EDUCATION AND OUTREACH
Community outreach and educational activities are growing aspects of Drastic Action’s activities. Geismar has taught dance technique at the 92nd Street Y Harkness Dance Center in the new techniques laboratory and at Queensborough Community College and was a guest artist at the University of Maryland, Rutgers University, James Madison University and Brooklyn Arts Exchange. She has also taught dance classes or workshops for children and teenagers in after-school programs and immigrants in ESL classes. Geismar is currently developing a workshop curriculum that explores identity through dance for the company’s two-week teaching residency in Freiburg and Breisach, Germany in the summer of 2006. Click here for more
Drastic Action company members are also accomplished teachers in their
own right, offering a diverse array of educational approaches and movement
techniques. Drastic Action can offer intensive workshops of varying lengths
or ongoing classes in the New York area. Here are some of the classes we
offer:
Contemporary dance technique: Sensuality,
Power and Flow
This contemporary dance class begins with a thorough warm up designed to
help dancers cultivate an internal understanding of their dancing bodies
as well as clarity of design. Emphasis is on clear initiation, efficient
alignment and expanding the range of motion. As movement progresses from
the floor, to standing, to traveling through space, dancers will further
explore their relationship to gravity, time and space. Movement phrases
work in Geismar’s signature style with impulses snaking through the
body in generous loops and curves anchored by a percussive sense of weight.
Within these phrases Geismar guides students through a range of performance
dynamics and encourages personal expression.
Creative Movement
This class can be geared to age groups from 5 years old through adult. After
a simple warm up, class focuses on investigating the elements of dance through
exploratory exercises and games. Students create their own dance works for
performance
Dance Making
Geismar leads dance makers or students in an exploration of the creative
process. Her objective is to help them build the tools to clarify their
own creative voices.
Gyrokinesis with Gina Paolillo
Yoga with Sarah Lewis
Pilates with Angharad Davies
Partnering with Emily Bunning and Aviva
Geismar
Students explore the elements of contemporary dance partnering.
Commission of a Work
Geismar can create a new work or an adaptation of an existing work for your
company, school or community group.
Anatomy for Dance or Yoga
Geismar has taught anatomy at The Swedish Institute College of Health Sciences
and at Circular Power Yoga studio. Her anatomy curriculum for dancers brings
the musculoskeletal system to life in a comprehensive way and can help movers
reduce their injury risk through sound body mechanics.