MASTER CLASSES
William Charles Crowley
GRAHAM-BASED MODERN CLASS
Sunday, June 7 | 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM
At Ballet Hawaii’s Honolulu Studios
In celebration of the 100-year anniversary of the Martha Graham Dance Company!
Enrolled BH Student: $35
Non-BH Student: $45
Open to dancers 12+ with at least 1 year of dance experience.
Minimum of 6 students to confirm class
BIOGRAPHY
William Charles Crowley, received his MFA in Dance from The University of Michigan. He received additional dance training while on scholarship at the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance in New York City. William has performed with numerous dance companies both domestically and abroad receiving positive reviews, including Dance Gallery/Peter Sparling & Co., in which he was featured in the title role of Martha Graham’s masterwork, El Penitente. Dance Magazine wrote, “That… Crowley seems to share [his] magic with us makes this universe ultimately reassuring.” In April 2000, he moved to Miami, FL where he accepted a three-year teaching position at the prestigious New World School of the Arts. William then served as adjunct faculty at Miami-Dade College (2002-04), Part Time Lecturer at Barry University (2006-09), and Lecturer of Dance at the University of Miami (2006-11). In March 2004, William became Founder and Co-Artistic Director of Next Step Dance, a modern dance company in Fort Lauderdale, FL. In April 2004, the company held its premiere performance in a studio space at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts. The Miami Art Exchange wrote, “William Charles Crowley… [an] accomplished dance maker.” In August 2004, William became Artistic Director of Next Step Dance (DBA Still Point Productions), and relocated the company to its current home in Bay Harbor Islands, FL. Starting in 2012, he has been invited to teach annual summer Graham Technique Intensives at the Centre de Danse du Marais in Paris, France, as well as intensives/stages in Austria, Belgium, Croatia, England, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Spain.
CLASS DESCRIPTION
Students will gain an awareness of the human body and its potential with special focus given to centering, coordination, and flexibility. Students begin seated on the floor, utilizing their lower abdominal muscles and corresponding lower back muscles in a series of exercises (called ‘contraction and release’) to strengthen their core. Once this is established, students then begin to incorporate the entire length of the spine to manipulate the back muscles by lengthening and ‘spiraling’ the torso. The same principles are applied in a series of exercises lying flat on the floor working in an isometric manner, eventually arriving to a standing position continuing through a series of exercises at the center and traveling to find your body’s proper alignment, placement, and balance. A short phrase of original choreography will also be taught in order to demonstrate how all of these principles can be applied in a practical and useful manner.