Alysia L. Johnson is a native of Dallas, Texas and credits her dance education to Dallas Black Dance Theatre's Academy and Booker T. Washington HSPVA under the direction of Lily Cabatu Weiss. Upon graduating from BTWHSPVA, Alysia became a company member at Bruce Wood Dance at the age of 18. While getting her BFA at The Juilliard School in New York City, Alysia developed a skill for community engagement and received two Grants to help further dance education in her hometown. Alysia was recognized at Juilliard's Choreographic Honors Program for her choreography, "Errand Boys" in 2018. After graduating, Alysia joined the premiere contemporary dance company in America, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. She is endlessly thankful for the dance community at large for their support and unmatched creativity… continue

Photography by Chloe Hamilton

Workshop: Improvisation and Contemporary Technique w/ Alysia

Participants can expect to warm up exploring movement through Improvisation and move through class with Contemporary techniques. Participation is encouraged through movement, observation and adaptation of exercises/tasks.

Michelle N. Gibson received her B.F.A. in Dance from Tulane University and her M.F.A. from Hollins University/American Dance Festival at Duke University. She has served for four years as dance faculty at Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Dallas, served as a resident artist at the Ashé Cultural Arts Center in her hometown of New Orleans, and is currently serving as a Professor of Practice in Dance at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX. Gibson’s teaching and choreographic practice comprises all genres of the African Diaspora, Contemporary Afro Modern, Afro Funk, Jazz, and her own New Orleans Second Line Aesthetic. Her current projects involve sharing her aesthetic and New Orleans culture through a series of workshops she’s coined The New Orleans Original BuckShop LLC and she has created a number of original works, including… continue

Workshop: Afro Modern Technique w/ Michelle N. Gibson

Michelle N. Gibson’s Afro Modern class will focus on a fusion of contemporary modern practices rooted in diasporic elements in order to acknowledge the diasporic aesthetics and movement fundamentals contributed to American modern dance styles and techniques. You can expect to experience center exercises rooted in Katherine Dunham’s Dunham Technique, as well as challenge and improve your polyrhythmic modern skills while moving across the floor. You’ll gain a broader understanding of dance across cultures, deepening your understanding of how your body interacts with modern technique class. As always, Mz. G will challenge you to improve while building a community of love, peace, healing, and light.

Taylor Knight and Anna Thompson are co-founding artistic directors of slowdanger, a multidisciplinary performance entity utilizing movement, found material, integrative technology, electronic instrumentation, and vocalization to produce performance work since 2013. Based out of Pittsburgh, PA slowdanger synergizes mediums, utilizing process based practice to delve into circular life patterning including effort, transformation, and death. They’ve been featured in/by Dance Magazine’s “25 to Watch”, Carnegie Museum of Art, Kennedy Center for the Arts, The Warhol Museum, Usine C, and more. They were 2022 awardees of the NPN Creation Fund and NEFA National Dance Project Production Grant for their work, SUPERCELL.

Workshop: SPI w/ slowdanger

slowdanger’s ‘SPI’ is an explorational movement experience accompanied by an evolving sound score. Inspired by their studies in somatic practices, BodyMindCentering, Laban Movement Analysis, Movement Theater, Corporeal Mime, improvisational and compositional studies, slowdanger guides participants to investigate non-verbal processing mechanisms through movement, groove, and sensory stimulus. SPI is designed as an open-level practice and challenges participants to explore connections to body, sound, and their environment. These connections are used to play, investigate, and regenerate.