Indy Movement Arts welcomes
Julie-Anne Stanzak
of Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch
Photo Credit: Claudia Kempf
Inner Landscapes
a workshop series with Julie-Anne Stanzak
of Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch
March 2nd-March 5th 2023
at Indy Movement Arts Collective
Thank you to Idrienne Steiman, Benny Weidberg, and Bethany & Aaron Bak for their support of this residency.
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Photo Credit: Laurent Philippe
Creating special awareness as well as touching upon the poetry of space, each workshop will begin with a body warmup. Thru exercises of Kundalini Yoga, Pranayama breathing techniques, Tao, and Chi Quong, along with basic contemporary dance approaches, we will touch a deeper level of consciousness to understand why we move, how we move, and where we take ourselves in space.
Evolving into improvisation, our awareness and focus will be guided towards inner landscapes and their expressions. Participants will be encouraged to convey their emotions and imaginations through gesture and dance/movement. We will question ourselves on large and small themes and on listening to our own feelings and sensations. It will be a journey to explore the dance of life, without training and predefined aesthetic forms.
Each 3-hour workshop costs $40 and has limited capacity. Each workshop will follow a similar structure but will be a unique experience and is open to movers of all skill levels and interests. You will need to register for each workshop individually. REFUNDS: Please note that if you need to cancel your registration and want to receive a refund, you must do so by Thursday, February 23rd, 2023.
If the workshop cost is prohibitive for you, please apply for financial assistance below. We do not want money to prevent you from taking part in this incredible opportunity to engage with Julie-Ann Stanzak of Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch. Questions can be directed to Bethany Bak, Director of Movement Education, at bethany@indymovementarts.org.
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Photo Credit: Oliver Look
Julie-Anne Stanzak was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, and grew up in New Orleans, an exciting and vibrant multicultural city that shaped her. As a child she took ballet classes and attended summer schools that were taught by renowned dancers and choreographers. Eventually she moved to Minneapolis with her parents, where she continued her ballet training at an academy that followed the Russian style. She also attended the Children’s Theater Company of Minneapolis, studying acting and performing in school productions. In 1976 she went to Chicago, where she danced with the Chicago Lyric Opera Ballet under Maria Tallchief for three years. Tallchief became an important mentor in her life. Julie-Anne Stanzak then went to Europe to audition for dance companies there. Rudi van Danzig invited her to join Het National Ballett in Amsterdam, where she remained from 1979 to 1986.
During this time, Pina Bausch and her Tanztheater were frequently performing in Amsterdam. In 1982, when they were rehearsing “Walzer” for the Holland Dance Festival, Julie-Anne Stanzak observed the choreographer’s creation process. She was thrilled by the ensemble and its unique atmosphere. “I found the ideas and the way that Pina and her dancers communicated with each other incredibly moving. I was particularly interested in Pina’s investigation of humanity and all its depths.” In New York in 1985, during a tour by the Tanztheater Wuppertal, Julie-Anne Stanzak met Pina Bausch again, auditioned for her and was accepted into the company. She has been a permanent member of the ensemble since 1986 and has danced in more than 30 of Pina Bausch’s pieces. “Pina was a master, an explorer of desires, and she valued you as a person.”
Today, Julie-Anne Stanzak works with dance institutions and theatres all over Europe, the USA and Japan, teaching and creating new pieces. She works with people with disabilities, including at RambaZamba Theater in Berlin, Teatro La Ribalta – Art of Diversity in Bolzano and Compagnie L’Oiseau Mouche in Roubaix. She is convinced that “a human being is an inexhaustible source of beauty – every human being, no matter what their story is.
Student Testimonial
Poetry into Movement Workshop with Julie Anne Stanzak
"I stumbled upon this workshop in 2012 during wonderful times Cultural Olympics in London, while watching many Pina pieces in London venues. One of those days I found the workshop in Italy taught by one of the of long standing Pina dancers, I could not believe my luck.
I hadn’t known on that day that I would start a many years journey that still continues.
The workshops are for professional and community dancers, actors, students, dance therapists, architects, mimes and truly for anyone with open heart and mind who wants to experience this work and move in space. This open approach is quite unique, no cvs, no list of performances and credits - just the will to move, to feel, to express, to improve and experience. As Pina, Julie is more interested in what moves people not how people move.
So each time it is a unique mixture of people from various backgrounds, ages and technical abilities. Each time magic happens through work with body in the space, through sharing our emotional landscapes, through diligent editing of the material by Julie. Each time we go a little bit further in understanding geometry of our bodies, space, poetry of movement, expression via dance and text, static and moving images, being present and true yet striving for precision while material is set. After initial trials (answering the tasks) the form is set but each time of execution the task is to relive it again, to deliver the truth of the original impulse, longing, trace.
The work is naturally influenced by Pina’s method (Julie being in the company for over 30 years) but it is clear that it is filtered through Julie’s unique touch and creativity as an artist in her own respect.
Morning usually starts with Julie’s fusion class of kundalini yoga, a bit of ballet warm up, Qi Gong, Graham and Limon to prepare the body for the afternoon creative part. Sometimes we may do a ritual or read a poetry. Afternoons are pure creation, trying, striving, editing of the material. The day is full to the brim.
Material emerges, our energies and bodies collide to give new truths, muscles ache, we are being challenged, humanity is shared, we enter some other dimension.
Without an exaggeration I can admit that finding this workshop was one of the best things that happened in my life as experience goes much beyond dance, creativity and poetry of space.
It is transformational, it gives you a sense of community with all the people scattered around the world who experienced this work."
Ania Trela, London