Join us for our second annual day of improvisation-focused classes! Open to all abilities and experience.
$20/class; $35 for 2; $55 for all 3. Register fast to ensure your spot.
1–2pm: Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement®—Lila Hurwitz
2:15–3:45pm: Freedom Within Form (Contact Improvisation)—Olivier Besson
4–5:30pm: Navigating Attention/Queering Focus—Alex Davis
CLASS DESCRIPTIONS & TEACHER BIOS:
1–2pm: Awareness Through Movement®—Lila Hurwitz
The Feldenkrais Method® of Awareness Through Movement (ATM) is a subtle and powerful system of neuromuscular re-education that evokes changes in muscular tone, flexibility, coordination, attention, and the comfort and efficiency of movement. We'll delve into a classic ATM lesson, exploring issues common to dancers and regular humans, and experiencing the amazing ways our bodies are designed to move with economy and grace.
Lila Hurwitz, a Feldenkrais® Practitioner since 1997, explores the integration of Feldenkrais with dance/movement practices including Contemplative Dance Practice and ensemble improvisation scores. She taught one of Seattle’s longest-running weekly ATM classes for 20+ years, and has taught internationally. Lila has been exploring dance improvisation in performance since 1983, performing with Heidi Henderson, Nina Martin, Bebe Miller, Lucia Neare, Karen Nelson, Lisa Nelson, Stephanie Skura and many others. She taught Authentic Movement for a decade and designed Contact Quarterly magazine for 11 years. She received a BA in Dance Choreography & Criticism from Hampshire College in 1987. Lila co-founded/co-produced the Seattle Festival of Dance Improvisation, is a co-founder of Motion State Arts, and runs Doolittle+Bird, an arts management firm.
2:15pm–3:45pm: Freedom Within Form (Contact Improvisation)—Olivier Besson
This class provides a container where mutual flow and deep play allow the emergence of a consensual dance. Using sensations and images, we prepare the body and (re)visit techniques to ignite and expand our understanding of physical possibilities. We notice our own tendencies and expectations in the act of improvising and make room for empty space, ushering more unknown. We show up, more fully present and experience freedom within form.
Olivier Besson is a Boston based movement artist of Japanese and French heritage. He was introduced to the twin notion of dance and community through his exposure to ecstatic dance, his subsequent training in contact improvisation and his ritual practice of Bugaku (Japanese court dance). He has been involved with the study and inquiry of improvisation ever since. His performances have been presented in France, Taiwan, Russia, Japan, India and the US. He is on faculty at The Boston Conservatory At Berklee, where he curates Moment’s Notice, an interdisciplinary improv performance series.
4pm–5:30pm: Navigating Attention/Queering Focus—Alex Davis
An exploration of improvised movement where attention is your compass for creative choice-making. This workshop invites dancers of all levels to discover how becoming aware of your awarenesses can unlock spontaneous, authentic, and unexpected expression through the body. Drawing from diverse movement practices including Viewpoints, Contact Improvisation, and improvisational comedy, participants will engage in a series of guided exercises designed to sharpen perceptual awareness and develop trust for one’s own instinctive responses. Dancers will practice following their own attention, noticing what captures focus, what creates curiosity, and what demands presence in each moment. Through partnered explorations, solo investigations, and group dynamics, participants will practice using attention as both anchor and catalyst for movement decisions. The workshop emphasizes the triangulation and queer interplay between internal sensation, external awareness, and the imagination, teaching dancers to navigate the space between emergence and action that defines improvisation.
Alex Davis (He/They) is a Boston-based performer, choreographer, fiber artist, homosexual, and all around good time. He teaches improvisation as a practice of attention: noticing what pulls focus, following it, and trusting the body to make the next choice. His teaching draws on a variety of forms and lineages, including Viewpoints, contact improvisation, and improvisational comedy. Alex is Visiting Assistant Professor of Dance at Dean College and Special Projects Coordinator at The School at Jacob's Pillow. His most recent evening-length solo, Gay Aesthetic: Based on a True Story, made in collaboration with musician Tyler Leif and writer/director Jeremy Brothers, premiered at American Dance Festival in 2025 and will continue to tour through 2027. He received his MFA from Smith College.
Thanks to D Duffy for sponsoring Motion State Arts’ 2026–2027 season of classes.
Class participants can get 10% off tickets to Ballet RI’s In Motion performances, October 23–25! Just request the discount code when you register.
Image: Alex Davis. Photo: Derek Fowles