JANUARY 2 – 19, 2024

Open to dancers 18 years or older, our Winter Intensive provides dancers with a rigorous program in Graham Technique and Repertory, Ballet, Contemporary, Composition AND many exciting new classes!

Classes are taught by world-class dance professionals, including former and current Martha Graham Company dancers. All classes are held in-person at Martha Graham Studios and the Creative Cultural Center at St. Veronica’s in Greenwich Village, NYC.

NEW CLASSES FOR 2024

Requires participation in all 3 weeks of the Winter Intensive and at least 1 week of Graham Technique.

Formerly called “Composition”, ChoreoLAB has been refined as a space for you to try out new ideas. We understand that emerging choreographers struggle with generating movement ideas and organizing their movement ideas in ways that make sense to them. We have designed this course to help choreographers explore a range of ways to work by “trying on” the creative processes of other established choreographers. Each week, you will be able to explore a different choreographer’s way of working and solving creative problems. 

Price: $375

This class will be used as a survey of the many different ways to use Improvisation in dance. We will use the dance elements as prompts for Improvisational exploration and structure: Body Exploration, Energy Exploration, Space Exploration, and Time Exploration.

Price: $75

We are excited to offer a contemporary partnering class that will explore a range of partnering tips/tricks to be safe, traditional and contemporary ways of partnering and new ideas for sharing weight with another person.

Price: $110

This class requires participation in all 3 weeks of the Winter Intensive and at least 1 week of Graham Technique.

Supported by Graham Board Member Christine Jowers, this brand new Graham School course provides the opportunity to explore the various ways of writing about dance, learn practical tools for getting your writing published, participate in discussions about how we view and understand dance and attend a performance at The Joyce. You will have many opportunities to workshop ideas and potentially complete a published article by the end of the course.

Price: $500

CORE CURRICULUM

“Freedom to a dancer means discipline, that is what technique is —Liberation.” – Martha Graham

Levels I, II, III, + IV
The Martha Graham Technique is based on the core power of Graham’s signature contraction and release. The Technique promotes strength, stamina, and self-expression and serves as a foundation for excellence in many styles of dance. Each level is specifically designed for students to progress rapidly.

Graham Teachers evaluate each dancer to ensure they are in the proper level. Students may not change level (higher or lower) during the Intensive without prior approval by their assigned Graham Instructor.

Click here to see Graham level descriptions

Intermediate and Advanced
Repertory introduces students to Graham’s classic choreography to gain a deeper understanding of her expressive style as well as practice in valuable performance techniques. Dancers must register for Graham Technique for the duration of the Repertory class, which is offered at an intermediate or advanced pace.

Advanced Beginner/Intermediate and Advanced
Martha Graham School ballet training is adapted for individual student abilities at the beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels. Classes are structured to enhance and support the study of Martha Graham Technique.

Advanced Beginner/Intermediate and Advanced
Contemporary classes build upon Graham Technique and encourage dancers to explore the connections between this classic approach and post-modern styles. In-Person only.

Full Time Program Auditions

Saturday, January 20, 2024 / 1:00 – 4:00pm / Martha Graham Studio 1 / REGISTER HERE

Student Showcase

Saturday, January 20, 2024 / 5:00 – 6:00pm / Martha Graham Studio 1
A special opportunity to meet current students of the Martha Graham School. Interested in submitting a piece for the student showcase while you are visiting? Email studentcouncil@marthagraham.org

MODERN CLASSICS SERIES

The Modern Classics Series is a sequence of weekly master classes celebrating early class modern dance form creators, including José Limón, Lester Horton, and Katherine Dunham, in addition to Martha Graham. Each left a legacy that continues to inspire artists and audiences around the world. Many of their students, including Paul Taylor and Alvin Ailey, carried the classics forward and left formidable impacts on the art form themselves.

All master classes are 90 minutes followed by a 30 minute Q&A with the instructor. Open to all levels attending the Winter Intensive; minimum of 1 week of Graham Technique is required.

CLASS SCHEDULE
January 3 / Limón with Daniel Fetecua
January 10 / Horton with TBA
January 17 / Dunham with TBA

Limón Technique (developed by José Limón) emphasizes the natural rhythms of fall and recovery, a conscious use of breath, and the interplay between weight and weightlessness with the goal of providing dancers with an organic approach to movement. It can enhance a Graham dancer’s sense of weight in movement and the dancer’s ability to connect movements into a whole.

Horton Technique (developed by Lester Horton) emphasizes a whole body, anatomical approach to dance that includes flexibility, strength, coordination and body and spatial awareness to enable unrestricted, dramatic freedom of expression. It can enhance a Graham dancer’s strength level and spatial awareness.

The Dunham technique was developed by internationally renowned dancer/choreographer Katherine Dunham as a result of her anthropological studies in Africa and the Caribbean. The technique is a codified modern dance technique that has its roots in African and Caribbean movements and rhythms, it draws from Classical Ballet as well as traditional African/Caribbean movement, forging a cultural link between Africa and North America. The dance vocabulary focuses on the isolation of individual body parts, in preparation for execution of a poly-movement structure that is reminiscent of African dance and music. Dancers are trained to control all body parts, becoming excellent dance masters; training that prepares them for a career in the professional world of dance.

PRICING

CLASSES PRICE # of CLASSES
Graham Technique $195 4-5 classes per week
Repertory $375 3 classes per week
Ballet $40 2 classes per week
Contemporary $40 1-2 classes per week
ChoreoLAB $375 2 classes per week
Improvisation $75 1-2 classes per week
Partnering $110 2 classes per week
Modern Classics Series $30 1 class per week

REGISTER NOW

REGISTRATION DEADLINE: December 8, 2023. Our classes will fill up quickly; register today to ensure placement.
Register and pay in full before November 1 and receive a free gift on the first day of classes, while supplies last!

CLICK HERE FOR FULL REGISTRATION INSTRUCTIONS

FOR MORE INFORMATION

For more information on the Winter Intensive, contact Tami Alesson at talesson@marthagraham.org.

PHOTOS: Martha Graham School dancers by Melissa Sherwood.