teaching
Technique is a practice.
Consistency is a practice.
I believe how one arrives to class, for themselves and for their community, is a practice.
It is through personal and professional experiences in dance that have influenced the methods I use in my pedagogical practice. My formal dance training is rooted in ballet, modern, postmodern and somatic perspectives. Applying somatic methods to dance technique allows me to blur boundaries within tradition to discover more organic and efficient modes of movement. Safety Release (SR) Technique has significantly influenced my pedagogical approach, reminding me that “action is energy,” and as an SR Master Teacher, I approach technique as an ongoing practice of commitment, curiosity, and becoming.
As a movement artist, it is important for me to apply this practice during any technique class, prompting reflective, somatic check-ins, such as:
· What does your body need, physically, mentally, or emotionally?
· Where can you locate tension in your body? What can you release?
· How can you be generous today? What can you share?
My somatic approach to technique focuses on the functionality and efficiency of movement and identifies how the elements of one technique can translate to other forms of dance. It is also equally important to encourage somatic authority as a form of injury prevention: I remind students of how powerful their bodies are, and how resilient their bodies can be.
It is my goal for students to embrace embodied learning, to take risks, and to not fear making mistakes. I enable dancers of any level, novice to advanced, to discover how the class material can fit into their body and best serve their individual artistic needs.
I invite students to simultaneously experience their own presence throughout class, based on practices informed by Bartenieff Fundamentals, the Feldenkrais Method, and Pilates. In dance class, students experience their breath, their weight, their joints, their skin, and their whole bodies in motion, both individually and collectively. Together, we discover old habits and strategies that no longer serve us, to instead, develop new, more sustainable movement patterns that are efficient, safe, and keep us moving for life.
Working from the inside-out prompts individual agency: I encourage students to connect with their bodies through movement as research, while they simultaneously work to discover their own sense of artistry and authority. I believe that engaging in conversation around feedback and critical thinking are essential for dance students to take ownership of their learning and to further develop their understanding of how they exist in this world individually and interdependently. It is my goal to guide students to discover something about dance that makes them feel thoroughly and unapologetically themselves.
Crafting a safe, brave space for students that is inclusive of all identities, cultural backgrounds, and beliefs is imperative. Fostering a community of care that supports creativity, bodily autonomy, and the freedom to express oneself authentically are crucial steppingstones to seeing student success. This approach lays the groundwork for teaching students how to engage with and participate in a functioning democratic society; my teaching philosophy maintains a student-centered, feminist, culturally-responsive, and holistic approach for the benefit of the student’s body, mind, and spirit.
Upcoming Classes + Workshops
Safety Release Saturdays with kt williams
Safety Release Saturdays is a three-part series of 3-hour workshop sessions deep-diving into a somatic investigation of contemporary dance as it relates to mindful, anatomically safe and rigorous-but-efficient movement patterns. Each session will dedicate time to start slowly, ask questions, articulate movement patterns, and find joy in dancing together.
Over the span of 3 hours, we will focus on the principles of Safety Release (SR), diving deeply into the full somatic structure of SR Technique. We will explore how breath and dynamic alignment guide movement efficiency, release frozen tension, and allow ease of movement within a technical form. Class is evenly split between floor work and big, traveling movement phrases: the warm-up will function as a somatic movement laboratory and will progress into standing and physically rigorous traveling patterns that challenge directionality, weight shift, counter balance, and suspended movement. Time will be dedicated towards the end of each session for Q+A and discussion of SR theory and movement principles.
Date/Time/Place:
April 26, 12:00-3:00p - bim bom studios
May 10, 12:00-3:00p - The Rooted Space
June 14, 12:00-3:00p - Links Hall
Cost (sliding scale rate):
For all 3 sessions: $30-$60
For 2 sessions: $20-$50
Drop-in: $10-$30
For more information, and to register, please click here.
*Drop-ins are welcome / advance registration is encouraged.
**Previous dance experience is suggested, dancers of all backgrounds are welcome. Dancers are encouraged to wear long sleeves and loose-fitting pants to allow for floor work and ease of movement; knee-pads are optional.
