This course is designed for students who have some ballet experience and are familiar with basic ballet terms and movement vocabulary.
While following a basic structure and flow of a traditional ballet class, this course, accompanied by non-traditional music scores such as pop music, offers an opportunity to recalibrate, reactivate, improve, deepen, expand, develop or break existing relationships with and approaches to ballet practice.
To relax and liberate our minds and bodies from the mentality often attached to perfecting a form and following a certain manner while being exposed to more complex and contemporary movement vocabularies, the class will also introduce some improvisational and experimental exercise, and release technique based phrases that will interrupt and redirect the traditional flow of ballet class.
Learning Outcomes:
-Expand perspectives on ballet and dance
-Learn how to condition body and mind through consistent physical training
-Be able to cultivate and move upon a sense of freedom and uniqueness while engaging in the technical aspect of ballet practice
-Understand centered and off-centered physicality
-Be able to develop original movement and improvisational practice with inspiration from what ballet offers
Delivery Method: Fully in-person
Prerequisites: Ballet experience is required in order to register for the class. Please contact the instructors Kota Yamazaki (kyamazaki@bennington.edu) and Mina Nishimura (mnishimura@bennington.edu) for inquiry and permission.
Corequisites: Dance or Drama lab assignment if students sign up for 4 or more credits in dance.
Course Level: 4000-level
Credits: 2
M/Th 10:00AM - 11:50AM (Full-term)
Maximum Enrollment: 20
Course Frequency: Once a year
Categories: 4000 , All courses , Dance , Fully In-Person , Two Credit
Tags: ballet , Contemporary Dance , dance technique