MASTER TEACHERS

Each day, morning technique classes are offered, ranging from classical ballet to many forms of contemporary dance. These classes are treated as a company warmup class to prepare you for your afternoon workshops or rehearsals.

ALISIA POBEGA → Ballet

Alisia Pobega 2019 3 photo Michael SlobodianAbout Alisia: Alisia Pobega graduated from L’École Supérieure de Ballet du Québec and danced with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens for over 12 years, rising to a soloist ranking. She is currently an independent artist and works within the Montréal dance community as a dancer, a teacher and a rehearsal mistress. Along with Louis-Martin Charest, she shares the artistic directorship of LIBERAMAE performance & films.

About Alisia's class: Ballet class! Barre and center focussing on alignment, expansion, coordination… and fun. Get warm. Get on your leg. Squat, stretch, spin, swirl. Laugh a little (or a lot). Jump a little (or a lot). Feel like you can conquer the world, and then attack your rehearsal day!

AMI SHULMAN → Contemporary

Ami Shulman Headshot; credit Mats BäckerAbout Ami: Ami Shulman is Rehearsal Director at the GöteborgsOperans Danskompani and certified Feldenkrais Practitioner. She has choreographed for National Theatre of London; Shakespeare Theatre Company; Mouvement Perpetuel, and has co-created with Cirque du Soleil, National Ballet of Canada & Ballet BC. Ami performed with Compagnie Marie Chouinard, Compagnie Flak & DanceOn Ensemble, and has taught throughout Europe, Canada and USA (Juilliard, Jacob’s Pillow, Boston Conservatory, Alvin Ailey School, Hollins University, CODARTS, Staatstheatre Kassel, B12). Ami co-authored the anthology Back to the Dance Itself and has written articles on enactive cognition in the pedagogy of embodied mathematics.

About Ami's class: Ami Shulman’s class accesses the use of imagination through the anatomical playground. Her teachings enhance movement efficiency and clarity of thought, expanding the interpretive possibilities of the performer.

BRET EASTERLING → Gaga

Bret Easterling HeadshotAbout Bret: Bret Easterling is a dance artist, creator, educator, and producer based in Los Angeles, California. He currently teaches at USC’s Glorya Kaufman School of Dance and is the Artistic Director of BEMOVING, a non-profit which builds nurturing communal environments for the research, development, and dissemination of dance works and movement practices.

About Gaga classes: Gaga classes are based on a deep activation of the body and physical sensations. While class instructions are often imbued with rich imagery that stimulates the imagination, the layering of information builds into a multisensory, physically challenging experience. Gaga offers a workout that develops flexibility, stamina, agility, coordination, and efficiency of movement. The exploration of form, speed, and effort is accompanied by the playful investigation of soft and thick textures, delicacy and explosive power, and understatement and exaggeration.

EVANGELOS POULINAS → Contemporary Floorwork

Evangelos Poulinas HeadshotAbout Evangelos: Evangelos Poulinas is guest professor at the institute for contemporary dance at the Folkwang university in Essen. He obtained his BFA from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, a diploma from the Athens State School of Dance and his MFA at the Tisch School of the Arts, New York. His choreographies have been presented in the USA, Europe and Asia; his piece, Alternative Bodies, has been performed in Germany, Greece, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Macau and China. He danced in pieces by J. Wieland, M. Doyle and W. Vandekeybus, and was director of the annual one small step festival, in Greece, from 2010 to 2018. He teaches contemporary techniques in Europe, the USA and Asia and has received scholarships from the Alexandros S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation, New York University, a Greek State Scholarship and a scholarship from danceweb europe. He is a founding member and artistic director of the annual b12 contemporary dance and performance art festival in berlin. (www.b12.space)

About Evangelos' class: Let's find the most efficient way of performing a demanding movement sequence. Analyzing the movement itself, the physical forces, and the anatomical characteristics of our bodies, we will explore ways to maximize our performance by combining the given possibilities to work to our advantage. We will use the force of gravity to ground us, to support us, to allow us to take risks and to push our limits, in order to finally escape gravity. Utilizing our potential to the highest degree, we will evolve and discover new facets of ourselves.

PACO ZIEL → Contemporary Oxygen

Paco Ziel HeadshotAbout Paco: his vision of dance goes beyond performing, he is also interested in research, cultivation of new ideas, dance literature, and collaboration with other ways of exploring the self as science, philosophy, politics and spirituality.

