Rivers Through, Oceans In

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.