Scottsdale EMP Residency -the Technique class

At the beginning of each day I will teach a technique class based on the theories of Fall & Recovery as developed by Doris Humphrey. When I was a young dancer I had the opportunity to perform in the "Doris Humphrey Festival" in Tempe, Arizona. I was cast in two dances, "Water Study" and "New Dance". Though I was not consciously aware of it at the time, my experiences, especially in "Water Study," influenced the rest of my career in dance.

I was a modern dancer with ballet-as-a-second-language (so to speak). My great love was taking dance to the edges of flying on the physical plateau and to the edges of authenticity on the emotional plateau.

In order to take such physical risk I had to learn to work with, rather than against gravity.

In order to take emotional risk, I had to develop a way to work with, rather than against, fear.

Toward achieving the emotional levels of risk I developed EMP. Toward the physical levels of risk I have come to realize that although many techniques influence my performance and teaching style (including Jose Limon, Martha Graham, Alwin Nikolias, Bill Evans and others), Doris Humphrey's "Water Study" in particular gave me tools to perform, and now teach "Fall & Recovery", or as it is often called "Release Technique".

For this residency, we will dive into both!