Theorist Toolbox Master Class

Location:

Mark Morris Dance Center

3 Lafayette Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11217, USA

Independence Community Foundation, Studio C

Registration:

If you need help with registration, contact Amy Morrow (amy@thetheorists.org, 817-692-2263) 

Theorist Toolbox:

Toolbox is a guided workshop sparking each participant's personal practice. What keeps you interested in doing what you do every day? The workshop is intended for beginners through professionals. The more diverse the group, the more diverse the tools, and the more we grow together. 

Theorist Toolbox shares keys for unlocking our movement practices and finding a unique voice inside movement methodologies from our mentors Deborah Hay, Jesse Zaritt, and Amy Morrow's past 8 years as a certified Gaga instructor. 

Our Class:

Our practice begins solo, with the feet, on our feet, making space for ourselves to bring our whole self into our practice. We use tools to root, find coordination between agile athletic legs and an ageless spine. We continue with partners into places of effort, speed, texture, and sensation to experiment, grow, and laugh at ourselves. We play games. At the end of class, we return to our solo practice to listen to the feedback from our body as our teacher. 

We believe:

Your presence is the greatest gift. Thank you for showing up! We cannot teach each other anything, but together we can learn a lot. We experiment rigorously. We embrace impossible tasks with optimism. We find efficient pathways. We distribute effort. We partner to become imperfect because any soloist can be perfect, but a partner can help you grow. We play movement games to stay young at heart. We welcome complexity. We empower choices by giving options. We simplify tasks and find relationship. We re-choreograph ourselves. We push our limits. We reset the body to prevent injury. We listen to the body as our teacher. We ask "What if?" We celebrate each other. Your practice inspires our practice.

About Amy & The Theorists:

Amy Morrow is an Austin based teacher, choreographer, and Artistic Director of Fisterra. She promotes social well-being on a local, national, and global scale through the arts aided by science and technology. 

Certified in 2012 by Ohad Naharin in the inaugural teacher training program, Morrow travels internationally hosting Gaga and Toolbox Workshops. In 2013, Morrow launched the TBX [ Toolbox Series ] to provide professional development with internationally lauded artists. TBX produced 75+ residencies, 18 in partnership with The University of Texas, & 3 with Texas Performing Arts Center. Sessions include training in Gaga, CounterTechnique®, Fighting Monkey®, Repertoire with Black Grace (New Zealand), Multi-media Labs with Jason Akira Somma, & Deborah Hay.

In 2015, Morrow established The Theorists, a nexus of artist citizens who collaborate internationally to produce homegrown art. Their annual festival, Theorist Fest, features 50+ artists from across North America, Latin America, India, and the Middle East. 

The Theorists have shared their work with communities in NYC, India, Monterrey, México City, Puebla, Phoenix, Guadalajara, DFW, Detroit, Tulsa, Albuquerque, Birmingham, Huntsville, Richmond, and Houston. Art-fiction portrait/exhibition “Batsheva,” is written by Saundra Goldman and produced by Rino Pizzi with the artistic guidance of Deborah Hay. “The Lady of” solo was selected by Nancy Wozny as Arts and Culture’s standouts for the 2014-15 season and “Carry On” received the 2016 choreographic exchange award for the 2017 Detroit Dance City Festival Gala and Dumbo Dance Festival. Morrow was awarded Best Dancer by Austin Critic’s Table in 2017. Excerpts of evening-length works toured Grace Street Theater, The Majestic, Dallas City Performance Hall, Eisemann Center, Ailey Citigroup Theater, Zilker Hillside Theater, Tulsa Performing Arts Center, Tulsa Ballet Studio K, and the Fort Worth Modern.