    mabdance@aol.com


The Instructors

Mary Ann is the co-author (with Lynne McNett) of Creative Dance for Learning: The Kinesthetic Link.
She has taught at the Tucson Creative Dance Center since 1990 and is adjunct faculty with Lesley University.

Griff founded Green Mountain Creative Dance Center in Vermont and is adjunct faculty at Hampshire College in Amherst, MA.

Both were members of Barbara Mettler's professional groups and both were Mettler's assistants at different times.

 

Photo credits:  Group with drum and Group in Tree by Mary Ann Brehm
                       Individual reaching by Gene Einfrank

Too Old to Dance?

I started when I was 20.  They say you should start when you are five.
I kept going through my 30's and pregnancy.  They say you should retire before you lose your edge.
In my forties I tried to give it up and went to grad school.
Who was I kidding?
Now I am a card carrying member of the AARP and I am still dancing.

My dance practice grew from my long association - both as a student and a professional - with dance pioneer Barbara Mettler.  Her methods promote a free approach to the art of body movement, calling on participants to solve creative problems by improvising in groups and individually.  In the kind of dance I do we make up our own movements; and we create our own sound accompaniment using voice, hands, and feet.  Costumes are simple -a swatch of fabric, a piece of bark, a found object from the environment.  This dance relies on the natural movement that a person brings with him or herself into the studio.  We build on that ability, no matter how seemingly limited, and find ways to connect with others kinesthetically.

This dance is about the process and the experience of dancing.  Because it is less focused on performance and more focused on the doing, it is one of the best kept secrets in the dance world.    This is a sad truth, for anyone can dance and do so in ways that are meaningful and inspiring to others. 

In her autobiography, Dance as an Element of Life (1983), Barbara Mettler wrote:

"I could not bear to hear anyone say 'I can't dance.'  When I would ask 'Why not?' the answer was usually 'I am not graceful' or 'I don't have a good body' or 'I am not creative' or 'I am too old.'  . . . My thinking was that you do not have to be graceful, all bodies are good, everyone is creative and no-one is ever too old to dance." (page 14).

I hope to write and speak as eloquently as Barbara did thoughout her life about my process of dancing and of teaching others. And if that opens the door to one more person giving herself a chance to dance, then I will have done something good.

Griff Goehring, September 27, 2008