Sept. 11th to 15th, 2023 – 10:00 am to 11:15 am (Mon.-Fri.)
Full week rate : $50
Drop-in class rate : $15 (Drop-ins will open on the first business day of each month)
Language of instruction : mix of English and French
Questions can also be asked in : Romanian
Open to dancers
The mask could be mandatory for some activities as an accessibility measure for our teachers or participants. For more information, click here.
CONTENT
Gaga is the movement language developed by Ohad Naharin, the Artistic Director of the Batsheva Dance Company, and is part of the company’s daily training regime. This class is open to professional dancers and advanced dance students aged 16 and over. Gaga/dancers classes are built on the same principles as Gaga/people classes but include specific vocabulary that are part and parcel to a dancer’s knowledge. The layering of familiar movements with Gaga tasks deepens dancers’ awareness of physical sensations, expands their palette of available movement options, enhances their ability to modulate their energy and engage their explosive power, while enriching their movement quality with a wide range of textures. Gaga raises awareness of physical weaknesses, awakens numb areas, exposes physical fixations, and offers ways for their elimination. The work improves instinctive movement and connects conscious and unconscious movement. It allows for an experience of freedom and pleasure in a simple way, in a pleasant space, in comfortable clothes, accompanied by a well curated playlist, each person with themselves and others.
ACCESSIBILITY
In Gaga we move continuously. From the beginning until the end of the class, participants are taken on a journey through various bodily states, ways of moving, speeds, and intensities. Instructions are given verbally by the teacher; who is not only teaching the class, but also taking it. Even if verbal cues are not understood, information can be gathered by looking at her body and practicing imitation. All parts of the body are called into use, though each participant can work at their own level and adapt as appropriate. No one is permitted to sit and observe a Gaga class — neither for all nor for part of it. In the case of reduced mobility, Gaga welcomes the investigation of concepts explored even on the subtlest of levels. Music plays an important role in the development of class; at times it is played quietly in the background and at others loudly. However, it is often emphasized that groove is within the body and not the music. All participants will be encouraged to research this whether they can or cannot distinctly hear the accompanying audio tracks.
BIOGRAPHY
Laura Toma is a contemporary dance artist living in Montreal, Canada. In August of 2012, Laura graduated from the first official Gaga Teacher Training Program in Tel Aviv, Israel and is the first certified Gaga teacher in Canada. In addition to her ongoing Gaga/people classes, she has taught for Compagnie Marie Chouinard, Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal, and L’École Supérieure de Ballet du Québec, among others. She is co-founder and co-choreographer of LA TRESSE collective alongside partners Geneviève Boulet and Erin O’Loughlin. Between 2014 and 2022 Laura was a core member of Andrea Peña and Artists, touring nationally and internationally. In 2016, she performed at the Venice Biennale of Dance for Israeli/French choreographer Emanuel Gat. Listen to her body scans and meditations on Spotify and Apple Music, and enjoy her curated Gaga playlists available only on Spotify.
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6jmEAHzeF6RauIjmjjRtMA?si=B-7Op19XSViLkUe39X9RVg
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/laura-toma/1645675339
It helps me to be aware of what inspires me, and recognize that Gaga is something that I want to keep in my practice.
– Isabel Cruz