The Center Dance Studio is pleased to announce “Picture This: a Journey into the Wordless,” our special Fall ’21 Choreography Lab Series. Students in Spinning Yarns, Story Arc and Theme & Variation will draw inspiration from The Eric Carle Museum’s newest exhibition, Speechless: The Art of Wordless Picture Books, to build dances celebrating this unique literary genre. A performance will take place at the end of the session.

Spinning Yarns (1 hour and 15 minutes, grades 3-4) introduces students to the language of dance, inviting them to explore movement in a creative, nurturing environment. Picture books serve as entry-points for authentic, movement-based storytelling. Students consider such choreographic elements as space, body, time and relationship as they work together to build dances inspired by favorite texts and their own imaginations. 

And check out Mixed Ages Spinning Yarns (1 hour, grades 1-4) an outdoor, family-friendly class perfect for siblings who love to dance together, younger kids who bloom in the company of older peers, and older kids who thrive in a leadership role. 

Story Arc  (1.5 hours, grades 4-6) offers a creative approach to building dances in this lab that grounds students in composition through technical and improvisational activities. Using literature and their own writing as a platform for exploration, students will explore concepts such as formation, relationship, effort and action as they are introduced to a wide variety of choreographic tools. Students will work collaboratively and independently to structure original dances that are rich, meaningful and inspired.

Theme and Variation (1 hour and 45 minutes, grades 7+) encourages students to stretch themselves — both creatively and physically — in a supportive, community-oriented atmosphere. Students will apply their technical dance skills to a wide range of choreographic tasks, exploring movement dynamics, spatial design, time factors and relationship. Democratically selected themes and literary texts will inform collaborative dance building; students will also write across a variety of genres and use their work as choreographic material. By rooting students in the basics of Laban Movement Analysis, students will learn to constructively critique and refine their original ensemble works.

Fall Choreography Labs will run as 10-week sessions.