Workshop Offerings

Technique Class

Jumping Off the Bandwagon offers an active and experimental technique class grounded in traditional modern techniques and extending into the realms of release technique and improvisation.  A typical class will incorporate floor work, standing exercises, inversions, and the development of longer phrases.  The class can last anywhere from 50 minutes to 2 hours and may accommodate 25-30 students, space permitting.  Jumping Off the Bandwagon members will rotate teaching during the course of the class.  Workshops can be tailored to any skill level, from beginning to advanced.

Movement Workshop

Jumping Off the Bandwagon offers a Movement Workshop that is focused on re-discovering everyday movement as dance, and creating choreography using various improvisational strategies.  This class can accommodate anyone, regardless of dance experience, and will be valuable for all skill levels.  The class will explore movement as individuals and groups, and may include partner work.  For younger children the class will be geared toward creating small movement stories that will be presented at the end of the class period.  For older students, the class will explore the development of more substantial material.  A maximum of 30 students can be accommodated (space permitting).  This workshop may be offered in a single class period or extended over the course of up to 4 class periods.  Class periods can last anywhere from 50 minutes to 2 hours (shorter time period recommended for younger students).

Our Goals

Jumping Off the Bandwagon will be traveling through Northern Michigan this summer (2009), giving workshops in technique and the creative process and presenting performances for audiences of all ages.  Our goal is to share out enthusiasm for dance and disrupt the popular notion that modern dance is a typically stoic art form by emphasizing the joy and humor in our experiences.  We will be visiting Mancelona, Boyne City, Charlevoix, Petoskey, and Harbor Springs (please check back for specific tour dates).  After concluding our tour of Northern Michigan we will be heading to Western Ireland under to auspices of the Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF) program, hiking from farm to farm and putting together small-scale performances in rural towns - most likely outside, in barns, or in local yoga centers.  We are looking to cover our travel and lodging expenses, as our goal is to share our enthusiasm for our art and meet interesting people.  To do this, we will be relying on the generous support of people from the community who are interested in helping support young people seeking to make a difference in their immediate surroundings through dance.  We will be blogging our experience from beginning to end, logging pictures and journal entries from our various endeavors, so stay tuned!!!