SAXTONS RIVER — Main Street Arts is offering a series of dance workshops with professional dancer and choreographer Neva Cockrell of Loom Ensemble on four Tuesdays in May.
Cockrell is the artistic director of Loom, where she choreographs and directs new dance-theater works in the U.S., Dubai, and Europe.
She has also been touring internationally with Pilobolus for the past three years, including performing in Germany, Israel, Mexico, China, Switzerland, Dubai, and the U.S. Her diverse background in gymnastics, contact improvisation, and contemporary dance fuse with her passion for storytelling and culture shift to make dynamic, relevant dance-theater performances.
All workshops will run from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
May 7 will focus on “Storytelling with Your Body.” The class will delve into how to effectively use the body to tell stories, create characters, and communicate clearly, crafting small performances using both body and voice.
May 14 will be “Contemporary Dance” for beginning and experienced dancers.
Class will include a series of exercises to build specific dance skills and an ability to move freely and ending by learning a contemporary phrase, practicing full-body movement and dynamic performing.
May 21 is “Contemporary Partnering” to develop the basic skills of contemporary partnering and lifting that are the baseline for moving with other people and creating duo or trio work both in dance and physical theater.
Ideas from contact improvisation, physical theater, and partner acrobatics will be used to create a blend of techniques. Developing physical listening skills, anatomical knowledge of lifting, and work on strength, flexibility, and grace are also included.
The final workshop on May 28 is “Movement for Actors.” Students will develop new movement skills, learn to use their bodies to communicate in performance, and practice the fundamentals of contemporary dance.
While this workshop is designed with actors in mind, it is open for anyone interested in embodiment practice and dance. Each session will begin with a technique-based warm-up.
The fee for the workshops is $35 for one session, $60 for two, $80 for three or $100 for all four, with mix and match as desired.