Tuning & Attuning

This workshop is a practice of connection with self and others, solo and ensemble, a duet with a ghost or an ancestor, a trio with two movers and the energy of breath/air/space. Imagine improvisation as a decolonial practice and the act of dancing with seen and unseen entities as ritual. Human and mammalian nervous systems like to connect, to entrain, to feel each other and perhaps that can happen with the energetic fields as well. 

Choreographer and educator Taja Will is a queer, disabled and indigena ritualist. They invite connection with elements, land and ancestors as a foundation for dance making and improvisational performance. From that foundation they feel it is radical to attune with other humans in coalition. 

This workshop is practice in listening to greater unseen energies, deepening connections with each other through improvisation, and together we will use some of Lisa Nelson's This workshop is practice in listening to greater unseen energies, deepening connections with each other through improvisation, and together we will use some of Lisa Nelson's Tuning Scores as a proposal for ensemble improvisation. 

Bio:

Taja Will (they/them) is a non-binary, chronically ill, queer, Latinx (Chilean) adoptee. They are a performer, choreographer, somatic therapist, consultant and Healing Justice practitioner based in Mni Sota Makoce, on the ancestral lands of the Dakota and Anishinaabe. Taja’s approach integrates improvisation, somatic modalities, text and vocals in contemporary performance. Their aesthetic is one of spontaneity, bold choice making, sonic and kinetic partnership and the ability to move in relationship to risk and intimacy. Will’s artistic work explores visceral connections to current socio-cultural realities through a blend of ritual, dense multi-layered worldbuilding and everyday magic.

Taja initiates solo projects and teaching ventures and is a recent recipient of the Jerome Hill Artist Fellowship, in the dance field, awarded in 2021. Their work has been presented throughout the Twin Cities and across the United States. Including local performances at the Walker Art Center Choreographer’s Evening, the Red Eye Theater’s New Works 4 Weeks, the Radical Recess series, Right Here Showcase and the Candy Box Dance Festival. They were the recipient of a 2018-’19 McKnight Choreography Fellowship, administered by the Cowles Center and funded by The McKnight Foundation. Will has recently received support from the National Association of Latinx Arts & Culture, the Minnesota State Arts Board, and Metropolitan Regional Arts Council.

Sunday Sessions is about creating intersections with different artistic communities and students through the practices of improvisation from dance artists who are makers of performance. Beth Graczyk curates this series and co-produces the event with Peridance & our Beth Graczyk Productions, Inc.