Sacred Sunday- May 17-Exploring Organic Form through Mettler-based Dance Improvisation

Exploring Organic Form through Mettler-based Dance Improvisation

Based on the approach to dance as the art of rhythm developed by dance pioneer Barbara Mettler (1907-2002), this class will begin with waking up the kinesthetic sense by exploring the feeling of basic body movements as we “tune-up” our bodies as instruments of expression. We will continue with improvisational studies of making one movement impulse at a time with different qualities of movement. Here, there is a “creative pause” between movements that allows the form of the dance to emerge organically out of itself. These studies will be done individually and in groups through Zoom so that awareness will transfer from “what am I doing” to “what are we doing”.  This process takes us beyond our selves to something larger.  As Barbara Mettler said, “We feel here that all this beauty is all around and we are kind of tuning in to it.”  For more information on her approach see barbaramettler.org

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Mary Ann Brehm, PhD is a dance teaching artist/author focusing on creative somatic approaches to dance. She offers Mettler-based Dance Teacher Trainings in Arizona and Vietnam through Mettler Studios, Inc. Dr. Brehm is the author of Foundations of Barbara Mettler’s Approach to Dance and co-author of Creative Dance and Learning. She also contributed a chapter on Margaret H’Doubler to Margaret H’Doubler: The Legacy of America’s Dance Education Pioneer. She has taught dance courses for several universities and in public schools, along with workshops throughout the United States and for groups in Australia, Vietnam, China, Germany, and the US via Zoom. Her doctorate in dance (1988) is from University of Wisconsin-Madison where she researched teaching principles of Margaret H’Doubler.