CLASS DESCRIPTIONS

Fundamentals | Christine Wright | 9:30am - 10:30am
(Morning option for Creation Stream and Performance Stream)
Working with a wide range of refined exercises, each geared toward specific anatomical goals, this class delves into foundational elements of dance technique: articulation, strength, and integration.

Contemporary Technique | Peggy Baker | 10:45am - 12:30pm
(Morning option for Creation Stream and Performance Stream)
Peggy Baker brings the richness, depth, and immediacy of her physical practice into play in a class driven by dynamism and rhythmic feel, and focused on the expressive and kinetic potential of our bodies. The work unfolds fluidly, and with refreshing shifts of focus, through a wide range of vivid and invigorating movement explorations that address essential issues of impulse and action.

Ballet | Christine Wright | 10:45am - 12:15pm
(Morning option for Creation Stream and Performance Stream)
Based on sound principles of anatomy, the focus of this class is movement, flow, and musicality. Ms. Wright's emphasis is on teaching dancers skills that enable them to bring out their own innate abilities, resulting in freedom of movement built on a firm foundation.

From the Ground Up - Floorwork Foundations | Kate Holden | 1:30pm - 3:15pm
(Part of the Physical Practice Stream)
In this class we will build a floorwork skill set together, going back to basics of how to safely move into, out of, and across the floor. Working with the simplicity of pushing, pulling, throwing vs falling, receiving weight, playing with rotation of bones and following fascial lines. The class will focus on an integrated approach of body and mind, to cultivate an open and responsive body in motion - drawing from Holden’s holistic practice as a Cranial Sacral Therapist and Reflexologist, and concepts from Thomas Myers and Eric Franklin, that have influenced her teaching and practice. Suitable for both the experienced surfer of the floor and those new to the ground, we will use the basic skills at play to build larger combinations that ride with momentum and ease.

Action Lab | Peggy Baker | 1:30pm - 5:00pm
Peggy Baker offers powerful entry points for developing choreographic language by accessing the movement potential inherent in a list of processes and properties compiled by sculptor Richard Serra. Participants will invent movement vocabulary by fulfilling a rigorous series of foundational directives; explore and develop that material by experimenting with a further set of processes for manipulating elements such as tempo, spatial orientation, scale, sequencing, quality, and intention; as well as consider, articulate, and discuss the aspirational objectives that arise.

Repertoire | Peggy Baker and member of the company| 3:30pm - 5:00pm
(Part of the Physical Practice Stream. NOT open to drop-in or enrolment outside of full stream)
Dancers participating in the Performance Stream will spend the first 75 minutes of each afternoon working with Peggy and Sarah on choreographic material from work-in-progress who we are in the dark. Elements integral to the movement exploration include:
- fluid, highly articulate action along spiral pathways through the body
- precise gestural language
- floor work
- sensitive physical interactions with other dancers
- rhythm and tempo defined by the dancer outside the context of metered music

Skinner Releasing Technique™ (SRT) | Julia Sasso | 3:30pm - 5:00pm
(Part of Creation Stream)
SRT proposes a pioneering and inclusive approach to moving: when we let go of habitual holding patterns we can move more freely, powerfully and articulately. We access energy, alignment, flexibility, strength, creativity and spontaneity. A considerable influence on leading choreographers and dancers world wide, SRT can enhance any movement style while fostering artistic sensibility and creative unfolding. Classes interweave guided imagery and hands-on partner studies together with musical atmospheres that propel us and support us in accessing our creative impulses. For many, SRT is catalytic in their lives with multi-faceted, far-reaching effects. www.skinnerreleasing.com

Images from 2017 August Intensive, by Jeremy Mimnagh

CADA members may be eligible for reimbursement through the CADA Training Subsidy Program.

For questions or more information, contact Steven Smits at steven@peggybakerdance.com or 416-538-4436.

August Intensive
August 19 - 23, 2019
Canada’s National Ballet School
400 Jarvis Street, Toronto