OPEN CLASSES FOR PROFESSIONAL DANCERS
Teaching is a fundamental part of Michael’s artistic identity, and his classes are highly influenced by his experience as a performer. Ever since starting his career as a freelancer in 2009 he has been teaching masterclasses and workshops for dancers with a wide range of backgrounds, giving him the opportunity to research and zoom in on what is essential in a daily practice. The result is a class based on Sports Science and Floorwork that is functional and challenging at the same time.
Stripped-down to core concepts like how to get our bodies ready, how to use energy efficiently or how to use our center and body weight to facilitate movement phrases, Michael’s class aims to provide the dancers with the tools to approach choreography without preoccupation and to let their dance break free. Preparing them to take risks and go wild without risking their health.
Photos by Julia and Emanuel Gat
“
My class develops from plain and pure body-work / work-out exercises, through short floor- and standing combinations into more complex choreographic sequences. Some of the basic principles which are constantly worked with are: finding, strengthening and shifting the center, being on and off balance, resting and exploding into space, moving expansively and taking risks. The class is very physical, energetic and athletic but it also focuses on increasing the physical awareness in order to be able to work within a frame in which one can push his individual limits but keep the body safe.
It‘s an essential part of the class to discover and make full use of the logic that underlies every movement phrase. Based on that understanding I want to encourage the participants to take their own decisions, so they can find their own way of playing with quality, musicality and dynamics and strengthen their individual expression as a performer.
RELATED POSTS
2023 Recap
2023 is as good as over and it was a really packed year: 32 shows, 1 world premiere, 1 creation, 1 music video, 4 art works, 1 exhibition, 9 weeks of teaching. An inexhaustible number of hotel rooms and endless trains and flights...Continue Reading
A revised training for dancers
One of the many objectives of my DIS-TANZ-SOLO endeavor is to integrate sports science approaches into my classes so that even dancers who do not have the means and resources to acquire such knowledge on their own can benefit hands-on from my research...Continue Reading
Wide Awake
I've been teaching OPEN CLASSES at Tanzhaus NRW and the Profitraining Freiburg @ E-Werk recently. More dates in Cologne and Berlin are coming up soon. To satisfy the prying eyes I keep noticing whenever dancers pass my laptop here's my current playlist...Continue Reading
A little something
Silvana Ranaudo from Nuova Officina della Danza invited me to teach a workshop for her students in Torino, Italy. Besides my usual focus on floorwork I tried to introduce the students to the awkwardness of Something Machine. We spent some time exploring movement material from THE 2ND EXCESSIVE RUDENESS...Continue Reading
It’s a wrap!
2018 is a wrap and it’s time to say thank you for a year full of exciting projects! I feel really really lucky that I’m able to work with so many great people and institutions around the world. I performed 35 times across 7 countries, spent 10 weeks creating (and restaging) 5 different works with...Continue Reading
Floating Reflections
Most of the time travel days are pretty boring but occasionally they can also turn out to be very productive. I’m on my way from Milan to Turin to teach a workshop for the students of Nuova Officina Della Danza and I just finished compiling my playlist for the coming week. As always I’m happy...Continue Reading
Growing in Slow Motion
I can’t believe it’s already been one and a half years that I’ve been teaching home in Berlin. So happy to be back at Marameo for a full week of Open Classes. Looking forward to that crazy energy that you Berliners always bring to the dance studio! Since I know that you guys are always...Continue Reading
One, Two, Three, Four
Thanks for another great week of classes at Tanzhaus NRW! I’m happy to be back soon. For all music junkies out there (and for everyone asking me for the name of a song or the name of an artist during class), here’s my current teaching playlist. I hope you’ll discover some new music that you...Continue Reading
Down is the new up
I just finished teaching two weeks of Open Classes at Tanzhaus NRW and Tanzplattform Rhein-Main. Very inspiring to meet all those dancers hungry to move forward and sweat with me. Like usual, I wanna share my playlist with anyone interested. I’m totally in love with the new King Krule, so start with THE OOZ but...Continue Reading