The Sounding Body: Gills & Bellows

with Tatyana Tenenbaum

March 21 - April 4

WED 6:30-8:30pm

MR@Abrons Arts Center G05

$65 for three-week series

$30 drop-in class rate

This workshop is for the physically attuned, sonically curious artist from any discipline. The practice has emerged over the past decade as a response to sensorial disconnects—between felt experiences of sound/music, and that of “movement.” Influenced by Emilie Conrad’s philosophical writing on paralysis and fluid resonance, this workshop aims to integrate the voice into a new, physical practice through sonic vibration. This framework regards each body as its own expert, with the breath at the center of physical practice. Working both alone and with touch from a partner, we will investigate how vibration moves through our muscles, fascia, bones and ligaments. How can this movement of the diaphragm orchestrate our bodies for a richer experience?  How can sound be harnessed as a physical force in order to propel momentum, tone, rhythm and form? We will investigate pitch, timbre and resonance as felt experiences, bringing this awareness to small, interactive scores. We will process our research along the way, making room for doubt and interrogation. The practice I will share has been influenced by teaching practices and methodologies of Jonathan Hart Makwaia (Experimental Voice), Nancy Stark Smith (Contact Improvisation), Daria Faïn (Coremotion), and the writing of Emilie Conrad (Continuum Movement), along with input from my collaborators (2011-present). No experience with the voice is required.

Registration for the entire series of The Sounding Body, with Pyeng Threadgill (February 28 – March 14), Tatyana Tenenbaum (March 21 - April 4), and Peter Sciscioli (April 11-25), is available for $180! 

Tatyana Tenenbaum is a choreographer and composer exploring the phenomenal space of the singing body. Within this, she considers the cannon of “American musical theater,” and how its embodied history shapes contemporary, cultural narratives.  Her interdisciplinary work has been presented in New York, Wisconsin, Philadelphia, Seattle, Los Angeles and Bogotá, Colombia. She has had the privilege of performing and collaborating with Yoshiko Chuma and the School of Hard Knocks, Daria Fain and Robert Kocik, and Jennifer Monson, Levi Gonzalez, and Hadar Ahuvia, among others.  Tatyana co-organized CLASSCLASSCLASS from 2011-20016 and was a founding organizer for Brooklyn Studios for Dance.