Digital Saturday Workshop: Kathy Westwater

We will explore how the external world imprints on our internal world and vice versa, looking to the body as the site where these worlds come together. Prompted and free-form improvising will be used to identify and excavate content. Individual responses will be shared, leading into phrasing and composing, to complete the trajectory of content. Explore through this work the content of your body, environment, and social and political experience right now. Movers of all experiences, backgrounds, perspectives, and traditions are welcome.

ABOUT KATHY WESTWATER

Kathy Westwater, “an unconventional choreographer experiencing a surge of recognition” (The New Yorker), has choreographically pursued experimental dance forms since 1996. Described as “at the limits of the human” (The Brooklyn Rail), her work responds to contemporary experience and the societal landscape in which it manifests by reimagining the body’s movement potential. Westwater’s most recent work, Bessie-nominated Rambler, Worlds Worlds A Part, co-presented at New York Live Arts by NYLA and Lumberyard, explores pain and the body, including the pain of others. Her other major works have explored the built environments of monuments (Anywhere); landfills and parks (PARK); the intersection of human and animal culture (twisted, tack, broken); psycho-physical states of fear (Dark Matter); and interactive virtual environments (The Fortune Cookie Dance). Westwater is on the faculty of Movement Research, and a member of its Artist Advisory Council. From 2000-2019, she taught dance making, composition, and improvisation at Sarah Lawrence College. Through workshops, talks, and writings she has explored the intersections of art and society at UC Berkeley, University of Michigan, UCLA, and Norwegian University of Science and Technology, among many other colleges and universities. Her next work will premiere at the Chocolate Factory Theater.

About Gibney’s Training Program

Through the cultivation of an inclusive and positive space, our offerings make space for exploration, risk-taking, personal and artistic growth, connection, and fun. It is our priority to listen to and support our community and to empower the future leaders of the field. Learn more.

Gibney encourages people with disabilities to attend online classes, and we welcome the opportunity to make this event more accessible. Live captioning through Otter Transcription is available for all online classes by request. If you have any questions or access needs, please email us at classes@gibneydance.org or call us at 212-677-8560 (voice only) 24 hours in advance of the class you plan to attend.

Photo by Ian Douglas.