Nature Within: Redefining Your Relationship With Ballet

Join us for this wholesome 3-hour workshop with Ayako Kato!

WHEN: SEPTEMBER 15, 2024 11:00AM-2:00PM

WHERE: VISCERAL DANCE CENTER, STUDIO 2

COST: This workshop is FREE and open to the public!

Class Description

We will look at Ballet objectively and experience it as one of many dance forms. Through this workshop, we will work together to redefine, understand, and dance Ballet for ourselves. We will begin with grounding our center which will consist of somatic exercises that will most likely take place lying on the floor. Here we will expand our sense of our anatomical knowledge. From there we move to the Ballet barre. This is where we will start to question and redefine the fundamentals of Ballet technique. We will talk about our alignment and find ways to increase our range of motion so that we can move with more ease! Then, we will move to the center where Ayako will share how we can extend our movement even more through space. She will also touch on how to listen to, use and exist with music. At the end, Ayako hopes that everyone will leave feeling grounded, yet light with good flow, finding their own nature, the nature of their physical self and the natural principles through space within and around.

Who is this class for? Because this workshop is exploratory and centers on how you can redefine/define YOUR relationship with Ballet, all levels are welcome. No prior Ballet experience is necessary! 

About Ayako: 

Described as “moving everyday sculptures, artfully cast in naturalness” (Luzerner Zeitung, Switzerland), Ayako Kato is a kinetic philosopher/poet, originally from Yokohama, Japan. Since 1998, Ayako Kato/Art Union Humanscape has been pursuing contemporary experimental dance/choreography/improvisation in deep collaboration with over 80 musicians and composers, presenting in Europe, Japan, and the US. Advocating the principles of fūryū, Japanese for “wind flow,” cyclical transformation, and human motion in nature, Ayako creates solo, ensemble pieces, and movement installations for traditional stages and large-scale site-specific locations. She is grateful for everyone who has supported and guided her to move forward together with her belief that dance has the power to uplift people and generate peace.

Continue reading about Ayako by visiting her profile.