Brain Body Connection Mitchell Larsen #2
by Free Flow Dance Theatre Inc.Monday, 27 September 2021 from 2:30 PM (CDT) to 4:00 PM (CDT)224 25th St. W. , Saskatoon, SK S7L 0C4
Ticket Information
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Overview
Professional and emerging dancers are welcome to attend either in-person (please register as such) or the online zoom platform-based Brain-Body Connection Professional Development Series hosted by Free Flow Dance Theatre free of charge. If you would like and can afford to make a donation to support the future of the company please do! We are pleased to host this series of workshops with the support of the Community Initiative Fund, City of Saskatoon, and Sasktel.
Movement for Text with Mitchell Larsen
The first class will be primarily a practical exploration of concepts, with a particular focus on the difference between literal and abstract interpretations of a work, as well as an exploration of the process of abstracting. We will be using preselected texts as the basis for these explorations. Our entry point will be dancing to music with text as a way of connecting the more esoteric aspects of the workshop with the familiar and relatable.
In our second class, we will review and then focus on the application of these concepts to the creation and sharing of movement work to accompany the reading of a text. Students will be able to choose a text from a list of preselected options.
Details
Mitchell's first experience of dance was when he was about 5-years-old, enrolled in a combination ballet/tap class. My parents had so much difficulty getting me to class that when the first session ended I wasn’t re-enrolled. My father was a pastor and I remember dancing my little heart out at the various random weddings we got to crash. It wasn’t until high school that I enrolled in another dance class, this time as a part of Marion Graham Dance Academy, and rediscovered my love of movement, dancing away during spares and after school in the seldom-used combination small gym and performance area of our high school. After going to Edmonton to study Theatre Arts at Grant MacEwan University I’ve made movement and dance a major part of my career, particularly with my work dancing with Free Flow Dance Theatre Company.
Teaching Philosophy
Dance to me is foremost an opportunity to connect to myself and others, whether that’s busting a move around the house to a Britney Spears playlist, listening to the minute signals of another person’s body, or sharing a part of myself with an audience. As such it makes sense to me that dance and movement meld with other forms of connection: music, text, and design, amongst others. It also means that perfection and beauty are not my highest priority. I believe that dance belongs to everyone and that everyone has important things to share. I believe in student autonomy and their ability to choose the level of engagement. I bring these perspectives to my teaching style, encouraging exploration of self, mixing of forms, and connection.