Group Study

Drawing from the robust and diverse roster of teaching artists at Gibney, Group Study programs may opt for private Master Classes taught by industry leaders and members of Gibney Dance Company. Expose your students to world-renowned teachers and new techniques in a supportive and welcoming environment!

Program directors work with the Gibney staff to identify and secure appropriate teachers for each specialized class. Master Classes are 1.5-2 hours, and cost $550 unless otherwise noted.

CONTEMPORARY FORMS

In direct relationship to each teacher’s lineage and esthetic value systems, these classes offer a wide range of modern dance techniques brought in conversation with one another to offer classes that offer a variety of physical tools aimed at preparing dancers to have the necessary information to excel at the many hybrid dance forms flourishing in today’s field.

BALLET

Although not situated exclusively within any explicit ballet technique per se (Vaganova, Cecchetti, RAD), these ballet classes prioritize the needs of the contemporary dancer to have access to the strength-building and coordination-enhancing tools that rigorous ballet training can provide throughout the span of a multi-faceted career.

GAGA TECHNIQUE

Gaga is a new way of gaining knowledge and self-awareness through your body. Gaga provides a framework for discovering and strengthening your body and adding flexibility, stamina, and agility while lightening the senses and imagination. Gaga raises awareness of physical weaknesses, awakens numb areas, exposes physical fixations, and offers ways for their elimination. The work improves instinctive movement and connects conscious and unconscious movement, and it allows for an experience of freedom and pleasure in a simple way, in a pleasant space, in comfortable clothes, accompanied by music, each person with themself and others.

PILATES

“This class focuses on clear alignment, stabilizing the hypermobile body and a deep investigation of functional strength for dance. As dancers and somatic movers, we need connected and consistent strength and support. We benefit massively from cross-training, centering our minds and building an impeccable understanding of our vessel by balancing the extreme ranges of motion we perform on a daily basis.” – Johanna S. Meyer

SIMONSON TECHNIQUE

Simonson Technique, developed by Lynn Simonson, is an organic approach to movement that prepares the body to dance in a way that is anatomically intelligent and somatically aware.

LIMÓN TECHNIQUE

Limón training provides an organic approach to movement that can serve dancers of various backgrounds, with an emphasis on the natural rhythms of fall and recovery, conscious use of breath, and the interplay between weight and weightlessness.

Panel Discussions are a great way for students to engage with active professionals in various fields and learn about what it takes to succeed as an artist. A catalog of the topics covered in previous discussions is below.

Additional conversation topics include: Community Action and the Arts, Artists as Agents of Change, Digital Media and Dance, Business of Dance, Sustainability: Financial, Sustainability: Physical Health and Wellbeing.

Other panel topics are available upon request. Panelists vary for each panel and are active professionals in the related field. Panel Discussions are 1.5-2 hours long, and cost $550 unless otherwise noted.

A CONVERSATION WITH GIBNEY ENTREPRENEURS

A conversation with Gibney staff about the various roles they hold within Gibney and out in the world. Learn more about how Gibney staff are working as savvy entrepreneurs to create their own unique and meaningful artistic and administrative career. We will discuss:

• Panelists’ professional and artistic journeys
• Overview of Gibney along with any other positions held
• Various entrepreneurial projects: self-producing a show as an artist, creating and directing a company, freelancing, etc.

DANCING IN NYC

An introductory conversation to pursuing a professional dance career in New York City, with active NYC professionals. We will discuss:

• Artists’ professional journeys
• Getting started and finding opportunities
• The NYC dance landscape
• Sustaining a career
• Professional skills and advice

COLLEGE TO CAREER

Geared toward younger students who are currently in school or university. Conversation on how to smoothly transition into the professional field. We will discuss:

• Panelists’ pre-professional journeys
• Taking university experience and opportunity to prepare for entering the field
• Getting started and finding opportunities
• Professional skills and advice

BEING A CHOREOGRAPHER

For students interested in pursuing a career in choreography in the current field. We will discuss:

• Artists’ professional journeys
• Creative process
• Importance and role of collaboration
• How to show your work
• Necessary skills and roles in leading a company
• Varied structures for choreographers/companies

BEYOND THE STAGE: WORKING IN THE DANCE FIELD

A conversation with artists working in the dance field in multiple modes. Brings the focus away from only performance and toward a well-rounded career in the arts. We will discuss:

• Artists’ performance experience
• Choreographic pursuits
• Administrative roles and skills
• Teaching and pedagogy
• Community building and social justice and dance

ARTS ADMINISTRATION

For students interested in the administrative and management side of the field. We will discuss:

• Artists’/Administrators’ path into their careers
• Various roles within one company or organization
• Development, grants, and non-profit budgeting
• Required training or education
• Skills and advice

View the full catalog of participatory workshops available for Group Study participants. Topics include injury prevention, digital media, auditions, and arts and social justice.

Facilitators vary for each workshop and are active professionals in the related field. Other workshop topics are available upon request. Workshops are 1.5-2 hours long, and cost $550 unless otherwise noted.

WELLNESS WORKSHOP

A practitioner from the world-renowned Harkness Center for Dance Injuries comes to your group and presents seminar-style workshops that include movement-based practices addressing topics including:

1. Foundations of Injury Prevention and Management
2. Dynamic Warm-up
3. Cracking the Core
4. Self-release techniques
5. Hypermobility vs. Flexibility: Healthy Stretching for Dancers

MAXIMIZING YOUR DIGITAL PORTFOLIO

Being successful as a professional dancer or choreographer is based on so much more than the work that you do in the studio. Today, video presentation has become a major factor in the success of dancers and choreographers. How do you make a dance or choreography reel? How do you document and share rehearsal footage with dancers? How do you use a video portfolio to secure a job with a company or choreographer? While having a budget helps, any dancer can get professional quality out of a modern-day iPhone. This hands-on workshop with Gibney’s Digital Media Initiative will take students through the basics, providing tools and resources to prepare the necessary video assets.

HANDS ARE FOR HOLDING – PERFORMANCE/WORKSHOP

Hands are for Holding is Gibney’s school-based assembly program that uses dance to address bullying, equity, and choice in everyday interactions.

Appropriate for middle and high school students, this workshop addresses the social-emotional health of young people through discourse, resource sharing, and a high-quality professional dance performance. Choreographed dances combined with participatory opportunities create a well-rounded educational experience that invites students to witness and practice active choices to create and foster healthy relationships. The dances provide a dynamic point of entry for meaningful dialogue within a safe space. Led by Gibney Community Actionists, the program fosters discussion of relevant topics such as signs of bullying, the difference between healthy and unhealthy relationships, social isolation, boundaries and consent, and technological abuse, among others, and allows students to discover their own movement vocabulary based on these concepts.

The Hands are for Holding Workshop is presented in 3 hours: a 1 hour presentation followed by a 2 hour movement workshop based on the Hands are for Holding Residency curriculum. Fee for the special performance/workshop is $1200.

ARTISTS AS AGENTS OF CHANGE
WITH AMY MILLER/GIBNEY COMPANY

Share your work at Gibney through informal showings in the newly equipped Studio C.

Receptions hosted in the Gallery at our 280 Broadway location for alumni, guests, and performers.