Dance & Dive

Dance & Dive TXST Dance Studios - San Marcos Spring River What to Expect 2hr Contact Improvisation Class w/ Brandon Gonzalez + Jam time Beautiful, spacious dance studio with sprung wooden floors Swimming in the San Marcos Spring River afterward (walking distance from the studio!) Thoughtfully curated music throughout About the Class Taught by Brandon Gonzalez, this class will introduce you to the fundamental skills and principles of Contact Improvisation. Contact improvisation invites us to expand our movement capacity, inhabit spherical space, and fine-tune our ability to listen to physical sensation while attuning to the movement of others. Class exercises will emphasize the development of mind-body awareness, functional movement patterns, and improvisational modes of connection and creativity. Rather than learning predetermined steps, we'll explore new possibilities for movement and creative process through embodied curiosity and focused play. The jam session that follows will be an open exploration of contact improvisation, where you can practice and play with what you've learned. Who Should Attend This is an open-level class, though some movement or dance experience is recommended. We'll be moving in and out of floor work and sharing body weight with others, so come prepared for physical engagement and creative exploration. TIME: Saturday, June 7th 11am-2pm (Swim and picnic after) COST: $35-$65 sliding scale. Discount available for TXST students. Contact us if finances are a barrier to your attendance. RSVP and Register: https://forms.gle/hAfX3VBaZAEG6SEV8 Brandon Gonzalez is an interdisciplinary dance artist, choreographer, and educator based in Austin, Texas. He’s moved by the transformational power of dance as a ritual practice, using it as an experimental ground for investigating embodied human experience. Focusing on the capacities of the body as a resource for artistic practice, he develops works across a variety of media and performance modalities. He teaches Contact Improvisation nationally and internationally, and for over 15 years has produced dance events in Austin. Working as a co-organizing member, he helped establish the annual Texas Dance Improvisation Festival (TDIF). He is also the Artistic Director and an established DJ/facilitator at Ekstasis, a vibrant community ritual-dance event in Austin. Brandon is an Associate Professor of Practice in the Department of Theatre and Dance at TXST University. He holds a BFA in Studio Art from TXST and an MFA in Dramatic Arts from UC Davis.