Teaching
Teaching
Classes
PHILOSOPHY
CLASS DESCRIPTIONS
TECHNIQUE
Technique class offers an opportunity to work in-depth on body alignment, physical clarity and movement initiation so the dancers can connect their inner and outer worlds. In the warm-up, we bring students to a calm place, focusing on ease in the muscles while allowing the skeleton to move freely, yet clearly. From here the dancers are guided through exercises to mentally and physically awaken and energize. Together we will dive into weight, space, gravity and momentum. The class culminates with phrases from the Tiffany Mills Company repertory to challenge the dancer to find strength and momentum within a highly articulate and intricate vocabulary. Time will be given to taking risks within the phrase material, as well as manipulating and “owning” athletic, daring movement.
PARTNERING
Our Annual Partnering Intensives provide an in-depth exploration into partnering, improvisation, and the company’s creative process. We dive into weight, space, gravity, and momentum as tools to fly. We push boundaries, test extremes, and enjoy falling, in pursuit of finding a rich language and meaningful journey. Partnering class begins by bringing attention to our internal environment, working primarily with imagery and breath. From here we focus on tools to access weight, space, gravity, and momentum. We hone and sensitize ourselves to various qualities and states by bringing awareness to the layers of our body (skin, bone, muscle, organs, etc). Special attention is directed to our senses, heightening all five, to become better at listening and dialoguing through movement. We demystify partnering by looking at the structural basics in the roles of basing and flying. Our progression into weight-bearing duets includes delving further into anatomical structures, destabilizing movement habits and assumptions, while recognizing and nurturing different personalities and individual predispositions. We encourage risk-taking and welcome unfamiliarity. Class culminates with physically robust partnering improvisations where students can draw upon their experiences throughout the class. We actively straddle the line between conscious, intellectual engagement, and abandonment, making space for movement and interactions that surprise and resonate.
CLASS LOCATIONS
Gibney Dance Center
280 Broadway (Entrance at 53A Chambers St)
New York, NY 10007
(646) 837-6809
Contemporary Forms: May 2, 9, 23, 30, 10a-12p
Guest Teaching at
Peridance
126 East 13th Street
New York, NY 10003
(212) 505-0886
Contemporary Forms: TBD
WINTER AND SUMMER INTENSIVES
TIFFANY MILLS COMPANY 14th ANNUAL SUMMER PARTNERING INTENSIVE
A week of partnering and improvisation led by choreographer Tiffany Mills and Company Members: Jordan Morley, Kenneth Olguin, Nik Owens, Emily Pope, and Mei Yamanaka.
Intensive Dates: June 10-14, 2019, 10a-3p
Early Bird Deadline: May 17
Application Deadline: May 24
Tuition: $300 Full Intensive ($250 Early Bird), $150 Half Day ($125 Early Bird), $60 Single Day, $30 Single Half-Day
Optional scholarships: Attend a Partnering Class at Gibney (280 Broadway) on Wednesdays May 1, 8, 15, 22, 29, to be considered for a scholarship.
Curriculum
Our 14th Annual Summer Partnering Intensive provides an in-depth exploration into partnering, improvisation, and the Company’s creative process. We will dive into weight, space, gravity, and momentum as tools to fly. We will push boundaries, test extremes, and enjoy falling, in pursuit of finding a rich language and meaningful journey. –Tiffany Mills
Partnering Lab
June 10–June 14, 10:00am–12:15pm
We begin by bringing attention to our internal environment, working primarily with imagery and breath. From here we focus on tools to access weight, space, gravity, and momentum. We hone and sensitize ourselves to various qualities and states by bringing awareness to the layers of our body (skin, bone, muscle, organs, etc). Special attention is directed to our senses, heightening all five, to become better at listening and dialoguing through movement. We demystify partnering by looking at the structural basics in the roles of basing and flying. Our progression into weight-bearing duets includes delving further into anatomical structures, destabilizing movement habits and assumptions, while recognizing and nurturing different personalities and individual predispositions. We encourage risk-taking and welcome unfamiliarity. Class culminates with physically robust partnering improvisations where students can draw upon their experiences throughout the class. We actively straddle the line between conscious, intellectual engagement, and abandonment, making space for movement and interactions that surprise and resonate.
Group Forms
June 10–June 14, 12:45pm–3:00pm
This class builds on the skills cultivated in our Partnering Lab, delving further into group-driven improvisation. As we build familiarity and trust within the class, our physical possibilities expand, allowing for a deeper exploration of sight, touch, weight, and momentum. Improvisational structures (trios, quartets, quintets, etc.) are substantial, layered and invite complex problem solving. Students are encouraged to make decisions and bold choices that arise spontaneously from an active understanding of self, an energetic and tactile awareness of others, and a compositional mindset. Company repertory (both set and scored) will also be used as a springboard to continue digging into the nature of working fearlessly in groups, making honest and truthful decisions, and inhabiting both the foreground and background of spontaneous composition. As class grows to full-group improvisational scores, we will balance our individual desires with the needs of the group, and we listen intently in order to move with clarity, confidence, abandon, and risk.
Noon-time Showings:
Company Showing (June 10): 12-1pm
Participant Showing with Community Participation (June 14): 12-1pm
RSVP: [email protected]
The Participant Showing is all-inclusive. The community will be invited to participate in a simple
score to warm-up. Intensive participants will share a series of scored improvisations drawn from
explorations in class. A dialogue will follow. Free and open to the public.
Faculty
Testimonials
“I have been challenged, embattled and brought to the brink of creativity and exhaustion, but I would do it over again in a heartbeat…I am humbled and very privileged to have been embraced by your fold of warm and talented artists.”
“I’m so grateful for getting the chance to explore under your guidance! To be able to learn and play alongside such intelligent and kind individuals was such a treat. Looking forward to joining in the fun again in the future. Thank you!”
“Thank you again for the incredibly meaningful and educational intensive with you and your company. I learned a ton about partnering, but I learned even more about myself — both as a person and a dancer.”
“Not only did Tiffany Mills bring an awareness to the fundamentals of movement but she shined a light on the human condition through collaborative exploration in such a subtle and beautiful way!”
APPLY
Click HERE for our Online Application
COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY RESIDENCIES
The company offers a variety of works to explore in residencies. “It Only Happens Once…Yesterday and Tomorrow” is a favorite project often recreated at colleges and universities. Inspired by a recurring dream and how each iteration takes on a life of its own, the varied sonic world (Basement Jaxx, Night Ark, Jan Jelinek, and Bexar Bexar) highlights the journey. This 10-minute work navigates varied emotional landscapes, with a strong emphasis on physicality, incorporating group, partnering and solo work. Along with college and professional performances, the work has also been taken to ACDA.
Residency information: [email protected]