KLEIN™/BARRE: KLEIN TECHNIQUE™ AS RELATED TO DANCE WITH BARBARA MAHLER

FRI 10am-12pm

Gibney Dance at 280 Broadway

Our time in this class will be devoted to the application of the essential principles of Klein Technique™ as it relates to dance. The class facilitates fuller use of the ball and socket joints and their figure 8's. We work with a barre using simple phrases for clear use of legs, trunk, and shoulder girdle/arms, connecting us to the earth, giving us the floor as we reach into space.

Klein Technique™ allows movers of all kinds and levels to achieve more fluidity and ease of movement. The depth to which an individual explores the work in class can be as simple as learning to stretch safely and releasing unnecessary tension. Class can also expand one's range of motion/movement, increase their technical facility, and help to learn from and heal an injury. The work deepens body awareness, and in turn expands creativity and expression. Class offers time—the time to work, to process, to simply learn to be.

Klein Technique™ works at the level of the bone, the simplest and deepest structure in the body to work with clarity, imagery, and energy. Working on this level allows us to drop in under the layers of muscle which holds us in set postural configurations. The work we do in class focuses on deep connections of support and movement: Freeing the legs and spine, connecting the pelvis to the legs, and connecting the upper body to the lower, and the skull to the feet. 

We work on grounded-ness by first standing the pelvis on top of the legs so we can be upright, aligned to the forces of gravity. Building on this principle, we explore the deep muscles of postural support—the hamstrings (sitz bones to the heels), the external rotators, the psoas and the tail to pubic bone/tail to heels. Throughout the class we interweave theory and physical practice where we welcome everyone learning at their own pace.

ABOUT BARBARA MAHLER:

Barbara Mahler is an active and long-standing member of the NYC dance community as a choreographer, performer, movement educator, and body worker. Currently an ongoing faculty member with Movement Research (2005-present), she continues in the outreach and development of Klein Technique which she has taught since the mid ‘80s. She began her work with Susan in 1978, and was the main teacher and co-director of the Susan Klein School of Dance 1985-2003. Her investigations of the body in motion and at rest Continue , include several viewpoints and modalities, but her passion, perspective and and "home" is still Klein Technique.

She first began her dance investigations in 1973 at Hunter College, receiving a BA in dance under the tutelage of Dorothy Vislocky and Jana Feinman. In 2008, she completed her MFA studies at UWM/Milwaukee. As a body worker, Barbara is a Zero Balancing certified practitioner and faculty member since 1989. Barbara was awarded a BAX 10 AWARD by Brooklyn Arts Exchange in 2013 for her work. (View vimeo here)

Barbara's most recent activities include being a Brooklyn Studios for Dance (BkSD) artist-in-resident, performances at BkSD,and is a performing artist in the 2018 Queensboro Dance Festival tour Barbara is also involved a new somatic series in Santiago, Chile organized by Marcela Ortiz de Zatate (2016-20), and an ongoing involvement with HORSE DANCE THEATER in Taipai, Taiwan (2016-19). Other places of interest for work in all capacities include Yasmeen Godder Dance Company (Israel, 2016), Limerick Ireland (2016), ClancyWorks Dance, Dance Place and Wilson College, PA (2015), Berlin (2006-09, 2010-present) with Felix Rukert, Laborgras, and TanzFabrik; Iceland, Gotheneburg and Stockholm, Sweden; Oslo, Norway, Glasgow, and many years in Denmark. Ongoing workshops/classes/residencies continue with the Minneapolis Dance community (1992-present) with special thanks to Linda Shapiro and Rosy Simas.

Barbara's choreography is inspired by the work she teaches, and the people/dancers she is working with. Her work is spare and articulate, embodying architectural elements, and is often noted as moving sculpture, collages, or tapestries. It captures an underlying emotional tone that is kinesthetically experienced by the viewer. Mainly a solo performer, she also creates works for small groups. " . . . Mahler's (work) drew us into her introspective world . . . Her movements were, at first, static with accents of a hand, head or foot slamming against the/a surface. Mahler's work harkened back to an earlier era of Modern Dance, performed with great skill and attention." Jeff Slayton of See Dance. 

Barbara was a Movement Research Artist-in-Residence 2000-2002, and 2006-008. Her work and process continue to be supported by Movement Research by being employed as a teaching artist. For more information on class schedule, workshops and performances, or to find out more about Zero Balancing, please check www.barbaramahler.net and https://www.dance-teacher.com/...

Accessibility: Please contact Julienne Rencher, juliennerencher@movementresearch.org or (212) 598-0551 (voice only) for access requests or questions.

**All classes are subject to change. For the most up-to-date information, please consult the Movement Research calendar: https://movementresearch.org/calendar.