Dance in the 21st Century requires performers to execute complex partnering maneuvers. Yet partnering is rarely addressed outside of the classical ballet vocabulary and the trial and error of contact improvisation, which some dancers find unapproachable. The rate shoulder and back injuries has risen in dancers over the past two decades due to increased use of partnering and upper body load bearing that the profession demands. Artichoke Dance Company’s own work relies heavily on partnering skills and it often takes dancers several years to become proficient with it.
Artichoke Dance Company’s Director, Lynn Neuman, developed an approachable and clear method to modern dance partnering. The method combines physical concepts employed in the practice of contact improvisation with techniques of circus partnering and years of studio investigations dissected through principles of physics and kinesiology and presented with the lenses of Laban Movement Analysis and Bartenieff Fundamentals. The aim is to offer a safe, balanced, and progressive method for dancers to gain partnering skills and the knowledge to delve into partnering with minimal risk of injury.
The method is taught annually at the Joffrey Ballet School’s Jazz and Contemporary Dance Intensive summer program in New York City as well as intensive workshop across the country.
Contemporary Partnering