About Paco's class: Getting closer to the floor it’s getting closer to the Earth, ORIGEN is a physical, dynamic and mental training/research experience directed by Paco Ziel, where the participant will receive technical and practical concepts to enrich their own movement vocabulary in relation to the environment.

Blending elements coming from conventional methods of training used in dance such as contemporary and ballet, with non conventional ways of perceiving the body and its movement such as studying patterns from nature, Mexican contemporary ceremonial dances and outdoor practices of dance.

SHAMEL PITTS → Gaga

Shamel Pitts HeadshotAbout Shamel: 2020 Guggenheim Fellow Shamel Pitts is a performance artist, choreographer, conceptual artist, dancer, spoken word artist, and teacher. Born in Brooklyn, New York, Shamel began his dance training at LaGuardia High School for Music & Art and the Performing Arts and, simultaneously, at The Ailey School. He is 2003 YoungArts Finalist and a first prize (level 1) winner of the YoungArts competition. Shamel then went on to receive his BFA in Dance from The Juilliard School and was awarded the Martha Hill Award for excellence in dance. He began his dance career in Mikhail Baryshnikov’s Hell’s Kitchen Dance and BJM_Danse Montreal. Shamel danced with Batsheva Dance Company for 7 years, under the artistic direction of Ohad Naharin and is a certified teacher of Gaga movement language. Shamel has created a triptych of award winning multidisciplinary performance art works known as his “BLACK series” which has been performed and toured extensively to many festivals around the world since 2016. He is an adjunct at The Juilliard School and has been an artist in residence at Harvard University. Shamel is the choreographer of the play “Help” by acclaimed poet and playwright Claudia Rankine, directed by Taibi Magar, and commissioned at The Shed in New York. He is the recipient of a 2018 Princess Grace Award in Choreography, a 2019 NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship Award winner in Choreography, a 2020 Jacob’s Pillow artist in residence and a 2021 Bessie award winner. Shamel is the artistic director/founder of TRIBE, a New York based multidisciplinary arts collective. TRIBE is a 92Y Harkness Dance Center’s Artist In Residence for the 2020-2021 season and a Live Feed artist in residence at New York Live Arts.

About Gaga classes: Gaga classes are based on a deep activation of the body and physical sensations. While class instructions are often imbued with rich imagery that stimulates the imagination, the layering of information builds into a multisensory, physically challenging experience. Gaga offers a workout that develops flexibility, stamina, agility, coordination, and efficiency of movement. The exploration of form, speed, and effort is accompanied by the playful investigation of soft and thick textures, delicacy and explosive power, and understatement and exaggeration.

ACCOMPANISTS

MONICA HAN → Pianist, accompanies Alisia's Ballet class

Monica HanA recent graduate of University of Montreal, Dr. Monica Han has been consistently recognized as a soloist in performances, festivals and competitions across the globe.

She is a grand-prix winner of the 2009 British Columbia Provincial Competition and a Silver Medallist at the 2014 and 2015 Canadian National Competition. While studying in New York City, she was awarded Honourable Mention at the International Union City Philharmonic Competition of New Jersey, and Bradshaw and Buono International Competition in New York.

When Monica is not teaching piano, she dedicates her time to writing music for ballet dancers. She loves to explore her talent as an accompanist and she is honoured to be a part of Springboard this summer.

FRANCIS POMERLEAU → Percussionist/Drummer for Ami's Comtemporary class

Photo Bio Francis Pomerleau Drummer Ilia Khodos

Since 2012, Francis Pomerleau accompanies Ami Shulman in her master classes for Springboard Danse Montréal.

He is a percussionist accompanist in contemporary dance since 2006 and he has played for:
École de Danse Contemporaine de Montréal; Ballet Divertimento; Département de Danse de l'UQAM; Département de Danse de l’Université Concordia; Département de Danse du Cégep de Saint-Laurent; Regroupement Québécois de la Danse (RQD); TransFormation Danse (Danse à la Carte); Studio 303; O Vertigo; Ballets Jazz de Montréal; Toronto Dance Theater; Martha Graham Dance Company (Danse\Danse).

With musician colleague Philippe Fourneau, he cofounded Projet FPPF Project which is dedicated to music composition for the contemporary dance, the circus and the visual arts: https://www.facebook.com/fppf.projet.9